Our Trainers

Michelle Becker, M.A., LMFT is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in private practice in San Diego, CA utilizing mindfulness and compassion based psychotherapy with individuals, couples, families and groups. She is Director of Compassion Programs at the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness where she also teaches Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and Mindful Self-Compassion. She is a teacher trainer for Mindful Self-Compassion and co-founder, along with Dr.’s Germer, Neff and Hickman, of the Mindful Self-Compassion Teacher Training. She is also co-founder of the San Diego Center For Well Being and co-developer of the Mindful Living for Couples program. Michelle enjoys helping individuals, couples, families and groups to find a meaningful and satisfying way of life. For more information on Michelle’s work and schedule please visit her website: www.wisecompassion.com.

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.

Ian Challis is a qualified teacher of MBSR in Palm Springs, California where he teaches MBSR and other mindfulness meditation classes in the community. Inspired by Beth Mulligan’s teaching, it is always a special joy for him to teach alongside her. Ian has maintained a dedicated practice for fifteen years, and studied with many leading teachers including Larry Yang, Sylvia Boorstein, Rodney Smith and Tara Brach. In addition, he completed a multi-year training and was certified in 2017 to teach Insight Meditation by Spirit Rock Meditation Center. After a career in art and product design, he became a founding board member of Insight Community of the Desert, which has grown into a thriving meditation center. He currently serves as the center’s Guiding Teacher offering weekly teachings, workshops, and retreats. Supporting the creation of inclusive and aware communities is a core practice for Ian, along with his own personal development of cultural humility and sensitivity. Identifying as queer, Ian has a passion for supporting those who feel marginalized in dharma and practice communities. He promotes anti-racist work, and teaches residential retreats for queer and gender-fluid folk.

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.

Christopher K. Germer, PhD is a clinical psychologist in the Boston area. He is a Lecturer on Psychiatry, Part-Time, at Harvard Medical School and a founding faculty member of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy. With Kristin Neff, PhD, Dr. Germer developed the Mindful Self-Compassion program. He conducts workshops and lectures internationally on mindfulness and self-compassion, is co-editor of Mindfulness and Psychotherapy and Wisdom and Compassion in Psychotherapy, and author of The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion.

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.

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.

Joel Grow, Ph.D. 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.

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.

Lorraine M. Hobbs, M.A., Chom is the Founding Director of the Youth and Family Programs at the University of California San Diego Center for Mindfulness. During her tenure at the Center, she has developed and implemented curricula in mindfulness for multiple age groups and a course in Mindful & Compassionate Parenting. As a family therapist and former clinical director of adolescent treatment programs, her concern for the adverse effects of stress on the social and emotional development of teens led to pioneering work in the area of self-compassion for teens. She is co-author of Making Friends with Yourself: A Mindful Self-Compassion Program for Teens & Young Adults, adapted from the adult Mindful Self-Compassion Program and endorsed by Kristen Neff, Ph.D. & Chris Germer, Ph.D. She is certified to teach MBSR (Mindfulness Based-Stress Reduction), MSC (Mindful Self-Compassion), and CCARE (Compassion Cultivation, Altruism, Research & Education), a year-long training program created by clinical psychologists and contemplative scholars at Stanford University. Lorraine is co-director of the Mindfulness for Adolescents Certification Program. She also consults with educators on integrating mindfulness and compassion-based programs in schools and offers workshops & public talks in the community.

Pete Kirchmer is a Life Coach, Mindful Movement Instructor and Meditation Teacher in Encinitas, CA. Pete is the mPEAK Program Director and a lead teacher in the mPEAK program. As the founder of Mindfulness Based Health, he specializes in helping his clients apply the practice of mindfulness to making healthy lifestyle changes as well as improving performance in both work and life. Pete has completed the foundational training as a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Teacher through the University of Massachusetts Oasis Institute, holds a BS in Exercise Physiology, and is a Certified Professional Life Coach through the Coaches Training institute, Center for Applied Positive Psychology and Wellcoaches. Pete is also a Master Trainer for efi Sports Medicine and certified STOTT Pilates Instructor. He is a lifetime learner and an active member of the International Coach Federation and the Harvard Institute of Coaching. Currently Pete has a private coaching practice in Encinitas, is a regular presenter at Rancho La Puerta, a world-class wellness resort in Tecate, Mexico and is on the board of directors for the Encinitas Mindfulness Community.

