Fierce Self-Compassion: 8-Week Live Online Programme

Fierce Self-Compassion is an advanced, eight-week live online healing workshop that extends self-compassion to include healthy anger, clear boundaries and the courage to act when you are treated unfairly. It uses Internal Family Systems (IFS) parts work and is led by clinical psychologist and self-compassion teacher Dr Christine Braehler. It is held entirely online and taught in English.

The programme starts from a simple idea: gentle self-compassion on its own can slide into what the teaching calls "idiot compassion", where a person lets others walk all over them out of fear of rejection or punishment. Fierce self-compassion adds the more active qualities, so that kindness toward yourself includes protecting your dignity and shaping your own life.

What to Expect

Over eight weeks of live online sessions, the work targets the inner blocks to healthy anger that arise when we meet hurt, harm and injustice. Cut off from that anger, the programme holds, we stay weakened, afraid, open to further boundary violations and caught in a need for approval.

Using IFS, a compassion-based way of working with the different parts of the psyche, you bring gentle attention to the parts that once had to block your anger. These parts often carry mistrust of your own perception, fear, shame, a need for approval and unnecessary guilt, and the guided exercises help them unburden. The aim is to move from powerlessness into healthy anger, clear seeing and wise action.

You are also guided to build inner and outer resources, so that you feel strengthened inside and out when taking action in unfair situations. The programme speaks of solidarity with others who are affected as a source of allies and of steady resolve to care for your own wellbeing over the long term.

The programme builds on the original Fierce Self-Compassion course and book, first launched in 2019 under the title Empowering Yourself in the Face of Harm & Injustice. It is also available as a 20-part audio course, but this event is the live eight-week format.

About Dr Christine Braehler

Dr Christine Braehler (DClinPsy, PhD) is a clinical psychologist, psychotherapist and internationally recognised teacher of self-compassion with more than 20 years of experience. Her work brings together evidence-based psychology, attachment science, self-compassion and Internal Family Systems Therapy, and she uses them to help individuals and couples come into their heart energy and build resilient love relationships. She is an IFS Level 2 Therapist, and has taught self-compassion internationally since 2008 as one of the first psychologists to do so. Her German-language YouTube channel shares practical tips and meditations for meeting difficult emotions with mindfulness, self-compassion, empathy and wisdom.

Before You Go

This is presented as an advanced programme. You are expected to have some prior experience of self-compassion practice and a willingness to work with difficult emotions such as anger and fear.

The programme includes the eight weeks of live online sessions and the guided exercises based on Internal Family Systems. Individual IFS sessions are not part of it and are sold separately. All you need is a way to join the sessions online, and a private, quiet place to take part.