Youth, Family & Education Programs Founding Director, Certified MBSR Teacher, Certified MSC Teacher
Lorraine M. Hobbs, M.A., is Founding Director of the Youth, Family & Education Programs at the UCSD San Diego Center for Mindfulness. She is a family therapist and former clinical director of adolescent treatment programs. Lorraine is certified to teach Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC), and Compassion Cultivation, Altruism, Research & Education (CCT), a Stanford University accredited program created by contemplative scholars and endorsed by H.H. The Dalai Lama. She is a certified teacher of the Humanize Contemplative Dyad Foundational Program – based on the research of social neuroscientist Tania Singer, Ph.D.
Lorraine is co-author of two books: Teaching Self-Compassion to Teens (Guilford Press, 2022) and The Self-Compassion Workbook for Kids (New Harbinger, 2023). She is also a mentor for the MBSR certification pathway at the UCSD Mindfulness Based Professional Training Institute.
During her tenure at the Center for Mindfulness, she designed and implemented curricula in mindfulness-based interventions for multiple age groups, including a program in Mindful Compassionate Parenting for Parents of Kids with Autism and Other Neurodiverse Conditions. She is a pioneer in self-compassion training for parents, teens and kids and is co-author of the Mindful Self-Compassion Program for Teens & Young Adults, adapted from the adult program created by Kristin Neff, Ph.D. & Chris Germer, Ph.D. Lorraine is co-founder of the MSC-T teacher training program and provides teacher training in the MSC-T curriculum throughout the U.S. and internationally.
Her new curriculum for kids, A Friend in Me: An AI supported emotional strength training program for kids has been adapted into a classroom model, using an avatar to help kids cultivate skills in self-compassion.
Lorraine trains NGO staff through UNHCR in Ecuador. She has trained psychologists and mental health workers in Nicaragua and Mexico through a USAID program, Mentte Cedat and serves on the Mentte Cedat Advisory Board.
