Self Compassion Chapter Summary

Kristen D. Neff, a psychologist and associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin, published her book Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind To Yourself to teach her readers to let go of self-criticism and its harmful effects and lead more fulfilled lives. As stated in her curriculum vita, her book expresses the results of her ongoing studies in “defining, measuring, researching, and developing an intervention to teach self-compassion”
Although her studies come from her psychology background, readers from other disciplines will approach her work differently. While reviewing Neff’s research on self-compassion presented in her book, science and English disciplines will concern themselves with the scientific proof of the …show more content…
Neff’s approach of reaching out to the regular person influences the formatting of the book. Each chapter begins with a quote relating to the chapter and an introduction followed by a few sections relating to the specific chapter theme. Neff frequently uses personal anecdotes, exercises, rhetorical questions, and hypothetical situation to make her point and motivate readers to understand and improve their self-compassion. In the first chapter titled “Discovering Self-Compassion,” Neff eases the reader into the concept of self-compassion sharing her and her husband’s disbelief and eventual acknowledgement and acceptance of self compassion spurred on after attending a Buddhist meeting (7). In the same chapter she asks the reader “to imagine ...and a homeless man tries to get you to pay a buck” and proceeds to detail a scenario that concludes with an affirmation that everyone, even a homeless man is worthy of self-compassion (9). The reader relates to her stories, the hypothetical situations, and draws from each exercise and concludes with the belief in the power of self-compassion. She provides an explanation for the suffering a person experiences as a natural occurrence every person