Contemplative Psychotherapy Educator

I have been working as a somatic-informed contemplative psychotherapy educator and group facilitator with the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science since 2016. I am currently a core faculty member of the Embodied Contemplative Psychotherapy program and the director of the Compassion-Based Resilience Training (CBRT) at Nalanda. I have taught classes at Mindful Exercises and at the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists.

For almost 2 decades I have been a student of Tibetan Buddhism (in the Gelug lineage) and Buddhist psychology in tandem with contemporary western psychology and neuroscience. Some of the teachers who have greatly impacted my understanding of contemplative ideas and practices include: Ven. Robina Courtin, Lama Rod Owens, Rev. angel Kyodo williams, Ven. Thubten Chodron, Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche, Dr Nida Chenagtsang and Robert Thurman. 

Some common themes that I touch into as a contemplative psychotherapy educator and psychotherapist include: How can we develop consistent internal felt experiences of love and belonging to nourish our psychological and physiological wellbeing? How can we skillfully hold our own psychological complexity, along with that of others, so that we have the capacity to care for ourselves and be in healthful and discerning relationship with others? How can we use contemplative practices to give us the skillful means to collaborate with others to fight oppressive social biases and systems?

Below are excerpts from some of my classes. They will give you a taste of what I teach. Enjoy!

Selected Talks About Contemplative Psychotherapy & Building Healthy Relationships

 

Embodied Psychotherapy 

This video excerpt is from a lecture I gave for the Nalanda Institute’s Embodied Psychotherapy Program entitled Active Imagery: Co-Creating a Congenial Vision that Mirrors the Client’s Potential.

You’ll get a taste of why Lama Yeshe finds Tibetan Buddhist Guru Yoga to be a powerful practice for healing.

Love and Belonging: A Contemplative Psychotherapy Approach to Building Healthy Relationships

This is a lecture I gave to the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. The full lecture is on the CAMFT website, and MFTs can watch it to receive continuing education credits. In the excerpt I begin to discuss the two root causes of relationship stress. 

Compassion-Based Resilience Training (CBRT)

I teach a couple CBRT groups a year through the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science. This group was created specifically to help mental health professionals address burnout. In this video excerpt I share why the Buddhist contemplative practice of mentor bonding builds compassion and resilience.

Love and Belonging: 3 part lecture series

I developed a 3-part lecture series called Love & Belonging to explore where social stress comes from and what we can do to prevent it. Using neuropsychology and compassion practices as frameworks, the class investigates reactive relating dynamics and ways to build healthy relationships.