UC San Diego

Helen E. Davis, PhD, LMFT. is a licensed psychotherapist in group practice in Rancho Bernardo. Helen began her journey in meditation over 30 years ago. It transitioned to Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in 2013 when she took the 8-week MBSR class at UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness. She has completed the MBSR Teacher Training Intensive under the direction of Susan Woods, LICSW and Char Wilkins, LCSW and attended the Advance Teacher Training facilitated by Dr. Steven Hickman and Beth Mulligan, PA-C.

Helen teaches mindfulness programs in her group practice and has incorporated mindfulness-based treatment for anxiety, emotion regulation, depression, trauma and self-esteem into her practice where she has worked as a therapist for over 23 years. Helen's intent and passion is to offer MBSR and mindfulness to help individuals with emotional and physical pain find greater peace, contentment and wellness. 

Margaret Cullen is a licensed psychotherapist and was one of the first ten people to become a Certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher.  For over 20 years, she has pioneered secular contemplative programs for a wide variety of populations including physicians, nurses, HIV positive men, cancer patients, overweight women, military spouses college students, clinicians and educators.  She has developed and taught contemplative interventions for research studies at Stanford, UCSF, Portland State, Penn State, University of Michigan, and University of Miami.  In 2013, she developed a mindfulness and compassion program (MBAT - Spouse) for military spouses that she piloted at Ft. Drum, Maxwell Air Force Base, and Joint Operations Special Command.  In 2015, she co-authored a book on Mindfulness-Based Emotional Balance (MBEB), an evidence-based program that she piloted across the US and Canada.  She has also designed and co-delivered teacher trainings for both MBAT-Spouse and MBEB.

As a clinician, Margaret has been a facilitator of support groups for cancer patients and their loved ones for 25 years.  In 2010, she was invited by Thupten Jinpa to contribute to the development of the Compassion Cultivation Training, first through the Center for Compassion, Altruism, Research and Education at the Stanford School of Medicine and currently as Founding Faculty for the Compassion Institute.  A meditator for over 35 years, she has sat dozens of intensive retreats ranging from ten days to three months and has written extensively on mindfulness. Nothing brings her greater joy than contributing to a more compassionate world.

Michelle is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, the developer of the Compassion for Couples program, and the founder of Wise Compassion- a company specializing in teaching compassion in various relational contexts. She is a teacher trainer, mentor and co-founder of the Mindful Self-Compassion Teacher Training, as well as a senior teacher of Compassion Cultivation Training, certified Daring Way Facilitator and a Senior Trainer at the UCSD Center for Mindfulness. She teaches and speaks on the topics of compassion internationally. You can listen to her podcast: Well Connected Relationships wherever you like to listen to podcasts or on her website. Her book Compassion for Couples: Building the Skills of Loving Connection is due out February 2023. For more information please visit her website: WiseCompassion.com.

Renée is the Acting Director of the Youth, Family & Education Programs at UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness. With education as her background, Renée is very interested in mindfulness for teens and adults alike.  In 2013, Renée was hired as the Administrative Coordinator for the Center for Mindfulness. During this time, Renée attended her first MBSR class. Since then she has been practicing daily and has developed a passion for teaching mindfulness. She attended the MBSR Teacher Training in 2015 and since has become a Certified MBSR teacher.

Noriko Morita Harth is a Certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Instructor, Certified Mindful Self-Compassion Instructor and served as the Managing Director of the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness for many years. Noriko has been teaching MBSR and MSC since 2014. She also offers mentorships for MBSR and MSC teachers, MBSR Teacher Training programs, and practicum at the Mindfulness-Based Professional Training Institute at the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness.

Born in Japan, she moved to the States in 1985. Noriko feels that her life transforming journey of discovering and exploring mindfulness practices has allowed a more balanced life and identity between these two cultures. Noriko strongly believes practicing mindfulness and compassion, and bringing its principles into her life has and continues to help her grow as a person. She feels passionate about bringing these practices to other people's lives. It is her mission to share what she has learned, what she continues to learn to our community. In addition, Noriko sees an opportunity, based on her own integration experiences, to introduce mindfulness & compassion programs to the Japanese community.

Lorraine M. Hobbs, M.A., is Founding Director of the Youth, Family & Education Programs at the UCSD San Diego Center for Mindfulness. She is a family therapist and former clinical director of adolescent treatment programs. Lorraine is certified to teach Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC), and Compassion Cultivation, Altruism, Research & Education (CCT), a Stanford University accredited program created by contemplative scholars and endorsed by H.H. The Dalai Lama. She is a certified teacher of the Humanize Contemplative Dyad Foundational Program – based on the research of social neuroscientist Tania Singer, Ph.D.

