Sara Spowart, PhD, LMFT, is a leader in compassion-based therapy and the founder of Compassion-Based Happiness, LLC. She works with her clients as a trauma-informed, mindfulness-based practitioner with a passion for supporting people in designing their ‘lightest life.’ Her work spans breaking a toxic cycle to building a strong, reparative process where kindness, awareness and evidence-based practices are applied.
In this enlightening interview, Dr. Spowart discusses how she practices and integrates care, awareness and mental health. She also discusses the need for kindness, community involvement, and her specially devised course, the Happiness-Based Mindfulness Program.
Sara, what inspired you to explore the intersection of compassion, mindfulness, and mental well-being, particularly in your work addressing trauma and resilience?
I was inspired to explore the intersection of compassion, mindfulness and mental well-being because I have found in my work and education that compassion alone, mindfulness alone and traditional mental health training are not enough to attain the levels of happiness that are possible. The combination of these elements enhances and increases their efficacy when put together. They are strengthened when combined. I see compassion and ‘love with understanding’ as where we can apply understanding and love to ourselves or others to be at peace and happy in our daily lives. I view mindfulness as the awareness of our mind and its contents, the practice of being present and the awareness and practice of being the observer in our everyday lives. The combination of self-awareness, love with understanding, and the intentionality of positive mental health and well-being powerfully intersect together. Compassion and mindfulness are particularly essential for trauma and resilience, as they bring kindness, letting go, and love into the present moment.
Your research and clinical work highlight the importance of volunteerism and acts of kindness. How do these practices contribute to long-term mental well-being and personal growth?
Volunteering and acts of kindness are essential for long-term mental well-being and personal growth. In my opinion, it is a very underdeveloped part of happiness and mental health work. When we volunteer or perform acts of kindness, we get out of cycles or patterns that we may be stuck in and loop around repeatedly. Volunteering and acts of kindness create ‘cycle interruption’ where we take a short break from the cyclical things that cause us distress or the norm. It is also an opportunity to build our own self-esteem and feel empowered by helping others. In addition, it helps to create more gratitude and appreciation in our own lives, as well as cultivate more compassion and love. Focusing excessively on ourselves and our own small worlds and lives leads to higher levels of anxiety, depression, distorted perspective of yourself, and decreased happiness. If you want to be happy, do something kind for someone else. It is an instant boost. But do it for the sake of doing it, not because you are trying to get something in return. More than this, in the big picture, we are all interconnected on some level. When we volunteer and do acts of kindness, we can practice and experience greater connectivity and feel a sense of being part of something bigger than just ourselves.
Could you elaborate on how your “Happiness-Based Mindfulness” program integrates mindfulness and compassion to support individuals in their healing journey?
The Happiness-Based Mindfulness program integrates mindfulness and compassion through various exercises, practices and educational discussions. Self-awareness practices are an essential component of this program, and applied mindfulness practices are used for major components of well-being. These applied self-awareness and mindfulness exercises include exercises such as “The Emotion Chart,” “The Compassion Chart,” “The Body Love Exercise,” “The Identity Layers Exercise,” “Self-Love” and “Other Love” Chart, and “Trapped Cycles” diagram. These exercises are practical applications of mindfulness and promote self-awareness and compassion. However, the Happiness-Based Mindfulness program also integrates psychoeducation, group support, meditations and structured information that is provided in various formats.
Your experiences working with survivors of human trafficking and marginalized communities have been central to your work. How have these experiences shaped your approach to therapy and the role of community engagement in fostering healing?
It’s hard to say how these experiences have shaped my approach to therapy and the role of community engagement in fostering healing with words because there are so many emotions and depth around this. But I would say that it helped me to reach a place where we all are interconnected and see myself in everyone and everything. I don’t see clients or community issues in terms of “me versus them” or “us and others.” I don’t see the world through the lens of ‘other’; it further deepened my compassion and empathy and helped me understand that anything can happen to anyone at any time. I, too, could be in the same place or situation as my clients and loved ones. There is no superior, inferior or equal. We are more than labels; I see the humanity in people and our interconnectedness. This helps me to be more compassionate, kind, loving and come from a place of service and empathy. By working with different population groups of large variation in my career, I see people for people, not for their circumstances or labels. I see beyond that, partly because of the extreme situations I have worked with that caused those breakthroughs in services, compassion, and love for others.
In your clinical practice, you incorporate trauma-informed methods like EMDR and Solution-Focused Therapy. How do you integrate compassion and self-compassion into these techniques to promote resilience and healing?
I see compassion and self-compassion as being a combination of love and understanding. It is really trying to use empathy to understand others clearly and apply love and kindness to a situation. I integrate compassion and self-compassion through my presence, how I approach clients and my work, and by regularly integrating compassion and self-compassion questions, considerations, and inquiries in micro activities and small ways. The compassion-based approach is integrated in micro ways throughout interactions and by asking clients how they can feel compassion for themselves or others for situations and how that might make a difference in how they are feeling.
For individuals seeking greater purpose and fulfillment, especially those looking to cultivate compassion and engage with their communities, what advice would you offer for breaking cycles of pain and fostering well-being?
I would recommend firstly bringing greater self-awareness into your life and trying to take a step back to look at any repeating cycles you have been in. If you can’t see or observe the cycles you’ve been in, I recommend journaling and reflecting on what repeating issues, experiences or feelings you have suffered from. This is not to feel like a victim but rather to increase empowerment and think of what patterns have repeated to create situations. What can you do every day, even if it is very small and seemingly insignificant, to change the course or direction in the patterns? Imagine it is like a ship that is being steered; even if you move the course and direction only incrementally, over time, this small change in direction will alter the course you are going in.
Other things you can do are practice mindfulness meditation, imagine yourself being happy in these meditations, and send love and kindness to yourself and others in these meditations. Lastly, you can try to bring understanding and love to yourself for your situation and the situation of others and think about what small things you can do every day to add a little extra kindness to the world. How can you do one extra act of kindness each day? And then 2 extra acts of kindness? And then maybe 3 extra acts of kindness? This can be a kindness for yourself or for others. Also, you can try to think of times you feel excited, energized or passionate about certain things and how you can bring that positive energy to activities that give back to your family or community. What is good in you that you can give? When you start to give, more energy flows through you, and you will feel more and more alive and more able to give. The less you give, the less energy you will feel you have to give.
Being too self-centered will ultimately hurt you and cultivate issues like depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and feeling lost and unhappy. The more you give for good and causes that are making a difference, the happier you will be. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of starting, and eventually, a higher level of energy, happiness, connection and compassion follows, but first, you have to start.