Background
Wegela, Karen Kissel was born on June 5, 1945 in New York City. Daughter of Charles and Clara (Strachman) Kissel.
University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, United States
In 1967 Karen Kissel Wegela received a Bachelor of Arts degree in contemplative psychology from the University of Rochester.
Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
In 1968 Karen Kissel Wegela obtained a Master of Arts degree in English from Boston University.
University of Denver, Denver, Colorado, United States
In 1970 Karen Kissel Wegela gained a Master of Arts degree in literature and counseling from the University of Denver.
Union Institute & University, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
In 1977 Karen Kissel Wegela received a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Union Institute & University.
(Despite our good intentions to help others, we often hold...)
Despite our good intentions to help others, we often hold back because we don't know what to do or are afraid to intrude. Even when we overcome our hesitations, we sometimes find that we have made things worse with our attempts to help. Karen Kissel Wegela combines the insights of traditional meditative practices and modern psychology to address these problems, concluding that the most important thing we can offer to anyone in distress is our mindful presence, without agendas or expectations. When we learn to cultivate this ability to be open-heartedly, compassionately present, we find that we can intelligently apply a variety of skills and techniques, including listening, being mindful companions, and forming supportive teams for individuals and families. We may find that our actions benefit us as much as they do the people we seek to help. This books provides concrete practical advice, with techniques and exercises for developing the capacity to serve, support, and encourage those in need - for people in the helping professions as well as for everybody else who wants to provide genuine help to others.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1570621500/?tag=2022091-20
1996
(The quality of presence a psychotherapist or counselor br...)
The quality of presence a psychotherapist or counselor brings to the therapeutic relationship makes all the difference in effective treatment. With this groundbreaking new application of Buddhist practice to psychotherapy, Karen Kissel Wegela offers mental heath professionals a Buddhist’s perspective on bringing compassion, patience, generosity, and equanimity to their work with clients. She presents as a model the Buddhist ideal of the bodhisattva, the archetypal being whose life is radically dedicated to seeking the benefit and welfare of others over his or her own. Drawing on her background in Buddhist practice and her years of teaching at the university level and of working with clients in private practice, Wegela begins with the basic Buddhist understanding of how suffering arises and ceases, and then continues with teachings on how to discover and cultivate the bodhisattva’s awakened heart. She uses stories from her own practice as well as teachings from the Buddhist tradition to describe how to discover and cultivate the six traditional "awakened actions": generosity, discipline, patience, exertion, meditation, and wisdom.
https://www.amazon.com/Courage-Be-Present-Psychotherapy-Awakening/dp/1590306589/?tag=2022091-20
2009
(To be truly helpful to others, Karen Wegela explains, we ...)
To be truly helpful to others, Karen Wegela explains, we must begin by focusing on ourselves. We must develop greater awareness, steadiness of mind, fearlessness, and self-compassion. Only then can we extend these qualities to the people we’d like to help. Drawing on her experiences as a psychotherapist and on her longtime study of Buddhist meditation, Wegela emphasizes the benefits of mindfulness, or learning to become fully present in our moment-to-moment experience. Through mindfulness we develop a fearless, compassionate presence in our daily lives - and we become better listeners, take wiser actions, and give more valuable, effective guidance to the people we’d like to help.
https://www.amazon.com/What-Really-Helps-Mindfulness-Compassionate/dp/1590308808/?tag=2022091-20
2011
(The book explores the nuances of contemplative therapy pr...)
The book explores the nuances of contemplative therapy practice, beginning with creating genuine therapeutic relationships and learning how to recognize "brilliant sanity" - not only psychopathology - in our clients, and goes on to consider sowing the seeds of mindfulness, making skillful use of mindlessness practices, investigating emotions, cultivating compassion, and working with anger. Filled with client vignettes and practical guidance in an eminently wise, openhearted tone, Contemplative Psychotherapy Essentials makes the increasingly popular pairing of Buddhist psychology with traditional therapy accessible for any clinician, putting readers and their clients in better touch with the present moment - their bodies, emotions, and minds - for more enduring change.
https://www.amazon.com/Contemplative-Psychotherapy-Essentials-Enriching-Psychology/dp/0393708675/?tag=2022091-20
2014
Wegela, Karen Kissel was born on June 5, 1945 in New York City. Daughter of Charles and Clara (Strachman) Kissel.
Bachelor, U. Rochester, 1967; Master of Arts, Boston University, 1968; Master of Arts, U. Denver, 1970; Doctor of Philosophy, Union Institute, 1977.
Teacher English, Rham High School, HEbron, Connecticut, 1968-1969, 70-72; psychotherapist, private practice, Storrs, Connecticut, 1977-1980; psychotherapist, Boulder (Colorado) County Mental Health Center, 1987; from professor to associate professor II, Naropa Institute, Boulder, since 1983; psychotherapist, private practice, Boulder, since 1980; professor, director program, Naropa Institute, since 1990. Presenter in field.
(The book explores the nuances of contemplative therapy pr...)
2014(The quality of presence a psychotherapist or counselor br...)
2009(Despite our good intentions to help others, we often hold...)
1996(To be truly helpful to others, Karen Wegela explains, we ...)
2011Member steering committee The Friendship House, Boulder, since 1988. Oral examiner Board Psychology Examiners, Denver, since 1997. Member Colorado Psychological Association, Association Humanistic Psychology, Association Transpersonal Psychology, Kappa Delta Pi.
Married Paul Richard Korn, August 24, 1968 (divorced December 1972). Married Fredrick Owen Wegela, January 4, 1986.