Lorraine is co-author of two books: Teaching Self-Compassion to Teens (Guilford Press, 2022) and The Self-Compassion Workbook for Kids (New Harbinger, 2023). She is also a mentor for the MBSR certification pathway at the UCSD Mindfulness Based Professional Training Institute.

During her tenure at the Center for Mindfulness, she designed and implemented curricula in mindfulness-based interventions for multiple age groups, including a program in Mindful Compassionate Parenting for Parents of Kids with Autism and Other Neurodiverse Conditions. She is a pioneer in self-compassion training for parents, teens and kids and is co-author of the Mindful Self-Compassion Program for Teens & Young Adults, adapted from the adult program created by Kristin Neff, Ph.D. & Chris Germer, Ph.D. Lorraine is co-founder of the MSC-T teacher training program and provides teacher training in the MSC-T curriculum throughout the U.S. and internationally.

Her new curriculum for kids, A Friend in Me: An AI supported emotional strength training program for kids has been adapted into a classroom model, using an avatar to help kids cultivate skills in self-compassion.

Lorraine trains NGO staff through UNHCR in Ecuador. She has trained psychologists and mental health workers in Nicaragua and Mexico through a USAID program, Mentte Cedat and serves on the Mentte Cedat Advisory Board.

Joe Glaser-Reich serves as a rotary wing search and rescue professional and rescue swimmer in the federal government. He practices, coaches, and teaches mindfulness as a way of being that supports both high performance and sustainable well-being. Joe is a certified mPEAK (Mindful Performance Enhancement Awareness & Knowledge) coach and an Assistant Instructor in the University of Pennsylvania’s Master of Applied Positive Psychology Program where he earned his master’s degree in 2018. He regularly works with high performers to integrate mindfulness, positive psychology, and performance psychology to enhance performance and resilience. Joe also has extensive experience integrating mindfulness at an organizational level having co-led a mindfulness pilot project designed to advance wellness, resilience, and performance across multiple federal agencies. Prior to his current roles, Joe sailed on an ice breaking buoy tender for a year and taught English in Thailand on a Fulbright Scholarship. In his free time, Joe enjoys meditating, hiking with his wife and dog, reading a print newspaper, writing, hanging out on a surfboard with his wife (his dog doesn’t swim too well), and occasionally catching a good wave.

After a decorated career as a world class swimmer, Corrie was first exposed to mindfulness on a yoga retreat in 2002.  A certified yoga instructor and the former Head Swimming Coach at the University of California, San Diego, Corrie incorporated mindfulness concepts into her athletes mental training routines.  Now as a certified mPEAK (Mindfulness Performance, Enhancement, Awareness & Knowledge) Coach, Corrie works with athletes and teams to increase their performance through the power of present moment awareness.  Corrie lives with her husband and 2 young children in Solana Beach, CA.

Philayne Pribnow, originally from Wisconsin, moved to California back in 1999. Her most recent job was at UC San Diego Rady School of Management where she was an Event Manager for 6 years. Philayne began working as the Administrative Coordinator for the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness in March of 2022. She looks forward to continuing to build on her mindfulness training and offering administrative support to the center. In her free time, Philayne enjoys golfing, pet sitting, and hanging out with family and friends.

Lisette Atala-Doocy is a Certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Instructor who also holds a Certification from The Mindfulness in Schools Education Project, a program originally from the UK. Furthermore, she received a Certificate of Attendance from the Omega Institute on Radical Acceptance: Pathway of Emotional Healing & Spiritual Freedom led by Tara Brach. She is Co-Founder of the Bilingual Center for Mindfulness, which promotes mindfulness courses in Spanish and English.

Lisette’s strong conviction about the benefits and power of mindfulness practice has inspired her to passionately promote these techniques within our community. She has been teaching MBSR, Mindful Yoga and Mindful Living in Spanish and English for several years in the San Diego – Baja California regions. The mindfulness programs she has led in various institutions include the School of Medicine, Baja California State University and a Scripps Clinic women’s group. She has been spearheading a Mindful-Living group for more than six years. In addition to having practiced meditation for over 23 years, Lisette has also studied classical music and linguistics while making significant contributions to the San Diego art world over the course of many years.