Mindfulness Training & Practice
Licensed Psychologist Mindfulness Expert Researcher & Teacher
Bozeman Montana New York Online
Accepting The Present Moment
Mindfulness is the ability to become aware of present moment experience with acceptance. It is typically cultivated through meditative, contemplative, and yogic practices. I began practicing meditation and yoga in 1981 while an undergraduate student in Ann Arbor and found they literally saved my life. In 1984 I became a yoga and meditation teacher and in 1996 I added qigong to my practice. In 1998 I began teaching Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and training counselors and psychotherapists how to use mindfulness practices in the service of self-care. My training in these practices has involved studying with teachers in India, Thailand, Bali, Mexico, and the United States. I incorporate mindfulness practices and principles into my work with individuals and couples. I provide consultation to corporations and businesses, health care agencies, higher education, and schools on bringing mindfulness into these settings to enhance performance and creativity, promote resilience and self-care, and prevent burnout and stress-related illness. I also provide mindfulness-based coaching to individuals.
John Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, a well-researched program at the University of Massachusetts for teaching mindfulness through meditation, yoga, and a body scan awareness technique to a variety of medical patients, provided a way for me to bridge my personal experiences with meditative and contemplative practices with more traditional forms of psychotherapy and health care. This led me to develop an MBSR program for the local hospital and then to integrate mindfulness into a graduate counseling class entitled “Mind-Body Medicine and the Art of Self-Care.” This integration has been deeply fulfilling personally and the impact of MBSR on patients and students has been far greater than I’d imagined. Most striking is the way mindfulness practices assist people to accept or tolerate those aspects of their life (like chronic pain) that can’t be altered (Christopher, Chrisman, Trotter, Schure, Dahlen & Christopher, 2011; Schure, Christopher, & Christopher, 2004).
What I find most compelling and therapeutic about these practices is not the fostering of transcendent experiences but how they encourage us to step out of what Philip Cushman calls the “bounded masterful self.” For example, I believe most of us in American culture have never been taught how to tolerate difficult experiences. We’ve learned to respond to adversity, stress, pain, discomfort, and the “dark emotions” with attempts to distance and wall off these aspects of life through denial, suppression, and avoidance, sometimes with the help of various strategic therapeutic interventions. Mindfulness practices instead teach us how to accept our experience whether good or bad, stressful or pleasant. In yoga, for instance, we can learn that even amid a difficult asana (pose) we can learn to eliminate unnecessary tension, relax into the discomfort, and come to explore the sensations and our psychological responses to them.
There is something terribly important about learning how to tolerate life when it isn’t what we want it to be. I think that with our emphasis on control and mastery, we’ve lost touch with the art of what has been called spiritual surrender (Cole & Pargament, 1999) or what Mark Epstein (1998) poignantly refers to as “going to pieces without falling apart.” The emancipatory thrust of the American ethos emphasizes the elimination of suffering and even freedom from unhappiness, as is promised in much of the popular psychology literature. As Barbara Held (2002) observed, this cultural outlook has resulted in a kind of tyranny of happiness. Such a one-sided emphasis on emotional satisfaction and happiness, even found within much of the new positive psychology literature, tends to neglect other more traditional, worthwhile values or virtues such as “the redemptive power of suffering, acceptance of one’s lot in life, adherence to tradition, self-restraint and moderation” (Frank, 1973, p. 7; see also Guignon, 2002; Woolfolk, 2002). For instance, Yoko, a graduate student from Japan in our counseling program, described being socialized as a child to tolerate difficult situations. Instead of emphasizing freedom from pain and suffering, Japanese culture traditionally regards the ability to endure or “hold the struggle” as a sign of maturity. In this sense “bad” feelings aren’t bad—they are a part of life. It is learning to live with bad feelings, unmet needs, and unwanted constraints, but to do so with poise and dignity that sets off the virtuous or mature person (Christopher & Smith, 2006).
MBSR & Embodiment
Developed at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in the 1970s by Professor Jon Kabat-Zinn, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction uses a combination of mindfulness, body awareness, meditation, and yoga to help people become more mindful. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction is a behavioral medicine program designed to assist people with a variety of stress and health-related issues. Mindfulness-based interventions have now been extensively researched in over 3000 publications, including nearly 100 randomized controlled trials, and have been found to be effective in helping people with a wide variety of physical and psychological conditions.
Work With John Christopher PhD
Coaching
Mindfulness focused coaching for wellness, stress management, and resilience. I tailor programs to meet your unique needs and lifestyle. My goal is to be flexible and responsive as we work together to support your health goals.
