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Erik van den Brink

My personal meditation path and my professional path as a psychiatrist-psychotherapist were rather separate at first. I've struggled with that for years. Until both roads came together and I started giving mindfulness training in mental health care. That was in line with my search for methods that strengthen our self-healing capacity. Together with Frits Koster I developed “Mindfulness-Based Compassionate Living”, an in-depth compassion training that builds on a basic training in mindfulness. My work has since shifted more and more from providing therapy to training in self-therapy. Healthcare has taken on a much broader meaning for me and encompasses not only the care of individual health, but also the health of our relationships and our living environment.

I have meditated in several traditions and learned from many teachers without ever following one in particular. I always feel a bit surprised when I am approached as a teacher myself. I see myself more as a 'spiritual homeless person' who likes to go out with others to learn from each other how to treat ourselves, each other and the world as a whole in a healthier way.