Ni-Cheng Liang, MD is a pulmonologist who is the Director of Pulmonary Integrative Medicine at Coastal Pulmonary Associates affiliated with the Scripps Health Network. She also serves as a Voluntary Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine while volunteering for the UCSD Student-Run Free Clinic for underserved patients. She is passionate about promoting healthcare professional wellness and has developed curricula while teaching mindfulness to patients, healthcare administrators, professionals and their students. She was the UCSD Center for Mindfulness Executive Director between 2017-2018. She has given local, regional, and national experiential presentations on physician wellness, mindfulness and integrative therapies since 2012, and most recently for the 2019 American Thoracic Society International Conference. She has taught Mindfulness in Medicine, a medical student elective course since 2013 and has been its Course Director from 2014-2017. She has also developed mindfulness- based wellness curricula for the UCSD Internal Medicine Residency Program as well as a mindfulness-based Mobile Wellness for Healthcare Professionals program of free guided meditations made possible by receiving the UCSD Academy of Clinician Scholars Kaiser Teaching Award two times. She is the 2019 American Lung Association San Diego Lung Health Provider of the Year and was one of the inaugural Outstanding Mothers Awards recipients.

Marta Alonso Maynar, DClin Psy. is a psychologist and specialist in clinical psychology with the Ministry of Education and Science in Spain. She is the first Certified Teacher and Teacher Trainer in Spanish language and a pioneer in introducing compassion programs in Spain. Since 2012 Marta has delivered more than 26 MSC courses in her country. She has practiced meditation for the last 27 years. She is a founding member and the current President of AEMind (Asociación Española de Mindfulness y Compasión) www.aemind.es. She holds the recognition as European Expert in Psychotherapy by the EFPA. Marta is co-author, along with Vicente Simon and others, of the book “Mindfulness en la Práctica Clinica” and both created the triple CD with a booklet with 209 minutes of Mindfulness and Self Compassion audios and practices in Spanish with a booklet available on Amazon.

Trish Magyari, M.S., LCPC, NCC, RYT-200, is a licensed clinical professional counselor, experienced mindfulness-based psychotherapist, a certified teacher and trainer of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) as well a Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) teacher specializing in trauma-informed approaches.  She developed the curriculum for and has been the interventionist on published MBSR research studies for people with complex PTSD stemming from childhood sexual abuse; for multiply traumatized urban youth; for women dealing with intimate partner violence; and in several studies for people with chronic pain conditions.  Her trauma-informed MBSR curriculum is widely used in VA hospitals, by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and organizations serving victims of trauma and torture.  She is on the faculty of the University of San Diego Mindfulness-Based Professional Training Institute as an MBSR mentor; has led numerous workshops for mental health professionals on mindfulness and trauma; and is a teacher with the Insight Meditation Community of Washington (IMCW).  Trish is the author of two professional book chapters: “Teaching mindfulness to women with complex trauma” in Mindfulness-Oriented Interventions for Trauma: Integrating Contemplative Practices (Follette and Briere, Eds., Jan 2015) and “Trauma-Informed Mindfulness” in the upcoming Resources for MBI Teachers (D. McCown and D. Reibel, Eds).

Beth Mulligan, PA-C is the Advisor for the MBSR Teacher Certification Program and a lead teacher trainer for the MBSR Teacher Training Intensive at UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness (UCSD CFM). Beth was an adjunct faculty for the UMASS Center for Mindfulness. She has been teaching MBSR for fifteen years at medical centers, universities and to diverse populations; from the critically ill, to non-profit organizations, the underserved, educators, and corporate leaders. She is also a certified MSC Teacher and teacher trainer. Beth has a background in primary care medicine as a Board Certified Physician Assistant and has practiced medicine for over 25 years. She is a senior Zen student of Roshi Charles Tenshin Fletcher at Yokoji Zen Mountain Center where she has lived in residence, and is the Guiding Dharma teacher at Insight Community of the Desert. 