Research
Research and scholarship on well-being, moral and ethical development, self-care, resilience, and cultural sensitivity. My research is interdisciplinary in nature, pursuing themes of culture & self, identity, meaning, moral development and psychological well-being.
Psychotherapy
As a Psychotherapist working with Individuals and Couples, I work with people struggling with a variety of concerns and problems to help them cope more effectively in today's challenging world.
Consultation
Wellness and Mindfulness-based Workshops or Consultation for organizations, businesses, health care agencies, universities, and schools. I consult internationally to help organizations promote wellness.
About Dr. John Christopher
Before going into full-time psychotherapy private practice, John was a Professor for 23 years at Dartmouth, the University of Washington, Montana State University, and the University of Guam.
John is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and a past-president of the Society of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology (division of the APA).
John is also a Fellow of the Mind & Life Institute. He was a founding member of the Mind & Life Institute’s Ethics, Education, and Human Development Project to develop a pedagogy and curriculum to promote the Dalai Lama’s vision of teaching ethics in schools. John Christopher PhD is a licensed psychologist in the states of Montana and New York.
Individual psychotherapy
Anxiety concerns
Stress management
Depression and mood disorders
Emotion regulation
Chronic pain, insomnia and medical challenges
Spirituality and self-growth
Self-esteem concerns
Transitions, life challenges and coping skills
Mindfulness training, MBSR, self-care and well-being
Clinical Expertise
Psychosomatic Medicine
Trauma, PTSD
Sexuality and identity concerns
Codependency concerns
Attachment difficulties and family of origin issues
Grief, bereavement and loss
Mindfulness expertise for business and organizations
Health care professionals, burnout prevention
Men's issues
Professional supervision, college students and career
Mindfulness & Meditation Practice Routines
Professional Psychological & Wellness Services MT & NY
Mindfulness-Based Consultation, Workshops & Program Development
John Christopher PhD provides wellness and mindfulness-based consultation and program development for organizations, businesses, healthcare agencies, universities, and schools in the US and internationally, with a special interest in creating leaders who lead mindfully, and inspire, support, and encourage a positive workplace culture. Consults throughout the US and internationally to help organizations, businesses and executives/CEO'S implement programs for stress reduction, mindfulness training, wellness, disease prevention, burnout, resilience, and effective self-care practices. His consultation focus helps organizations, institutions, and businesses assess their healthcare needs and design programs to improve the well-being, performance, and morale of employees. Dr. John Christopher also lectures and provides customized workshops and retreats using the latest research on neuroscience, Mindfulness, and somatic-based approaches to restore health and well-being. CONTINUE READING
An Interdisciplinary Research Focus
“My research is interdisciplinary in nature. I pursue themes that I first addressed through an undergraduate major I designed at the University of Michigan entitled The Psychological and Philosophical Foundations of Culture. As a social scientist, my passion is in exploring how culture shapes the self, identity, meaning, moral development, and psychological well-being. Much of my scholarly work attempts to examine Western psychology from a cross-cultural and historical perspective. I have been particularly interested in how Western assumptions about the nature of the person, or self, and the good life, underlie Western psychological theories, research, and practice. In particular, I have examined how individualism influences a variety of psychological fields. Other areas that I have addressed include moral development, character education, and psychotherapy.” CONTINUE READING
Supervision For Professional Development
John Christopher, Ph.D provides professional supervision to psychologists and counselors helping them integrate mind-body practices into their work with clients. He provides Doctoral and Master's level supervision for students who are accruing hours towards becoming a psychologist or licensed professional counselor (LPC or LCPC) in the state of Montana. As an expert in mind-body medicine and stress management and a practitioner and teacher of Mindfulness and yoga for over 30 years, John is able to help newly licensed counselors integrate mind-body or somatic therapies into their counseling work. He has been supervising students since 1991 and creates a safe space for them to learn how to work with their emotional reactions and internal experiences. In his 20+ years as a professor, he pioneered the application of mindfulness to counselor training in his graduate counseling class “Mind-Body Medicine and the Art of Self-Care” and was featured in the American Counseling Association’s Counseling Today magazine. Before going into private practice full-time, Dr. Christopher was a Professor for 23 years at Dartmouth, the University of Washington, Montana State University, and the University of Guam. He has a PhD in Counseling Psychology from the University of Texas, a Masters in Counseling and Consulting Psychology from Harvard, and an honors independent major at the University of Michigan.
