If you had asked me a decade ago what my life would look like ten years from then, I could hardly imagine that I would be here. I had long wanted a life of service, where I could bring my creativity, intelligence, spiritual path and open heart into my work, and at the time, I was struggling to make it as a landscape photographer while working part time in a wilderness gear store. Following a series of events that inspired a deep and soulful inventory of my personal values and how those matched my current situation, I made some significant changes and embarked on the path I am currently on as a professional counselor.

I came to Boulder in 2002 enrolled in the Contemplative Psychotherapy program at Naropa University, from which I graduated in 2005. Those three years of training provided a strong foundation in a variety of counseling traditions, direct experience of working with intensity while remaining open and clear and connected, and strengthened my contemplative roots in Buddhist and secular mindfulness practices. My appreciation for Naropa’s training is evident in that I continued to instruct students in the department for years, served as a member of Naropa’s Board of Trustees from 2005 to 2011, and currently supervise clinical interns in Naropa’s Community Counseling Center.

I began working in the field of mental health in 2003 as a mentor in a residential program for young adults. In 2004 I joined a new start up therapeutic program founded by Bill Sell, Living Well Transitions, as a Life Skills Counselor, and worked there for 11 years serving in a variety of roles. I left Living Well as the Clinical Director in 2015 to broaden my experience of clinical work, deepen my private practice and open up to new opportunities. I served three years as President of the Board of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science, and chaired our first regional conference.

What I find deeply nourishing about my work is that it brings together my spiritual and professional paths in service of personal core values such as compassion, interpersonal connection, empowerment, and helping people (including myself) find increased liberation from suffering. When I am not working with clients or studying counseling and cognitive theories, I will likely be either playing & laughing with my son, on my bike, making and eating great food with my wife, or hiking with our two dogs on a mountain trail.

For more about my professional background, take a look at my Linkedin profile.