Aug 14, 2025

The Healing Power of Compassion and How To Work With It

Sandy Newes
Category: Podcasts
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Dr. Ron Siegel

Dr. Ron Siegel is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School, where he has taught for over 40 years. As a clinical psychologist in private practice, he has worked with low-income children and families, treated adults with chronic pain and stress disorders, and provided mindfulness-oriented psychotherapy. Dr. Siegel has written and edited several books, including Mindfulness and Psychotherapy, The Mindfulness Solution, Sitting Together, and Wisdom and Compassion in Psychotherapy

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Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

  • [4:29] How to integrate compassion and self-compassion into mindfulness practices
  • [14:29] The difference between dissociation and disidentification, and how ketamine facilitates mindful awareness
  • [20:18] Dr. Ron Siegel explains the relationships between self-compassion and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy
  • [31:20] How self-compassion improves relational outcomes by reducing defensiveness and projection
  • [39:34] Bringing self-compassion into the body to overcome mental resistance 
  • [42:45] Dr. Siegel talks about engaging in mindfulness practices before psychedelic therapy sessions
  • [52:55] Advice for aspiring psychedelic-assisted psychotherapists
  • [57:11] Dr. Siegel’s involvement in conferences and group workshops

In this episode…

Those who have experienced trauma often struggle with self-criticism, isolation, and reliving painful experiences. Even when we know self-compassion matters, it can feel abstract or blocked by internal resistance. How can we transition from self-judgment and disconnection toward a sense of safety, love, and acceptance?

According to clinical psychologist and mindfulness expert Dr. Ron Siegel, self-compassion can facilitate personal healing and therapeutic outcomes. The three counteractions to self-criticism and isolation are kindness, humanity, and mindfulness, which can be accelerated by psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. When engaging in these therapy sessions, Dr. Siegel emphasizes the importance of preparation, skilled facilitation, and integrating these practices into daily life to support lasting change.

In this episode of Living Medicine, Dr. Ron Siegel returns to chat with Dr. Sandy Newes about cultivating self-compassion in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. Dr. Siegel discusses the synergy between mindfulness and psychedelics, how secure attachment informs healing, and how to bring compassion into the body.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Quotable Moments:

  • “We talk to ourselves in ways we would never talk to another person.”
  • “Shame involves feeling like we’re not fit to be part of the human family.”
  • “Medicines really facilitate this shift from self-criticism, beating ourselves up, isolation, self-involvement, toward accepting ourselves.”
  • “Self-compassion, higher levels of self-compassion, tend to predict everything good in psychological well-being.”
  • “All treatment is trauma treatment… these principles that apply to severe trauma actually apply to everything that ails us.”

Action Steps:

  1. Practice loving-kindness meditation regularly: This technique fosters warmth toward yourself and others, laying the groundwork for deeper self-compassion. By training the mind to connect with care, you reduce defensiveness and open yourself up to healing relationships.
  2. Introduce self-compassion skills before psychedelic work: Teaching these practices in preparation helps clients access them more easily during therapeutic sessions. Familiarity with the techniques ensures they become reliable tools when emotions run high.
  3. Use relational practices like “Just Like Me”: These exercises build empathy by highlighting shared human experiences, even with difficult individuals. Increased empathy reduces judgment and fosters stronger interpersonal connections.
  4. Engage in personal mindfulness practice as a therapist: Consistent practice improves presence and reduces the likelihood of projecting unresolved issues onto clients. This stability is essential for creating a safe therapeutic container.
  5. Integrate body-based awareness into compassion work: Focusing on physical sensations helps bypass mental resistance and anchors compassion in lived experience. This embodiment makes self-kindness more tangible and sustainable.

Sponsor for this episode…

This episode is brought to you by the Living Medicine Institute.

LMI is a training, resource, and membership program educating providers about the legal and safe use of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.

To learn more or participate, visit https://livingmedicineinstitute.com.

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