Kristin D. Neff, PhD is Associate Professor in Human Development and Culture at the University of Texas at Austin. She was one of the first scholars to define and measure self-compassion in an academic context, has written numerous research articles on the psychological benefits of self-compassion. Dr. Neff is the author of Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself. She is featured in the award-winning book and documentary The Horse Boy, which chronicles her family’s adventure with autism.

Megan Prager is the Compassion Programs Director at UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness and Co-Founder of Mindful Labs. Megan is a Certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Instructor (MBSR), a Certified Mindful Self-Compassion Instructor (MSC), a Certified Compassion Cultivation Instructor (CCT), an Adjunct Faculty member at San Diego State University, and a Lecturer at UC San Diego Rady Business School. She is also a Teacher Trainer and Mentor for the UC San Diego Mindfulness Based Professional Training Institute and for the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion. In addition to teaching Mindfulness-based programs, Megan specializes in developing and delivering mindfulness and compassion trainings for Fortune 500 companies as well as for educational, healthcare, and academic settings. She is currently collaborating with Universities to establish and instruct Mindfulness and Compassion courses at the collegiate level. In all her ventures, Megan’s passion and mission are the same: to empower individuals with an understanding of the important role they play in shaping their lives and well being. Megan believes through compassionate awareness individuals are able to utilize one of the best resources they have: themselves.

Contact Megan Prager: meganprager@gmail.com

Website: www.mindfullabs.com 

David Spound, M.Ed., is the Director of Valley Mindfulness in Northampton, Massachusetts, a company he founded in 2006. He teaches Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC), and other in-person and online programs based on these two groundbreaking courses. He also creates specialized programs for individuals and organizations, and he leads silent meditation retreats. David trained, and was certified, as a teacher of MBSR by the Center for Mindfulness at UMass Medical School, the organization founded by Jon Kabat-Zinn. David worked at the UMass Center for Mindfulness from 2006–2013 where he served as a member of the MBSR teaching staff and coordinated the MBSR teacher training and certification program.
David trained, and was certified, as a teacher of Mindful Self-Compassion by the UCSD Center for Mindfulness. Besides teaching MSC, he works on new projects and courses on behalf of the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion, the organization founded by Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer.
For David, his work as a teacher and mentor is a true labor of love. He looks forward to each unique and special opportunity to serve as a mentor for others who feel called to this work. Please feel free to be in touch with David if you have any questions about working with him.

Website: www.valleymindfulness.com

Anne Twohig lives in Ireland in the beautiful seaside town of Greystones, where she enjoys long walks by the sea and hiking in the hills of County Wicklow. She is a certified MBSR teacher and teacher trainer. She is the founder of the Centre for Mindfulness Ireland, which she established in 2007. Anne trained with the University of Massachusetts Medical School Center for Mindfulness (UMass CFM), and has been a member of their professional teaching faculty since 2014. During her years as a teacher trainer with UMass CFM, Anne has been the host for professional teacher trainings in Ireland as well as teaching with CFM in Ireland, Europe and in the US. Anne has extensive experience teaching mindfulness across a range of areas, including healthcare, education, non-profit organisations, prison services, and the corporate and banking sectors. She was the recipient of a Social Entrepreneurs Ireland award for her work in Mindfulness in Education.
Anne is passionate about offering support and guidance to the community of qualified MBSR teachers in Ireland and around the world. She is committed to encouraging ongoing teacher development in the form of mentoring, supervision and continued education. She is excited to be on the teaching faculty at the UCSD Center for Mindfulness and looks forward to being part of their professional teacher trainings in Europe.

