International Center faculty and international students at an ICCO compassion training.

War, inequality, environmental degradation, injustice, exploitation, economic insecurity, disease, predatory business practices, child abuse, religious persecution, poverty, marginalization, cultures of fear, misinformation, and societal discounting and exclusion (including those based upon race, gender, age, disability, national origin, political orientation, achieved education level, and unique physical characteristics) drive suffering. Compassion provides a foundation for energetic and effective healing and restoration.

Compassion Education

The International Center applies a disciplined nonpolitical, nonreligious, and all-inclusive public health and public service approach to the concept and practice of compassion. Our focus is on education, including certification programs for practitioners. We support that focus by providing resources, undertaking public information initiatives, and providing advisory services. The Center’s programs are presented internationally, including those provided in conjunction with the World Affairs Council of Kentucky and Southern Indiana.

Under the sponsorship of the World Affairs Council of Kentucky and Southern Indiana
and the US Department of State's International Visitor Leadership Program,
representatives from these countries have attended International Center programs.

The International Center applies a disciplined nonpolitical, nonreligious, and all-inclusive public health and public service approach to the concept and practice of compassion. Our focus is on education, including certification programs for practitioners. We support that focus by providing resources, undertaking public information initiatives, and providing advisory services. The Center’s programs are presented internationally, including those provided in conjunction with the World Affairs Council of Kentucky and Southern Indiana and the US State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program.

Our education focus is five-fold:

1. Introducing people in professional and personal settings to the concept and practice of compassion.
2. Understanding the nature and degrees of suffering.
3. Providing a clear understanding of the nature of compassion including compassion requirements, compassion advocacy, compassionate action, applied compassion, assimilative and nonassimilative compassion, compassion aversion, and compassion bypass.
4. Differentiating compassion from related concepts such as empathy, sympathy, and pity.
5. Identifying and overcoming personal and organizational beliefs, policies, procedures, practices, and traditions underlying the suffering of sentient beings.

Compassion requires courage, competency, and commitment. The International Center encourages and supports these attributes by providing resources and essential skills that are clear, informed, and motivating. Individual and organizational purpose is sustained by a clear understanding and resilient proficiency. We update and expand our offerings regularly in response to emerging areas of concern, evolving need, and new research.