What is MCD Therapy?
Mindful Compassionate Dialogue Therapy (MCDT) is born from the meeting place of mindfulness, somatic awareness, experiential exploration, and compassionate communication. It invites both therapists and clients into a shared map, one that not only guides the steps of healing in the therapy room, but also becomes a compass they can carry into every corner of life.
This is a revolution in therapy!
Cultivate your own skill and capacity to ground in love, care, and power-with dynamics. From this consciousness and with the support of the MCD system, you will discover a path to thriving in relationships.
There is a map to thriving relationships. We want you to have it!
A clear path to healing and growth.
Mindfulness & Present-Moment Exploration: Through guided mindfulness and in-the-moment exploration, clients foster deeper self-awareness of internal beliefs and tender core needs, as well as underlying relational patterns. They can then explore, in the moment, new ways of engaging that foster the quality of connection desired. Clients are empowered with 12 specific and doable relationship competencies and with healing support for 9 aspects of foundational wellbeing.
What makes this approach unique?
The most innovative thing that we're offering couples therapy is client empowerment. MCD Therapists bring transparency to the process - we're empowering our clients to learn the map of their own psyche, their own relationship, their own skills, and especially their own resources. MCDT is built on:
12 Relationship Competencies for thriving relationships - skills that help couples navigate conflict, improve communication, and build stronger, more collaborative relationships based on loving presence and shared power: Appreciation, Empathy, Honest Expression, Self Empathy, Recognizing Reactivity, Managing Reactivity, Needs-based Negotiations, Live-serving Boundaries, Thriving and Resilience, Relationship Repair, Emotional Security, and Healthy Differentiation.
9 Foundations for personal wellbeing - key areas of physiological and psychological wellbeing: Attunement, Warmth, Security, Awareness of Self, Health, Regulation, Equanimity, Clarity, and Concentration. As these foundations grow stronger, individuals are better able to utilize the relationship skills when they need them the most.
Clear, actionable steps for navigating complex dynamics.
The Guiding Principle of MCDT
TAt the heart of MCDT is what we call the Life-Serving Intention — a purpose that leans toward growth, well-being, connection, and the flourishing of life in ourselves and those around us. It is an inner compass where our words, actions, and thoughts are shaped by compassion, care, nonviolence, and wisdom.
When we hold this intention, we naturally move in ways that heal rather than harm, that build bridges instead of walls, and that invite collaboration instead of division. In the delicate space of intimate relationships, it becomes the ground from which conflict can transform and connection can deepen.
A Life-Serving Intention often involves pausing long enough to ask: What is truly needed here? How can I, in this moment, contribute to what will serve life for both of us?
The roots of MCDT
Mindful Compassionate Dialogue grew from the rich soil of mindfulness, Nonviolent Communication (NVC), and Hakomi — three streams of practice that share a deep respect for presence, empathy, and the wisdom within. Originally developed by Elia Paz, MCD has been shared with the public through Wise Heart, touching the lives of countless participants and supporting their growth and healing.
Mindful Compassionate Dialogue Therapy (MCDT) was created by Ava Frank in collaboration with Elia Paz to offer therapists a clear, practical, and deeply human framework for bringing MCD into their work. MCDT therapists help clients slow down, listen inward, and uncover what is most alive and needed in each moment. From this space, they guide the learning of tangible skills for emotional healing and the creation of relationships that truly thrive.