Karen Bluth

Karen Bluth, Ph.D. is faculty at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina Medical School and a Research Fellow in the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute. Dr Bluth is a certified instructor of Mindful Self-Compassion and co-creator of the curriculum Making Friends with Yourself: A Mindful Self-Compassion Program for Teens. She is also the author of The Self-Compassion Workbook for Teens: Mindfulness and Compassion Skills to Overcome Self-Criticism and Embrace Who You Are (New Harbinger). Dr. Bluth’s research focuses on the roles that self-compassion and mindfulness play in promoting well-being in youth. A new line of her research centres on the role of self-compassion in caregiving. In addition, she is Associate Editor of the academic journal Mindfulness and co-editor of a special issue of the academic journal Self and Identity on self-compassion with Dr. Kristin Neff.

As a mindfulness practitioner for 40 years, a mindfulness teacher, and a lifelong educator with 18 years of classroom experience, Dr. Bluth frequently gives talks, conducts workshops, and teaches classes in self-compassion and mindfulness in educational and community settings. In addition, she trains teachers in Making Friends with Yourself internationally.