This Is a Lot: A Twenty-Something's Guide to Self-Compassion in an Overwhelming World

Karen Bluth, PhD, earned her doctoral degree in Child and Family Studies at the University of Tennessee. She is currently part of the research faculty in the Program on Integrative Medicine in the School of Medicine at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her work focuses on the roles that mindfulness and self-compassion play in promoting wellbeing in teens. Bluth was awarded a Francisco J. Varela research award from the Mind and Life Institute in 2012, which allowed her to explore the effects of a mindfulness intervention on adolescents' well-being through examining stress biomarkers. In spring, 2015, she was the recipient of an internal University of North Carolina grant to explore relationships among mindfulness, self-compassion, and emotional well-being in teens in grades 7-12.
In addition to her research, Bluth regularly teaches mindfulness and mindful self-compassion courses to both adults and teens in the Chapel Hill, NC area and regularly gives talks and leads workshops at universities and schools. In collaboration with Lorraine Hobbs, Bluth has adapted Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer's Mindful Self-Compassion program for an adolescent population. A former educator with eighteen years classroom experience, Bluth is currently associate editor of the academic journal, Mindfulness.