Here is some of the feedback we received from the participants at this seminar:

"It was not just a lecture, I went through a process and a transformation. I learned to use excellent tools, in my personal and professional life, beside caring for the sick and the dying. Eventually, it does not matter what we do in life, we will always do it with people and for people"
~ Sigal Sasson, a computer programmer and a meditation instructor

"This Compassion and Presence Seminar allowed me to adopt a bright and compassionate perspective of my life. I also learned how to develop useful tools to enhance compassion in my daily life. These are all wonderful gifts"
~ Michal Guttman, shiatsu therapist

"The seminar taught me how to cultivate compassion and presence and also enhanced my ability to use contemplative skills in my daily life. I realized how special and fascinating it is to practice while giving care and support. I also found the presentation of the different practices were very clear, and this made them simple to use and more available for me. My motivation grew stronger and my ability to practice became deeper and stronger all together"
~ Yonat Tor, Yoga teacher

Original event details

In association with the Spiritual and Holistic Care Programme, organized by the University of Haifa, Netivim Mashlimim, the Spiritual Care Education Programme held a skills training in contemplative care - a five day training seminar open to all healthcare professionals and volunteers.

February 8-12, 2011 | Kibbutz Dalia | Google map

With Rosamund Oliver and Anne Sadie

1100 NIS | concession is available based on preset criteria

The training will be held in English

For further information and registration email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it | call 054-4308050 (Tal) or 054-4912857 (Ayelet) 

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Responding effectively to the needs of patients remains an on-going professional and deeply personal challenge. Compassion and Presence offers the opportunity to learn contemplative resources that support you in your life and work, and enhance the way you offer care - with a renewed sense of joy, confidence, and fulfillment. Drawing from meditations taught in the wisdom tradition of Tibet, this training focuses on cultivating presence and mindfulness, and deepening the capacity for compassion, so that you can remain present, spacious and loving in the face of suffering.

The training introduces insights and contemplations from Sogyal Rinpoche's groundbreaking book, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, and demonstrates in practical ways how to appropriately integrate these practices of meditation, contemplative listening, and compassion in any medical setting.

Compassion and Presence is for anyone who cares for others in hospice, palliative care, critical care, gerontology, oncology, general medicine, nursing, emergency medicine, pastoral care, psychology, social work, health care education, and other allied health professions. It will resonate with professionals and volunteers from diverse cultural and religious backgrounds.

The training focuses on four core competencies:

• Holding authentic presence and communication.
• Deepening one's ability to extend compassion toward oneself and others.
• Developing a personal understanding of suffering, and how to be present with suffering.
• Applying contemplative practices for self-care.

Methods of training

Lectures, discussion, writing, reflection, contemplative practice, and interactive methods for integrating learning.

Training Topics

• Spirituality and healthcare - an introduction to the spiritual care model of compassionate care
• Cultivating presence through meditation and mindfulness practice
• Methods for deepening compassion
• Responding to suffering
• Training in contemplative listening
• Creating a sacred environment
• Compassionate self-care for alleviating stress, healing burnout, and transforming challenging situations
• Caregiving as spiritual practice
• Scientific research on the benefits of training in meditation and compassion in medical care work.

Faculty

Rosamund Oliver, BA, Dip Psych, ECP, worked for many years as a UKCP registered psychotherapist, supervisor and trainer. Her public healthcare work includes NHS psychiatry with the elderly bereaved, nurse education at St Joseph’s Hospice, London and co-creating a prison meditation project. She held a series of Buddhist psychotherapy seminars in South Africa. She is an international training manager and has regularly been invited to give professional trainings on behalf of Rigpa’s Spiritual Care Education Programme. She has been a student of Sogyal Rinpoche since 1981.

Anne Sadie began hospice work in the UK as a volunteer in 1984.  She became part of the Home Visiting team at the North London Hospice, and later with St Luke's Hospice in Harrow.  She is a trained Bereavement Councellor, and a Spiritual Care Educator for the Rigpa Spiritual Care Education Programme. She has been a student of Sogyal Rinpoche since 1994.

The Spiritual and Holistic Care Programme is a 3 year training at the Haifa University starting in October 2010. For more information about the full programme contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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