Therapist Uncensored Podcast Inner Stability in an Unstable World: Margaret Cullen on Equanimity (296)
Apr 14, 2026
Margaret Cullen, licensed psychotherapist and veteran meditation teacher who co-developed Compassion Cultivation Training, discusses equanimity, mindfulness, and compassion. She traces mindfulness's rise in the West. She explains how social media taxes our nervous systems and why equanimity means feeling emotions without getting hijacked. Practical practices and accessible tools for steady presence are highlighted.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
How A Film Set Led To A Mindfulness Career
- Margaret began meditating during a film career and later merged meditation with psychotherapy after being invited to pilot MBSR for cancer patients.
- That 'happy accident' launched her career blending inner practice with clinical work.
Why Mindfulness Took Hold In The West
- Mindfulness spread in the West because hedonic fixes failed and people sought deeper, eudaimonic well-being like peace and equanimity.
- Tim Lomas and the World Happiness Poll shifted measures toward harmony and equanimonia, explaining mindfulness' cultural uptake.
Equanimity Is Love Meeting Vulnerability
- Equanimity sits as the fourth of the four immeasurables: lovingkindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, then equanimity.
- Equanimity is described as love meeting vulnerability — keeping an open heart amid impermanence and limits of control.
Margaret Cullen alongside co-host Sue Marriott discuss the evolution of mindfulness in modern culture, the foundations of compassion-based practices, and how these approaches can support resilience and emotional balance. Grounded in both clinical insight and lived practice, this conversation offers a thoughtful, accessible perspective on cultivating steadiness and clarity in the midst of ongoing challenges.
Margaret Cullen is a licensed psychotherapist and a pioneer in bringing contemplative practices into mainstream settings. She was one of the first ten people to be certified as an MBSR instructor and has taught around the world. As a therapist, she facilitated psycho-social support groups for cancer patients and their loved ones for over 30 years. She has led research studies on the impact of contemplative programs for a wide variety of populations across the US and co-developed the Compassion Cultivation Training with Thupten Jinpa at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the Mindfulness and Compassion Training for military spouses with Amishi Jha at University of Miami. She is the founder of Compassion Corps, a program which brings compassion programs to underserved populations around the world. She also developed Mindfulness-Based Emotional Balance and co-authored a book about it with Gonzalo Brito Pons. She was a Senior Teacher and Curriculum Developer for Humanize, a contemplative-based dyad program founded by German neuroscientist Tania Singer. Margaret is a Mind and Life Institute Fellow, on the advisory board of the Global Compassion Coalition, and has been a meditation practitioner for over 40 years.
who you are and how you connect with others. Online, Self-Paced, Asynchronous Learning with Quarterly Live Q&A’s! Earn 6 Continuing Education Credits – Available at Checkout As a listener of this podcast, 
