Chris first learned mindfulness meditation at a hermitage in Sri Lanka in 1977. His interest in mindfulness was rekindled in 1985 when he joined a study group in Cambridge that became the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy. Decades of conversations came together in 2005 with the publishing of a co-edited, professional text, Mindfulness and Psychotherapy (now in its 2nd edition), and Wisdom and Compassion in Psychotherapy (2012). Mindfulness is the heart of Buddhist psychology, and interest in mindfulness-, acceptance-, and compassion-based psychotherapy has recently blossomed to become a mainstream approach to psychotherapy.

Chris’ primary interest is self-compassion—the warmhearted attitude of mindfulness when we suffer, fail, or feel inadequate. He stumbled onto self-compassion in 2005 as a solution to his decades-long struggle with public speaking anxiety.

In 2015, Chris helped to establish the Center for Mindfulness and Compassion at the Cambridge Health Alliance. He is on the faculty and serves as a senior advisor and research consultant, currently co-developing an fMRI research protocol for treating chronic pain with self-compassion.

Chris spends his professional life traveling internationally, teaching and writing about mindfulness and self-compassion, supporting MSC teachers and students, and maintaining a modest psychotherapy practice.