about

Eastern psychology and mindful-awareness/metta meditation have been an integral part of my life for over 20 years. They are where I find my roots. Daily practice is vital to my well-being.

Movement, somatic practices, and engaging in play add significant value to my everyday experience. I am a certified yoga instructor and completed my 200-hour teacher training in 2008.

Expressive arts (painting, drawing, poetry, music) also play an important role in my life. Engaging in these practices connects me to a part of myself that can easily get buried in the business of responsibility.

These practices have supported me during deeply painful periods in my life. In fact, they have literally saved my life.

Because of this, they remain an integral part of my daily practice and are at the core of my therapeutic orientation.

These practices eventually led me to a career in mental health and an MA degree in clinical psychology. I graduated from Antioch University in Santa Barbara, CA in 2007 and became a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (CA52277) in 2012. Since then, I have been refining my practice to integrate aspects of Eastern psychology, movement/play, and expressive arts with Western psychology.

My experience, trainings, and certifications have given me an extensive therapeutic background which include:

  • humanistic psychology

  • somatic psychology

  • trauma-informed care

  • EMDR

  • mindfulness

  • attachment-based therapy

  • family systems

  • adoptions (ACT)

  • play therapy

I find incredible value in each of these orientations and, depending on the needs of my clients, draw from each of them in my work. 

I have experience in group homes, community-based mental health programs, out-patient clinics, public schools, as a clinical supervisor, program manager, and as a therapist in private practice. I have been privileged to walk alongside many who are suffering.

I see children, adolescent and adult clients in my private psychotherapy practice and provide contracted clinical supervision to both non-profit agencies and individuals in California.

My strongest influences include Carl Rogers, John Welwood, Thomas Moore, Carl Jung, Dan Siegel, Pat Ogden, Bruce Perry, Ajahn Chah, Ayya Khema, Ajahn Sucitto, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Sayadaw Tejaniya. 

I am a father, husband, yogi, artist, wave rider, runner, mountain seeker, and coffee drinker. 

“My style of psychotherapy utilizes aspects of depth psychology, somatic psychology, neuroscience, trauma-informed care, art, and humanistic modalities-all from a contemplative framework.”

— Bret Brown, LMFT,CYT