Mindfulness-Focused Coaching
Mindfulness is the ability to become aware of present moment experience with acceptance. It is typically cultivated through meditative, contemplative, and yogic practices. I began practicing meditation and yoga in 1981 while an undergraduate student in Ann Arbor and found they literally saved my life. In 1984 I became a yoga and meditation teacher and in 1996 I added qigong to my practice. In 1998 I began teaching Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and training counselors and psychotherapists how to use mindfulness practices in the service of self-care. My training in these practices has involved studying with teachers in India, Thailand, Bali, Mexico, and the United States. I incorporate mindfulness practices and principles into my work with individuals and couples. I provide consultation to corporations and businesses, health care agencies, higher education, and schools on bringing mindfulness into these settings to enhance performance and creativity, promote resilience and self-care, and prevent burnout and stress-related illness. I also provide mindfulness-based coaching to individuals.
Therapy, Counseling & Psychological Consultation In Bozeman Montana
Licensed Psychologist John Chambers Christopher, Ph.D maintains a private therapy and counseling practice in Bozeman Montana and coaching worldwide via telemedicine. He treats a range of emotional and behavioral concerns in his therapy practice including anxiety, stress depression, well-being, self-care, multicultural psychology, transitions, spirituality, chronic pain, health concerns, psychosomatic medicine, mind-body medicine, emotion regulation, loss, and grief. Integrating his extensive mind-body training and research with the best of traditional psychotherapy and counseling techniques, he helps his clients reduce their stress response and improve immune functioning for optimal emotional and physical health. John works with adults using psychodynamic and interpersonal principles combined with research on social and cognitive development, including the neurobiology of attachment. He has extensive training in a number of body-centered or somatic practices including, Focusing, Hakomi, MBSR, and Mindful Self-Compassion. CONTINUE READING
Consultation, Keynotes, Workshops, Leadership Workshops & Executive Coaching
Dr. John Christopher offers wellness and mindfulness-based consultation and program development for organizations, businesses, executives/CEOs, health care agencies, universities, and schools in the US and Internationally with a special interest in creating thoughtful leaders who lead mindfully, and inspire, support, and encourage a positive workplace culture. John teaches mindful leadership, resilience, and stress management helping organizations and companies transform their workplace culture and create a healthier work/life balance. Dr. Christopher provides executive coaching with a focus on burnout protection and consults throughout the US and internationally to help organizations, businesses, and individuals implement programs for stress reduction, mindfulness training, wellness, disease prevention, burnout, resilience, and effective self-care practices.
My Publications
Christopher, J. C., & Howe, K. (in press). Future directions for a more multiculturally competent (and humble) positive psychology. In & J. Teramoto-Pedrotti& L. M. Edwards (Eds.), Perspectives on the Intersection of Multiculturalism & Positive Psychology. Springer.
Christopher, J. C., Wendt, D. C., Marecek, J. & Goodman, D. M. (2014). Critical cultural awareness: Contributions to a globalizing psychology. American Psychologist. doi: 10.1037/a0036851
Campbell, J. C., & Christopher, J. C., (2012). Teaching Mindfulness to Create Effective Counselors. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 34 (3), 213-226.
Christopher, J. C., Chrisman, J., Trotter, M., Schure, M., Dahlen, P. & Christopher, S. (2011). The long-term influence of mindfulness training on counselors and psychotherapists: A qualitative inquiry. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 51 (3), 318-349.
Christopher, J. C. & Maris, J. (2010). Integrating Mindfulness As Self-care into Counseling and Psychotherapy Training. Counseling and Psychotherapy Research, 10, 114-125.
Christopher, J. C. (2010). Situating positive psychology. In C. R. Snyder, S. Lopez & J. Teramoto-Pedrotti (Eds.), Positive Psychology: The Scientific and Practical Explorations of Human Strengths, 2nd Edition (pp. 80-82). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Christopher, J. C. (2010). Peak experiences, mindfulness practices, and the search for meaning. In M. Trotter-Mathison, J. M. Koch, S. Sanger, & T. M. Skovholt (Eds.), Voices from the field: Defining moments in counselor and therapist development (pp. 37-40). New York: Routledge.
Christopher, J. C., Foster, G., & James, S. (2009). A hermeneutic approach to culture and psychotherapy. In H. D. Friedman & P. K. Revera (Eds.), Abnormal psychology: New research (pp. 225-261). New York: Nova Science Publishers.
Chrisman, J. A., Christopher, J. C., & Lichtenstein, S. J. (2009). Qigong as a mindfulness practice for counseling students: A qualitative inquiry. Journal of Humanistic Psychology. 49, 236-257.
