Courageous Heart: The Human Behind the Badge™ – Meditation Drop-Ins for Law Enforcement and Emergency Services Personnel
City of Palo Alto Police Chief, Robert Jonsen, is offering free Courageous Heart: The Human Behind the Badge Meditation Drop-Ins for Law Enforcement and Emergency Services Personnel.
In these unprecedented times, taking care of ourselves is critical. And in each 30-minute session, Chief Jonsen will offer short science-based practices, designed to alleviate stress, strengthen mental resilience, and provide an opportunity to ‘reboot’ your day. In addition, you may also use the classroom discussion forum to connect with your colleagues.
These sessions are non-sequential, and we encourage you to attend as many as you wish as they become available. If you are interested in attending any of the upcoming sessions, or would like to be notified when new sessions are scheduled, please register now.
Upcoming Sessions:
Meditation Practices led by Chief Robert Jonsen, Palo Alto Police Department; and Monica Hanson, Compassion Institute Founding Faculty
1200 – 1245 on June 18 (Courageous Heart Training Alumni Only)
All sessions take place in a private group-learning environment, live online. We encourage you to attend from a quiet location with a reliable Internet connection, and to have a microphone available if participant questions are invited. You will not be required to appear on video, however we ask participants to provide first name and last name initial at a minimum. In addition to the private classroom, you will also have access to the Compassion Community Lounge, which is accessible to all who have taken a Compassion Institute class or live public session.
If you have any questions about our Courageous Heart meditation sessions, please contact [email protected].
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What Is Courageous Heart: The Human Behind the Badge™ Training?
The Courageous Heart training program began in early 2019. Trainings offered include one-day and three-day workshops and immersions, where participants learn ways to enhance their own resiliency and achieve better sleep, better relationships, and courageous compassion. The information is specifically selected for professionals in emotionally challenging and physically dangerous roles, dedicated to protecting and serving the general public. The suggested methods in Courageous Heart Training are backed by science, and by the experiences of Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders. Participants leave with practical tools and daily mental practices to help successfully manage and alleviate the many stressors that affect work, family, and everyday life.
Robert Jonsen
Sheriff Bob Jonsen has been in law enforcement since 1986. Prior to his elected appointment as the Sheriff of Santa Clara County in December 2022, Bob was Chief for the Palo Alto Police Department from January 2018. Prior to that, he was the Chief of Police for the City of Menlo Park. His law enforcement career began in Los Angeles where he was a member of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for 27 years. As a police executive, Sheriff Jonsen believes it’s essential to support the physical, mental, and emotional health of those serving our communities. As Chief, Jonsen was instrumental in bringing mindfulness training to the Menlo Park Police Department, where every employee received Resilience Immersion Training.
In 2018, he became a certified instructor of Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT), as well as a Peer Coach for the Resilience Immersion Training. He has facilitated CCT to both police and fire personnel and witnessed the profound impact it has had for participants, both professionally and personally. Sheriff Jonsen’s law enforcement experience provides unique insight to the stressors public safety personnel encounter throughout their career and adds value to the classes he teaches. Since 2018, he has also been Principal Instructor for the Courageous Heart program at Compassion Institute.
Monica Hanson
Monica Hanson teaches the Compassion Cultivation Training program for the public at Stanford University in the School of Medicine. Her focus is on fierce compassion, choosing compassionate values, and compassion led social innovation.
In 2013, she was the lead teacher in a research study for Stanford Medicine Neuroscience and Pain Lab, examining the effects of compassion training, chronic pain and the impact on significant others. In 2017, Monica started a collaborative effort to identify and exchange emerging best practices in teaching compassion.
While the last decade focused on compassion and meditation, Monica’s earlier work focused on applying symbolic systems in innovative environments at Nike and Apple.