Steven Hickman

Steven Hickman, Psy.D., is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and a retired Associate Clinical Professor in the UC San Diego School of Medicine. He is Executive Director of the non-profit Center for Mindful Self-Compassion (CMSC), which has as its mission to “alleviate human suffering and improve the collective well-being of the planet through the practice of self-compassion”. Steve is the Founding Director of the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness, and has taught Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and trained teachers of that program as well. Steve is a Certified MSC teacher and a teacher trainer, leading MSC courses and teacher training programs around the world. Steve is also the author of “Self-Compassion for Dummies.”

Am I Doing This Right?
For those with a history of breathing problems, the seemingly simple process of breathing is entangled with fear, anxiety, and other difficult emotions. Read more
  • Jan 20,2022
  • Steven Hickman
The Mindful FAQ: When to Make a Meditation Session Longer
Extending your practice can bring challenges that may not arise in shorter sessions. Read more
  • Nov 23,2021
  • Steven Hickman
The Mindful FAQ: How to Meditate with a Cold
Mindfulness is a practice of being with whatever shows up—that includes the sniffles and itchy eyes. Read more
  • Oct 25,2021
  • Steven Hickman
Will My Well-Being Increase If I Meditate?
Mindfulness research points to probabilities, not concrete results tailored to each individual. But science can help us be better explorers—and meditation is fundamentally a practice of investigation. Read more
  • Nov 23,2021
  • Steven Hickman
The Mindful FAQ: Why Meditate Early in the Morning?
Test your theory about not being a morning person. Read more
  • Aug 23,2018
  • Steven Hickman
The Mindful FAQ: Can Mindfulness Do More Harm Than Help?
If you feel that a particularly challenging feeling or memory is growing too big or intense to bear, the most mindful thing you can do is to choose intentionally to disengage, says clinical psychologist and mindfulness teacher Steve Hickman. Read more
  • Aug 23,2018
  • Steven Hickman
How to Handle Big Emotions During Group Meditation
The trick is to keep challenging feelings from overwhelming you—to have them simply inform how you feel instead. Read more
  • Jan 19,2022
  • Steven Hickman
How to Meditate When You’re Anxious
When you're feeling anxious and jittery, try an alternative to seated meditation. Read more
  • Oct 25,2021
  • Steven Hickman
The Upside of Sadness
It’s never fun, but over the course of a lifetime, sadness visits us all. What if instead of resisting, you could welcome it in and listen to what it has to say? Read more
  • Oct 25,2021
  • Steven Hickman
Am I Doing This Right?
Here’s the latest installment in our ongoing series of helpful answers to common meditator questions. Read more
  • Nov 23,2021
  • Steven Hickman