About Us
Meet Our Teachers
Staci Berman (she/her)
Certified Mindful Self-Compassion Teacher
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
Staci found her way to MSC after years of mindfulness practice, discovering that self-compassion was the ingredient she didn't know she was missing. Self-Compassion fundamentally changed the way Staci approached her practice, her work, and her self.
Staci has had the privilege of teaching Mindful Self-Compassion courses in the Chicago-land area and online. Additionally, she has supported MSC retreat participants in the US and Canada, and has served as consultation group facilitator for the Self-Compassion in Psychotherapy Program. She has led mindfulness and self-compassion workshops in various settings including jails, hospitals, animal shelters, universities, high schools, corporate settings, and therapy group practices. Staci is also a Certified Self-Compassion for Healthcare Communities teacher, offering self-compassion programming to those in the medical and healthcare fields.
She is continuously inspired by and grateful for the unfolding practice of learning and teaching self-compassion.
For more information or to contact Staci, click here.
Colleen O'Brien (she/her)
Certified Mindful Self-Compassion Teacher
Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor
Colleen was introduced to Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) in 2016 when she took Kristin Neff's self-compassion assessment and was unpleasantly surprised at her score, particularly because she was a therapist, helping other people to be kind to themselves. She was intrigued by the idea of learning how to treat herself with the same kindness, support, and love she is known to openly offer others when they are struggling.
With this curiosity, Colleen attended an intensive MSC retreat in March 2018, taught by MSC co-developers, Kristin Neff and Chris Germer. While she felt a "healthy" skepticism about this work, the retreat made a big impact on her. Since this time, she has continued to study, learn, teach, and grow in her capacity to be self-compassionate. Colleen is happy to say the skepticism is gone and in its place is a compassionate way to relate to herself in daily life, particularly when things are hard.
With the intention of spreading the invaluable skills of Mindful Self-Compassion, Colleen completed MSC teacher training in January 2019, ready to bring MSC to Chicago and beyond. Colleen currently teaches 8-week MSC courses, 2-day Core Skills workshops, and 1-3 hour presentations both on-line and in-person. She also integrates MSC into her professional work and into her life in general. As of June 8, 2022, Colleen is a certified teacher of Mindful Self-Compassion under the tutelage of the brilliant Dr. Christine Brähler. She is also a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor working in Chicago.