Smith, A. J., Thorngren, J., Christopher, J. C. (2008). Rural mental health counseling. In I. Marini & M. A. Stebnicki (Eds.), The Professional counselor’s desk reference (pp. 263-274). New York: Springer.
Campbell, R. L., & Christopher, J. C. (in press). Fragmentation and hyperspecialties in psychology and the study of mind. New Ideas in Psychology.
Türk Smith, S., Smith, K. D., Christopher, J. C. (in press). Respecting the complexity of values systems: Psychological realism and the case of Turkish culture. In S.J. Kulich & M.H. Prosser (Eds.). Intercultural research Vol. 3: Cross-cultural values research –Domains, applications, and regional values systems. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.
Christopher, J. C. (2008). Culture, moral topographies, and interactive personhood. Journal of Theoretical & Philosophical Psychology, 27, 168-191.
Christopher, J. C., & Campbell, R. C. (2008). An interactivist-hermeneutic metatheory for positive psychology. Theory & Psychology, 18, 675-697.
Christopher, J. C., & Hickinbottom, S. (2008). Positive psychology, ethnocentrism, and the disguised ideology of individualism. Theory & Psychology, 18, 563-589.
Christopher, J. C., Slife, B. D., & Richardson, F. C. (2008). Thinking through positive psychology. Theory & Psychology, 18, 555-561.
Christopher, J. C., Slife, B. D., & Richardson, F. C. (Eds.). (2008). Special issue on positive psychology. Theory & Psychology, 18(5).
Hoshmand, L. T., & Christopher, J. C. (2008). Theorizing on the culture. Journal of Theoretical & Philosophical Psychology, 27, 141-145.
Hoshmand, L. T., & Christopher, J. C. (Eds). (2008). Special issue: Theorizing on the Cultural. Journal of Theoretical & Philosophical Psychology.
Schure, M., Christopher, J. C., Christopher, S. E. (2008). Mind/body medicine and the art of self-care: Teaching mindfulness to counseling students through yoga, meditation and qigong. Journal of Counseling & Development, 86, 47-56.
Christopher, J. C. (2007). Situating positive psychology. In C. R. Snyder & S. Lopez (Eds.), Positive psychology: The scientific and practical explorations of human strengths (pp. 90-91). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Christopher, J. C., & Bickhard, M. H. (2007). Culture, self, and identity: Interactivist contributions to a metatheory for cultural psychology. Culture & Psychology, 13, 259-295.
Christopher, J. C., Foster, G., & James, S. (2007). A hermeneutic approach to culture and psychotherapy. In A. Columbus (Ed.), Advances in Psychology Research, Volume 48(pp. 1-38). New York: Science Publishers.
Smith, K. D., Türk-Smith, S., & Christopher, J. C. (2007). What Defines the Good Person? Cross-Cultural Comparisons of Experts’ Models with Lay Prototypes. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 38, 333-360.
Christopher, J. C. (2006). Hermeneutics and the moral dimension of cultural psychotherapy. In L. T. Hoshmand (Ed.), Culture, Psychotherapy, and Counseling: Critical and Integrative Perspectives (pp. 179-203). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Christopher, J. C., Christopher, S. E., Dunnagan, T., & Schure, M. (2006). Teaching self-care through mindfulness practices: The application of yoga, meditation and qi gong to counselor training. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 46, 494-509.
Christopher, J. C., & Smith, A. (2006). A hermeneutic approach to culture and psychotherapy. In R. Moody, & S. Palmer (Eds.), Race, culture and psychotherapy: Critical perspective in multicultural practice (pp. 265-280). New York: Brunner/Routledge.
Newsome, S., Christopher, J. C., Dahlen, P., & Christopher, S. (2006). Teaching counselors self-care through mindfulness practices: the application of mindfulness-based stress reduction to counselor training. Teachers College Record. 108, 1881-1900.
Christopher, J. C. (2005, Spring). Situating positive psychology. Naming & Nurturing: The e-Newsletter of the Positive Psychology Section of the American Psychological Association’s Counseling Psychology Division 17, 2.
Christopher, S., Knows His Gun McCormick, A., Smith, A., & Christopher, J. C. (2005). Development of an interviewer training manual for a cervix health project on the Apsáalooke reservation. Health Promotion Practice, 6, 414-422.
Christopher, J. C. (2004). Moral visions of developmental psychology. In B. Slife, J. S. Reber, & F. C. Richardson (Eds.), Critical thinking about psychology: Hidden assumptions and plausible alternatives (pp. 207-231). Washington, D. C.: APA Press.
