CFM

Steven Hickman, PsyD is a clinical psychologist and retired Associate Clinical Professor in the UC San Diego Departments of Family Medicine & Public Health and Psychiatry. He is the Founding Director of the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness and the Executive Director of the non-profit Center for Mindful Self-Compassion. Dr. Hickman teaches Mindful Self-Compassion around the world and trains teachers of that program and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, in addition to speaking and teaching on the topic of teaching mindfulness-based programs. Steve is particularly interested in supporting men in developing greater self-compassion and mindfulness and is involved in projects to develop these capacities in Olympic-class athletes, first-responders and active duty military.

Gabrielle Hammond (Movement Teacher | Qigong) has been practicing as an acupuncturist and doctor of Taoist and Traditional Chinese Medicine for past 28 years, under the tutelage of a 64th generation Taoist Master Chang Yi Hsiang, who initiated her journey into contemplative arts, meditation, and qigong practice at a young age. Gabrielle continues to teach and practice qigong over 35 years later as the bedrock of her healing practice. She loves working with plants, both as an herbalist in healing and in the more subtle and energetic way we are connected with plants as allies. This love of plants has morphed into a love for Meditative Tea Ceremony as a heart practice.

She has been practicing Vipassana meditation for 15 years and practices silent meditation retreats annually. She has completed Spirit Rock’s two-year Dedicated Practitioner Program and Sacred Mountain Sangha’s two-year Dharmapala Training with Thanissara and Kittisaro. Her personal daily practice includes sitting, tea ceremony, qigong, and chanting. She has a particular interest in devotional expression of the Dharma and bringing it alive to people and beings in health or creative crisis.

Joel Grow, PhD is a clinical psychologist at the Seattle Mindfulness Center and lead trainer of Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP).  His research interests include clinical applications of mindfulness meditation, primarily in the areas of anxiety, trauma, and addictive behaviors.  He has extensive experience teaching in the university setting, and was awarded the University of Washington “Award for Teaching Excellence.”  He co-facilitates MBRP groups in both private and community treatment settings.

Andrea Grabovac, MD, FRCPC is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia. Her psychiatric practice focuses on inpatient psychiatry at Vancouver Hospital and outpatient psycho-oncology at the BC Cancer Agency. Beginning in 2006, she has been facilitating both group and individual mindfulness-based interventions for various clinical populations, including mood disorders, sexual medicine and oncology. In collaboration with Dr. Mark Lau, she developed and continues to facilitate a monthly Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy consultation course for MBCT clinicians since 2009. In addition, she supervises psychiatry residents and other mental health clinicians in the provision of MBCT and is an Associate Teacher at 5-day MBCT teacher trainings. Her academic publications explore the clinical relevance of re-contextualizing mindfulness based interventions within Buddhist psychological frameworks. She has a particular interest in the clinical relevance of the progressive development of meditative skills as described in the Theravadan stages of insight. Andrea is a co-investigator on two funded trials investigating MBCT adapted for women, and has co-authored MBCT treatment manuals for treatment of provoked vestibulodynia and low sexual desire in women. She is also an Associate Editor for the journal Mindfulness. She has practiced and studied in the Burmese Theravada Vipassana tradition since 2002. Andrea lives in Vancouver, Canada with her husband and their three children.

Allan Goldstein, Certified MBSR Teacher, providing MBSR Teacher Training, and MBSR Mentorship is a Senior Advisor on the Leadership Team of the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness. Allan’s passion for supporting Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Teachers through MBSR Training and MBSR Mentorship began in 1993 when he first participated in an MBSR program. Continuing to explore the foundations of MBSR and mindfulness led Allan to training programs offered by the UMass Center for Mindfulness. He established MBSR Programs of Hawaii where he joyfully lived and taught for 14 years. He Joined Dr. Steven Hickman, UC San Diego CFM Founding Director, in 2011 and was a leader in the development of the UCSD CFM Mindfulness-Based Professional Training Institute and MBSR Certification programs. Allan has taught MBSR extensively to groups and individuals in health care, university, Veterans Health Administration, and community settings. Allan’s strong passion, for the valuable teachings found within MBSR, continues through his teaching, professional MBSR Teacher Training programs and practicum intensives which along with mentoring current and future MBSR teachers is now Allan’s dedicated focus of work in the health-care field of mindfulness programs.

Richard Goerling has served in civilian law enforcement for over twenty years. He also served as a member of the U.S. Coast Guard, both active and reserve for 27 years, retiring at the rank of Commander in 2015. He’s had a front row seat to operational stress in both arenas and has spent the last decade as a student, and now trainer, of resiliency. Over the last decade, he has spearheaded the introduction of mindfulness training into policing in the United States and internationally as part of a larger cultural transformation toward a compassionate, skillful and resilient warrior ethos. He serves as an affiliate faculty at Pacific University’s Graduate School of Professional Psychology and participates in mindfulness research at this institution. Richard regularly trains and presents on resiliency for first responders, bringing practical mindfulness skill building to enhance personal, organizational and community.

Neha Chawla, PhD is one of the co-creators of MBRP and co-author of the Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention for Addictive Behaviors: A Clinician’s Guide. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Addictive Behaviors Research Center at the University of Washington in Seattle. Her research interests include the development and evaluation of mindfulness-based treatments for substance use disorders, understanding mechanisms of change, issues related to therapist training and dissemination, and the assessment of therapist competence. Neha has facilitated several MBRP groups in private and community treatment settings in Seattle and on the East-coast.

Sarah Bowen, PhD. is a clinical psychologist, is Associate Professor at Pacific University in Portland, Oregon, where she specializes in mindfulness-based approaches for treatment of addictive and impulsive behaviors. Her research and more than 50 publications have focused on mechanisms of change and on treatment adaptations to best serve diverse populations and settings, with particular interests in dual diagnosis and underserved communities. Dr. Bowen facilitates and supervises mindfulness-based relapse prevention groups in numerous settings, including private and county treatment agencies, medical centers, and prisons. She presents, consults, and provides instruction internationally.

Carolina Bautista-Velez is a Latinx social changer who believes in the power of individual and collective liberation. Through her work as a consultant, mindfulness teacher, facilitator and leadership coach, Carolina works with groups and organizations by co-creating spaces that foster, uplift and sustain systems of care, healing and well-being. Her work is rooted in healing justice, popular education and trauma informed practices. Carolina is a Certified MSC Teacher, Qualified MBSR Teacher, MMTCP Certified Mindfulness Teacher and MMT certified Mindfulness Mentor. She is the founder of CVelez Consulting & Metamorphosis-Coaching. Carolina holds a degree in clinical psychology with a specialization in social psychology and psychoanalysis.

 

Betsy Atwell, MA, LPC, CSAC, ICS is a practicing therapist in Madison, Wisconsin, specializing in populations that struggle with addiction and trauma. She completed the Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP) training in 2016 and has run the group at a community mental health agency since then. In 2019, she participated in a research study on MBRP with the University of Wisconsin, Madison which allowed her the opportunity to work with Sarah Bowen to ensure fidelity to the model. Betsy actively practices meditation in her personal life and finds that it enhances her skills with other treatment modalities including EMDR and IFS, as well as clinical supervision.