Website: https://www.cfmi.ie/

 

Zayda Vallejo, Mlitt, was born in Colombia, South America. She completed her Bachelor of Science in Psychology at Loyola University in Chicago and a Master’s degree in Political Economy at Oxford University. She has been practicing meditation and yoga since 1978. Her keen interest in meditation took her to Japan, India, Burma, and Nepal, where she lived for three years.

Zayda is an adjunct faculty member at Cambridge Health Alliance Center for Mindfulness and Compassion (CMC). She is a mindfulness instruct or, trainer , and part of the team that developed the Mindfulness Training for Primary Care Group Leadership Manual. She is an adjunct faculty member at the Mindfulness Center at Brown University School of Public Health. For the past 18 years Zayda has served as a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) instructor, teacher, and supervisor of professionals who aspire to teach MBSR at the University of Massachusetts Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society (CFM). From 2007-2015 she taught MBSR for The Lazar Lab at the Massachusetts General Hospital for research purposes.

Zayda has taught mindfulness programs and developed curricula at The Garrison Institute, Mindful Kids Miami, University of Southern California, and other organizations. In 2014 she co-founded The Heartwell Institute, a non-profit community organization in Worcester, MA dedicated to foster contemplative practices and wellness education. Zayda leads 5-day and 7-day silent retreats.

Carolyn West, Ph.D. is a graduate of Northeastern University in Boston and has held faculty positions at American International College and Western New England University, both in Springfield, Massachusetts. A unifying thread of her rich and lengthy people-centered career has been the integration of her work in the areas of psychology and clinical practice, particularly with children and women, with her decades long mindfulness study and practice. Mindfulness has been central to her work across populations – with children and their families, as well as teachers, college students, and patients participating in cardiac rehabilitation. From 2005 through 2018, she was part of the teaching faculty at the Center for Mindfulness in Worcester, Massachusetts where she offered courses in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and, as a senior instructor, provided encouragement, mentoring and training to teachers across the world.

Grateful for her own teachers and experience, Carolyn views the mentoring relationship as one of remarkable intimacy, with encouragement and support provided in the context of a shared exploration of the landscape of teaching mindfulness. Her most influential mindfulness teachers continue to be her children and grandchildren.

Fadel Zeidan, Ph.D.  is the Executive Director of the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness and Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at UCSD. He and his laboratory have discovered the neural processes supporting mindfulness meditation and mindfulness-based pain relief. Recently, he and his team have demonstrated that mindfulness meditation is mechanistically distinct from and more effective than placebo, distraction, and relaxation. His research is currently funded by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health and has disseminated his findings through traditional media outreach (CNN ; NPR ; Time Magazine , CBS and others), Tedx and recently personally presented his work to His Holiness, the Dalai Lama in Mongolia. In his new role at the UCSD Center for Mindfulness, Fadel will focus on expanding his research to focus on working with different patient populations and user-friendly approaches to promote the self regulation of pain. Fadel is especially excited at examining ways to integrate mindfulness from the lab to the clinic and community.

Website: https://www.zeidanlab.com/

Douglas Ziedonis, MD, MPH. served as an Executive Director for the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness and as associate vice chancellor (AVC) for health sciences at UC San Diego and was a tenured professor in the Department of Psychiatry until the Fall of 2020. He is the Executive Vice President for University of New Mexico (UNM) Health Sciences and Chief Executive Officer of the UNM Health System.

A distinguished physician-scientist and leader in the field of addictive disorders research, he was recruited to UC San Diego in 2017. For 10 years prior he was chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and president of UMass Memorial Behavioral Health Services. Under his leadership, his department became one of the largest in the country, with over 375 faculty supported by 2,000 staff, and substantial growth in research, clinical services, and education.

Dr. Ziedonis is internationally recognized for his research in co-occurring mental illness and addiction, especially tobacco addiction and recovery-oriented interventions. His research has been continuously funded for more than 25 years and received over 110 grants (28 as principal investigator), resulting in over 300 publications and scholarly works. He serves on multiple editorial boards, including The Scientific World Journal and the Shanghai Archives of Psychiatry. He is active in global initiatives, including current research in the UK, China, Latvia, Italy and Denmark.