Meet Our Instructors
Eileen Beltzner, SCC BA MSW RSW
Eileen is a Special Care Counsellor, Registered Social Worker, a Child and Family Therapist, a Psychotherapist and a MBCT Facilitator. She is also a Certified Mindful Self-Compassion Teacher, a Making Friends with Yourself (MFY) Teacher, a SCHC Teacher for Healthcare Professionals, a MSC Mentor, a researcher and a writer. Her first book, The Handbook for First Time Parents was a national best seller. Her most recent book, “How to Tame the Tumbles the Mindful Self-Compassionate Way” (2019), was written to introduce parent(s) with young people, between the ages of 7 to 10, to child-sized MSC concepts and practices. Eileen is currently a Senior Faculty Member at the Centre for Mindfulness Studies in Toronto, Canada.
Rainer Beltzner, FCPA FCA FCMC ICD.D
Rainer Beltzner is a Certified Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) Teacher and a Senior Faculty Member of the Centre for Mindfulness Studies. Rainer has been teaching MSC programs to adults since 2014 and is a contributor to the MSC Teacher training program offered through the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion.
Karen Bluth, Ph.D.
Karen Bluth, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the UNC Department of Psychiatry and a research fellow at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute. She is co-developer of the teen self-compassion program, Making Friends with Yourself, and trains teachers internationally in this program. She is also a certified instructor in the adult Mindful Self-Compassion program and a trained Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction instructor. Bluth is author of the book “The Self-Compassion Workbook for Teens: Mindfulness and Compassion Skills to Overcome Self-Criticism and Embrace Who You Are.”
Marissa C. Knox, Ph.D.
Marissa C. Knox, PhD is a trained Mindful Self-Compassion Instructor and certified Embody Love Movement facilitator. Marissa also teaches a university course called Mindfulness, Compassion, and the Self. In recent projects, Marissa contributed to the adaptation of a brief self-compassion curriculum for healthcare professionals (Self-Compassion for Healthcare Communities) and implemented interventions to reduce their stress and improve coping. She has facilitated self-compassion programs for mental health professionals, educators, students, and parents.
Laura Prochnow Phillips
Laura Prochnow Phillips is a certified mindful self-compassion teacher for adults (MSC) and a teacher trainer and certified teacher for teens (MFY). Phillips was introduced to mindful self-compassion through her work as a health, wellness, and lifestyle coach. She completed the Integrative Health Coach Professional Training at Duke Integrative Medicine and was in private practice for more than five years in Chapel Hill.
Macy Ratliff, MA
Macy Ratliff is a trained teacher in Making Friends with Yourself (50 hours of training), and is certified in the youth mindfulness programs at Mindful Schools and A Still Quiet Place. She is also a trained children’s yoga teacher and has taught children yoga from preschool through high school for years in the Seattle area. She was also the primary mindfulness instructor for the Parent-Child Mindfulness Based Training Study at UNC. Macy has an MA in Applied Child and Family Studies from University of Washington and just completed an internship in the mood and anxiety program at Seattle Children’s Hospital with an emphasis on anxiety and OCD.
Jamie Lynn Tatera, MS RYT
Jamie Lynn Tatera is a certified Mindful Self-Compassion teacher as well as a Making Friends with Yourself instructor. She has taught in the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and has years of experience as an elementary school educator. Jamie Lynn is a certified yoga instructor with specialized training in the therapeutic benefits of yoga for children. She is creator and author of the Self-Compassion for Kids curriculum and The Path to Resilience training and photo book. Jamie Lynn trains educators and counselors in her resiliency programs, and she has a wealth of experience teaching mindfulness and self-compassion to adults, children, teens, and families.