In A Commitment to Compassion, Avram R. Kraft, MD, reminds us that each of us can make a difference. Avram makes that difference against a medical landscape, but in sharing his wisdom, insights, doubt, and vulnerabilities, he invites all of us to consider what compassion means and how it can be part of our daily living. As he states in a chapter called Repairing the World, "Every day, we have an opportunity to make an impact on one another. You are only as good as what you bring to the table and not what you remove from it."In a very accessible interview format, Avram reveals the kind of small and large daily choices he's made over a lifetime as he's looked for meaning and used his faith in service to others. These conversations underscore the value of storytelling and real listening in a world increasingly full of distractions. Dignity, Acceptance of Self and Finding Balance are among the powerful chapters and pervasive themes that invite the reader to consider their own personal journeys and how they, too, can be of service.A perennial student of medicine, ethics and ancient texts, Avram, a retired surgeon, was an early advocate of hospice and palliative care and a passionate teacher of compassion in medicine. As one early reviewer said of the book, "It is the testament of a good human being who has healed many people physically-and probably even more people spiritually."

From a Relationship of Ignorance and Conflict to Awareness and Fulfillment In Buddhist psychology, it is said that the root of all pain is ignorance. Nowhere in life is our ignorance more evident and frustrating than when we attempt to relate with someone we love and find ourselves forever walking through relational minefields. We find ourselves consistently being frustrated in our efforts to relate with our partner and become upset with the way they are relating to us. This book is intended to describe what a real relationship of compassionate commitment is between two people and explores: - How to negotiate the inevitable season of struggle between partners - Providing insight into how couples will use the same words and speak different languages - The importance of not taking things personally - Understanding the role that stress plays in our relationship - Learn compassionate communication (similar to Nonviolent Communication) - Practice a mindfulness-based approach to communication The purpose of this book is to help couples gain a sense of what is going on between themselves and to help develop the awareness and skills to get beyond their confusion, frustration, pain and suffering, to a sense of fulfillment as individuals and as relational partners. Information contained in this book is the distillation of over forty-seven years work as a marriage and family therapist.

Aura Glaser wrote this book to remedy a deficiency she discovered while engaged in psychological research–a nearly complete omission of the importance and cultivation of compassion. Other books exploring Buddhism and psychology have focused on what the Theravada school of Buddhism–which teaches personal liberation through enlightenment–can offer psychology. A Call to Compassion works with Mahayana Buddhism, in which practitioners commit to the liberation of all sentient beings, with compassion central to attaining that goal.In her fascinating and exceptionally clear and concise review of the work of Freud, Jung, and others, Glaser shows how psychology has been ambivalent about the subject of compassion and therefore has developed no methodology for helping individuals cultivate this essential quality in the service of helping others. Glaser introduces as a remedy the Buddhist practice of the lojong, expressed in the text of The Seven Points of Mind Training, for developing love and compassion. With modern-day life examples, she illustrates the four major points: compassion for self, compassion for others, exchanging self and others, and no self and no other–affirming that these points are indeed attainable. If we make the effort to contemplate, understand, and truly integrate these four essentials, we will have a sound basis for both psychological health and genuine transformation.“/DIV>

Your invitation to move beyond pity, helplessness, and outrage, and your playbook for making a difference right where you are. As the daily newsfeed full of suffering and injustice scrolls by, it's all too easy to question what one person can really do to enact the profound change the world needs. Like moviegoers, we often watch and witness with care, but assume the script has already been written. Disruptive Compassion dares to make a bold counter: you possess the power to provoke real and meaningful change. Why? Because God has empowered you to rewrite the story of tomorrow. Over 2,000 years ago, Jesus created a model for revolutionaries that has been followed ever since. These principles are just as powerful to guide our journey today. With raw and inspiring stories from the world's most desperate places and his own journey to find meaning, Convoy of Hope founder and CEO Hal Donaldson will take you on a tour along the frontlines of courage and compassion. Let this book be your crash course in what it means to become a revolutionary, as you learn how to: Evaluate the resources you already have Navigate real concerns and risks Check your motives And ultimately become equipped as an agitator with purpose With principles and insights gleaned from two decades of relief work, Hal reveals what he's learned from the journey and what we can take with us as we join the revolution.

Kristin Neff, Ph.D., says that it’s time to “stop beating yourself up and leave insecurity behind.” Self-Compassion: Stop Beating Yourself Up and Leave Insecurity Behind offers expert advice on how to limit self-criticism and offset its negative effects, enabling you to achieve your highest potential and a more contented, fulfilled life. More and more, psychologists are turning away from an emphasis on self-esteem and moving toward self-compassion in the treatment of their patients—and Dr. Neff’s extraordinary book offers exercises and action plans for dealing with every emotionally debilitating struggle, be it parenting, weight loss, or any of the numerous trials of everyday living.

Reconciling the scientific principles of medicine with the love essential for meaningful care is not an easy task, but it is one that Gregory L. Fricchione performs masterfully in Compassion and Healing in Medicine and Society. At the core of this book is a thought-provoking analysis of the relationship between evolutionary science and neuroscience. Fricchione theorizes that the cries for attachment made by seriously ill patients reflect an underlying evolutionary tenet called the separation challenge–attachment solution process. The pleadings of patients, he explains, are verbal expressions of the history of evolution itself. By exploring the roots of a patient’s attachment needs, we come face to face with a critical component of natural selection and the evolutionary process. Medicine engages with the separation challenge–attachment solution process on many levels of scientific knowledge and human meaning and healing. Fricchione applies these concepts to medical care and encourages physicians to fully understand them so they can better treat their patients. Compassionate humanistic care promotes physical, emotional, and spiritual healing precisely because it is consonant with how life, the brain, and humanity have evolved. It is therefore not a luxury of modern medical care but an essential part of it. Fricchione advocates an attachment-based medical system, one in which physicians evaluate stress and resiliency and prescribe an integrative treatment plan for the whole person designed to accentuate the propensity to health. There is a wisdom or perennial philosophy based on compassionate love that, Fricchione stresses, the medical community must take advantage of in designing future health care—and society must appreciate as it faces its separation challenges.