Dave Sbarra, Ph.D Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Training, Department of Psychology, University of Arizona Life often does not work out in the way we expected it would unfold. The human experience is fraught with challenges and pain, and a key question for living a happier existence is 'how to prevent suffering in the face of life's inevitable pain?' Cultivating self-compassion can shape how we respond to life's inherent difficulties and make the most of challenging experiences. Dr. Sbarra shares how self-compassion shapes responses to marital separation and divorce, and how this can inform the ways in which we can move through other challenging experiences.