Mindfulness and Compassion Grand Rounds at Harvard Medical School will be held about twice monthly, live online via Zoom, and is open to those within Harvard Medical School, Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA), and members of the CMC community, for free. Our Grand Rounds series has 3 main aims:
Disseminate information about new cutting edge science and impactful clinical research findings
Highlight best practices for enhancing the efficacy, accessibility, and safety of mindfulness and compassion delivery and applications for population mental health
Provide opportunities for healthcare provider self-care and burnout prevention
Not able to attend live over Zoom? All registrants will receive a link to the recording.
2025/26 Academic Year
Subject of Lecture - We All Marry Our Unfinished Business:
Relationships and Transformation
Date: Monday, May 4, 2026
Time: 1:00pm - 2:00pm (ET)
Presenter: Terry Real, LICSW
Topic Description: Intimate relationships are rarely just about two people in the present, they are also shaped by the wounds, patterns, and legacies each partner brings from their past. At a time when cultural forces increasingly pull individuals apart, renowned family therapist and bestselling author Terry Real, LICSW, argues that warmer, closer, and more compassionate relationships are not only possible, they require us to move beyond reflexive, self-protective reactions and toward a wiser, more collaborative way of relating.
In this Grand Rounds presentation, Real will explore how couples unconsciously recreate early relational dynamics, and how mindful awareness of these patterns, combined with concrete relational skills, can serve as a powerful catalyst for both personal and relational transformation. Drawing on his model of Relational Life Therapy (RLT), which integrates psychodynamic principles, family systems theory, trauma work, and feminist thought, Real will examine how compassion, collaboration, and presence can replace the "you vs. me" dynamics that leave partners feeling alone together. This talk will be of interest to clinicians across disciplines seeking to deepen their understanding of couple therapy, including evidence-based approaches to the therapeutic alliance and its role in promoting lasting change.
Presenter Bio: Terry Real, LICSW
Terry Real, LICSW is a family therapist, bestselling author, and the creator of Relational Life Therapy (RLT). His first book, I Don’t Want to Talk About It, brought attention to male depression and the hidden costs of disconnection in men’s lives. Since then, his work has expanded to focus on helping all of us build more fiercely honest and deeply connected relationships. Drawing on both his 40 years of clinical practice and personal relational recovery, he teaches that healing happens not in isolation, but in connection – with ourselves and with others.
Objectives:
At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to:
Describe how early relational experiences and unresolved psychological patterns influence adult intimate relationships and present-day couples dynamics.
Identify key developments in contemporary couple therapy, including the role of the therapeutic alliance in predicting treatment outcomes.
Apply concepts from Relational Life Therapy (RLT) — including the integration of trauma-informed, systemic, and psychodynamic frameworks — to clinical work with couples seeking transformation.
Recognize how mindful awareness of relational patterns and the cultivation of compassion can serve as therapeutic tools to help couples move from reactive, individualistic dynamics toward greater collaboration and emotional closeness.
Further Reading -
Lebow, J & Snyder, D.K. (2022). Couple therapy in the 2020s: Current status and emerging developments. Family Process, 61, 1359-1385.
Quirk, K., Drinane, J. M., Edelman, A., Chow, D., Lim, J., Chandra, D., Miller, S., & Owen, J. (2021). The alliance–outcome association in couple therapy: A common fate model. Family Process 60, 6741-764.
Snyder DK, Balderrama DCM. Current status and challenges in systemic family therapy with couples. In: Wampler KS, Blow AJ, eds. The Handbook of Systemic Family Therapy: Systemic Family Therapy with Couples., Vol. 3. Wiley Blackwell; 2020:3-25
Mark, K. P., & Schuman, D. L. (2020). A scoping review of the practice recommendations of secrets in couple’s therapy. Journal of Family Psychotherapy, 31(1–2), 56–71.
Winter, F., Steffan, A., Warth, M., Ditzen, B., & Aguilar, R. C. (2021). Mindfulness‐based couple interventions: A systematic literature review. Family Process 60, 694-711.
Ord, A.S., Stranahan, K.R., Hurley, R. A., Taber, K. H. (2020). Stress-Related Growth: Building a more resilient brain. The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and clinical neurosciences, 32:3, A4-212.
