The specific Mindful Compassion approach began to evolve many years ago when I was working as a Counsellor at Blythe House Hospice and was asked to facilitate support groups and courses for patients. With ongoing feedback from patients and colleagues the approach evolved over time and was taught to patients, carers, health care professionals and the general public
Macmillan Cancer Care asked for it to be part of their education package when I became a Macmillan Counsellor and Mindful Compassion facilitator so that hundreds of their professionals have benefitted from learning the approach.
This was followed by a request to teach their professionals to facilitate courses for patients and other groups and so a course to train facilitators also evolved…That course also opened to anyone who wants to learn to facilitate the approach and many of those facilitators now deliver courses and workshops all over the UK with fantastic feedback from their participants
When I left the hospice I formed this partnership with a few other teachers /facilitators and continued in this way for a few years but one by one they have retired from the partnership and as the sole person left I decided to continue with this work and to do so under the same title so that all previous facilitators and participants in courses and retreats can continue to find what they may be searching for on the site…like retreats and a few meditations that are free to download
The value to ourselves and the practices of developing a deeper Awareness has become a focused approach that also helps with our understanding of the nature of mind and even of our own universal reality itself, borrowing from my own experience and some training in Buddhist practices
As well as my intention to continue to develop the approaches I also want to protect the essence of them as a way of living and not just as an intervention when times are difficult…appreciating the joy and wonder of life is as big a part of this work as is coping with life’s challenges, difficulties, pain and illness…It is for everybody in every moment…developing our being human!
I do sometimes enjoy collaborating with a few other teachers of different disciplines when leading some retreats…
David Oldham MA
While continuing to develop my own secular and Buddhist meditation practice over many years, I have been very fortunate to have learned from some wonderful teachers, studying several different approaches to mindfulness, compassion and awareness with some leading organisations, I developed my own Mindful Compassion approach with an understanding of the benefits of this and of developing practices to help people develop their own awareness. I facilitate courses, workshops and retreats all over the UK.
I am also an experienced Counsellor, having worked in a variety of different settings for many years, currently semi-retired but still working part-time in my online private practice.