Christopher, J. C., Nelson, T., & Nelson, M. D. (2004). Culture and character education: Problems of interpretation in a multicultural society. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 23, 81-101.
Christopher, J. C., Richardson, F. C., & Christopher, S. E. (2003). Philosophical Hermeneutics: A Metatheory to Transcend Dualism and Individualism in Western Psychology. History & Theory of Psychology Eprint Archive (HTP Prints). http://htpprints.yorku.ca/.
Campbell, R. L., Christopher, J. C., & Bickhard, M. H. (2002). Values and the self: An interactivist foundation for moral development. Theory & Psychology, 12, 795-823.
Christopher, J. C., Manaster, G. J., Campbell, R. L., & Weinfeld, M. (2002). Peak experiences, social interest, and moral reasoning: An exploratory study. The Journal of Individual Psychology, 58, 35-51
Smith, K. D., Christopher, J. C., Richardson, F. C., Christopher, S. E., Della Fave, A., Massimini, F, Bhawuk, D. P. S. (2002). Post-Newtonian metatheories in the natural sciences and in cross-cultural psychology: Post-Newtonian worldviews. In P. Boski, F. J. R. van der Vijver, and A. M. Chodynicka (Eds), New directions in cross-cultural psychology (pp. 107-125). Warsaw: Polish Psychological Association.
Christopher, J. C. (2001). Culture and psychotherapy: Toward a hermeneutic approach. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, and Training, 38, 115-128.
Christopher, J. C., Bickhard, M. H., & Lambeth, G. S. (2001). Otto Kernberg’s object relations theory: A metapsychological critique. Theory & Psychology, 11, 687-711.
Christopher, S., Christopher, J. C., & Dunnagan, T. (2000). Culture’s impact on health risk appraisal psychological well-being questions. American Journal of Health Behavior, 24, 338-348.
Campbell, R. L., and Christopher, J. C. (1999). Factional science, intradisciplinary cooperation, and the study of mind. Dialogues in Psychology [Online], 15.0, 56 paragraphs. Available: http://hubcap.clemson.edu/psych/Dialogues/1.0.html [1999, September 11].
Christopher, J. C. (1999). Situating psychological well-being; Exploring the cultural roots of its theory and research. Journal of Counseling and Development, 77, 141-152.
Richardson, F. C., & Christopher, J. C. (1999). Clashing views of social inquiry. In F. C. Richardson, B. J. Fowers, & C. Guignon, Re-envisioning psychology: Moral dimensions of theory and practice (173-198). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Christopher, J. C., & Fowers, B. J. (1998). Placing culture at the center of multiculturalism: Moral visions and intercultural dialogue. Dialogues in Psychology[Online], 1.0, 56 paragraphs. Available: http://hubcap.clemson.edu/psych/Dialogues/1.0.html [1998, September 14].
Lightsey, O. R., & Christopher, J. C. (1997). Stress buffers and dysphoria in a non-Western population. Journal of Counseling and Development, 75, 451-459
Schmitz, S. E., & Christopher, J. C. (1997). Trouble in Smurftown: The moral visions of youth gangs on Guam. Child Welfare, 76, 411-428 .
Campbell, R. L., & Christopher, J. C. (1996). Moral development theory: A critique of its Kantian presuppositions. Developmental Review, 16, 1-47.
Campbell, R. L., & Christopher, J. C. (1996). Beyond the noumenal self: Eudaimonism and the prospects for moral personality. Developmental Review, 16, 108-123.
Christopher, J. C. (1996). Counseling’s inescapable moral visions. Journal of Counseling and Development, 75, 17-25.
Christopher, J. C., & Fowers, B. J. (1996). Multiculturalism, culture, and moral visions. In What is Multiculturalism in Psychology and Education? Proceedings of the 12th Annual Teachers College Roundtable Discussion on Cross-Cultural Psychology and Education (pp. 11-22). New York: Columbia University.
Christopher, J. C. (1995). Not just another book on the self. Contemporary Psychology, 40, 1060-1061.
Bickhard, M. H., & Christopher, J. C. (1994). The influence of early experience on personality development. New Ideas in Psychology, 12, 229-252.
Christopher, J. C., & Bickhard, M. H. (1994). The persistence of basic mistakes: Rexploring psychopathology in Individual Psychology. Individual Psychology, 50, 223-231.