Previous Speakers
Sign up to get the link to the recordings here
Life in Suspension with Death: Investigating Mind, Body and Consciousness in Tibetan Tukdam Meditation
Date: Monday, January 12, 2026
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Tawni Tidwell, PhD, TMD
Impact of Mindfulness on Adult Psychosocial Development
Date: Monday, December 12, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Sara Lazar, PhD
Aging Gracefully: Cultivating Acceptance
Date: Monday, December 1, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Elana Rosenbaum, MS, MSW, LICSW
Grounding Psychotherapy in Self-Compassion
Date: Monday, October 20, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Chris Germer, PhD, Susan Pollak, MTS, Ed.D, and Ronald Siegel, PsyD
Ways of Knowing Compassion in Healthcare: A Comprehensive Examination of Compassion-Centered Spiritual Health
Date: Monday, October 6, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Jennifer Mascaro, PhD
Living in Perilous Times: Bridging Inner and Outer Divides
Date: Monday, September 15, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Tara Brach, PhD
The Power of Daily Practice: Reflections on Five Years of a Shared Morning Contemplation
Date: Monday, June 2, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Narayan Helen Liebenson
What Have We Learned From Two Decades of Randomized Trials Testing Meditation-Based Interventions?
Date: Monday, May 19, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Simon Goldberg, PhD
I Move Therefore I Am: Cultivating Whole Person Health Through Mind-Body Movement in Chronic Disease
Date: Monday, May 5, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Gloria Yeh, MD, MPH
Living with Fire: Finding Calm in a Time of Uncertainty
Date: Monday, April 21, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Pico Iyer
Mindfulness and Compassion in the Anthropocene: Reframing Meditation Practice as Fuel for Metabolizing the Difficult
Date: Monday, March 17, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Willa B. Baker, PhD
Collective Flourishing: Reverence In A Complex World
Date: Monday, February 3, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Yuria Celidwen, PhD
Inner Refuge: Mindfulness Practices for Sustaining Strength in Crisis
Date: Monday, January 6, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Sharon Salzberg
The Cart Track: Two Approaches to Suffering
Date: Monday, December 16, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Henry Shukman, Zen teacher, author, poet
Measuring Mindfulness and Related Concepts with New PROMIS Tools
Date: Monday, December 2, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: David Victorson, Ph.D.
Finding Our True Home in the Journey
Date: Monday, November 18, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Marisela B Gomez, MS MPH PHD MD
The Hidden Conversation: Interoception's Role in Mind-Body Health and Healing
Date: Monday, November 4, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenters: Sahib Khalsa MD, PhD
Cultural Considerations when Addressing Stress & Anxiety in Black Perinatal People: A Mindfulness Approach
Date: Monday, October 21, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenters: Karen Sheffield-Abdullah, PhD, RN, CNM, FACNM
Undoing Aloneness & Healing Attachment Wounds with AEDP
Date: Monday, September 30, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenters: Diana Fosha, PhD
The Evolution of Self-Compassion in Healthcare: A Decade of Progress and Its Role in Combating Burnout
Date: Monday, September 16, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenters: Paula Gardiner, MD, MPH and Christopher Germer, PhD
Mindful-OBOT Study- A First Look: Insights from a National Study of Live-Online Mindfulness Groups During Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
Date: Monday, June 3, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenters: Zev Schuman-Olivier, MD and Joseph Rosansky, Ph.D
The PARTS Study- A First Look: Insights from Group-Based Internal Family Systems Research
Date: Monday, May 20, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Zev Schuman-Olivier, MD and additional members of the CMC team including Lexie Comeau, MA; Hanna Soumerai, LICSW; Mary Catherine Ward, LICSW; Brian Orr, LICSW, MSW; Dilara Ally PhD, LCSW; and Fiona Kate Rice, LMHC.
Biopsychosocial Approaches to Improving Cardiometabolic Conditions in African American Women through Mindfulness and Self-Compassion
Date: Monday, May 6, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Cheryl Giscombe, PhD, MA, MSN, PMHNP-BC
The Myth of Self-Improvement: Returning to the Heart of Who We Are
Date: Monday, April 22, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Caverly Morgan
Is Mindfulness Self-Help Helpful for Depression?
Date: Monday, April 1, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Professor Clara Strauss BA (Hons) PhD DClinPsy
Living Wide Awake: Turning Fear into Compassionate Action
Date: Monday, March 18, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei, MFA, LMSW, DMIN and Chodo Robert Campbell Sensei, GC-C, Co-Founders and Co-Guiding Teachers of the New York Zen Center
Breathing and the Brain: Rhythm and Emotion
Date: Monday, March 4, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Jack L. Feldman, Distinguished Professor and David Geffen School of Medicine Chair in Neuroscience, Department of Neurobiology, UCLA
Integrating Mindfulness Into Healthcare
Date: February 12, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Paula Gardiner, MD, MPH
Liberation Ecotherapy: A Healing Justice Framework for Nature-based Social Prescribing for Mental Health
Date: January 29, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: J. Phoenix Smith, MSW
The Role of Mindfulness in Reversing High Blood Pressure: Clinical Trial Discoveries
Date: Monday, December 18, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Eric B. Loucks, MD
Truth and Repair: How Trauma Survivors Envision Justice
Date: Monday, December 4, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Judith L. Herman, MD
The Power of Ceremony: Indigenous Contemplative Practices, Neurodecolonization, and Indigenous Mindfulness
Date: Monday, November 6, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Michael Yellow Bird, MSW, PhD, Dean and Professor
Mindfulness Based Real-Time fMRI Neurofeedback, Cathy Kerr Annual Memorial Lecture
Date: Monday, October 16, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli, PhD
Connecting Our Inner Work to the Outer World
Date: Monday, October 2, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Shelly Tygielski
What Actually Makes Us Happy?: Lessons from the Longest Study of Human Thriving
Date: Monday, September 18, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Robert J. Waldinger, MD
Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting: Preparing a New Generation for Birthing and Beyond
Date: Monday, June 5, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenters: Nancy Bardacke, CNM, MA and Larissa Duncan, Ph.D.
The Buddha Arrives on Turtle Island: Decolonizing the Dharma
Date: Monday, May 15, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Dr. Eduardo Duran
Building Bridges, Not Walls: Applying Lessons from Contemplative Science to Enhance Equity and Inclusion in the Classroom, Clinic & Beyond
Date: Monday, May 1, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Doris F. Chang, PhD
Mindful Medicine: Healing Burnout and Replenishing Your Energy
Date: Monday, April 3, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Jan Chozen-Bays, MD
Contemplative Practices for Inclusive, Anti-Racist Clinical Engagement and Healthcare
Date: Monday, March 20, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Kamilah Majied, LMSW, PhD
The Minds and Mentors Program: Promoting Peer Support in Recovery Research
Date: Monday, March 6, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Mercy Ngosa Mumba, PhD, RN, FAAN
Mindful Resilience And Post Traumatic Post Pandemic Growth
Date: Monday, February 6, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Christopher Willard, PsyD
Mindfulness, Advanced Meditation, and Future Directions for Research
Date: Monday, December 19, 2022
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Matthew D. Sacchet, Ph.D.
Finding Balance in Difficult Situations: Awareness and Wisdom as a Practice
Date: Monday, December 5, 2022
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Alexis Santos
From Beast Machines to Dream Machines
Date: Monday, November 21, 2022
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Professor Anil Seth, D.Phil, MA, MSc
How To Be Your Best: Insights From Neuroimaging To Optimize Performance
Annual Cathy Kerr Memorial Lecture
Date: Monday, November 7, 2022
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Martin Paulus, MD
Radical Friendship in the Workplace: A Mindfulness Practice for Stressful Times
Date: Monday, October 17, 2022
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Kate Johnson
Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement: Clinical Outcomes and Biobehavioral Mechanisms of an Evidence-Based Therapy for Chronic Pain, Opioid Misuse, and Opioid Use Disorder
Date: Monday, October 3, 2022
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Dr. Eric Garland
Befriending Eco-Anxiety: Mindful Practices for Moving Through Grief, Loss, and Change
Date: Monday, September 19, 2022
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Kaira Jewel Lingo