Richardson, F. C., & Christopher, J. C. (1993). Social theory as practice: Metatheoretical options for social inquiry. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 13, 137-153.
Stark, K. D., Christopher, J. C., & Dempsey, M. (1993). Depression. In A. Bellack & M. Hersen (Eds.), Handbook of behavior therapy in the psychiatric setting (pp. 427-452). New York: Plenum.
Stark, K. D., Dempsey, M., & Christopher, J. C. (1993). Depressive disorders. In R. T. Ammerman, C. G. Last, & M. Hersen (Eds.), Handbook of prescriptive treatment for children and adolescents (pp. 115-143). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Stark, K. D., Humphrey, L. L., Laurent, J., Livingston, R., Christopher, J. C. (1993). Cognitive, behavioral, and family factors in the differentiation of depressive and anxiety disorders during childhood. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 61, 878-886.
Christopher, J. C., & Bickhard, M. H. (1992). Remodeling the as if in Adler's concept of the lifestyle. Individual Psychology, 48, 76-85.
Christopher, J. C., Bickhard, M. H., & Lambeth, G. S. (1992). Splitting Kernberg; A critique of Otto Kernberg's notion of splitting. Psychotherapy, 29, 481-485.
Christopher, J. C. (1993). The role of individualism in psychological well-being: Exploring the interplay of ideology, culture, and social science. Dissertation Abstracts International, 53(12-A), 4206.
Spradling, V., & Christopher, J. C. (1990). Working with shyness. In The clearing house for structured thematic groups and innovative programs in mental health. Richmond: George Mason University Press.
Christopher, J. C. (1985). The mind-body relationship and its influence upon lifestyles. Synthesis, 1, 14-17.
My Research
My research is interdisciplinary in nature. I pursue themes that I first addressed through an undergraduate major I designed at the University of Michigan entitled The Psychological and Philosophical Foundations of Culture. As a social scientist, my passion is in exploring how culture shapes the self, identity, meaning, moral development, and psychological well-being. Much of my scholarly work attempts to examine Western psychology from a cross-cultural and historical perspective. I have been particularly interested in how Western assumptions about the nature of the person, or self, and the good life, underlie Western psychological theories, research, and practice. In particular, I have examined how individualism influences a variety of psychological fields.
Most of my current research considers the limitations of current understandings of positive psychology and psychological well-being and explores the nature of psychological well-being in non-individualistic cultures. Other areas that I have addressed include moral development, character education, and psychotherapy. I have spent a considerable amount of time studying indigenous psychological traditions in non-Western cultures. This has included participant observation in various forms of mindfulness training as well as fieldwork learning from traditional healers and shamans. This research has provided me with a vantage point from which to get more clarity about what is presupposed in Western understanding of well-being but has also expanded my training in methods that are increasingly being used in behavioral medicine. I see this program of work as critical for the practice of counseling and psychotherapy in general and for working with clients of differing ethnic backgrounds and international clients in particular. Moreover, it has implications for related fields such as public health, health promotion/education, character education, and personality and developmental psychology.
More recently my focus has been developing alternative notions of the self and of well-being that aim to transcend many of the conceptual limitations of much of current theory and research. While this work has been over twenty-five years in the making, it has only been in the past five that I have been able to integrate the two main strains in my intellectual formation – philosophical hermeneutics and interactivism – into what I see as a compelling framework.
One area where I’ve applied my theoretical work is in mind/body medicine and stress management which I’ve been teaching for over 25 years. I bring over 30 years of experience practicing meditation and yoga and 15 years of practicing qigong to the practice of integrative medicine. I have been pioneering the application of mindfulness to counselor training. My graduate counseling class “Mind-Body Medicine and the Art of Self-Care” was recently featured in article in Counseling Today, the monthly magazine of the American Counseling Association. My research articles on using mindfulness practices in the training of counselors appear in the Journal of Counseling & Development, The Journal of Humanistic Psychology, and The Teachers College Record. The 2006 article “Teaching self-care through mindfulness practices: The application of yoga, meditation and qi gong to counselor training” is currently listed on the Journal of Humanistic Psychology’s website as its most frequently read article.
I have attempted to publish my work in a variety of journals. Some, like the Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology and Theory & Psychology, I chose because they allow me to pursue the furthest reaches of my conceptual work. Other outlets, such as The American Psychologist, The Journal of Counseling and Development and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, and Training I chose because I am deeply committed to making theoretical psychology practically meaningful to practitioners and bridging the divide that can sometimes exist between theoretical scholarship and the actual practice of psychotherapy and counseling.