Executive Director

Cassandra Vieten is a licensed clinical psychologist and mind-body medicine researcher. She is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at UC San Diego, and the Director of the Center for Mindfulness at the Centers for Integrative Health. She is also Director of Research at the Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination, and Psychology Director at the Center for Psychedelic Research. Her research has focused on development and pilot testing of mindfulness-based interventions for substance dependence, obesity, mood disorders, improving psychological well-being, and increasing prosocial emotions and behaviors. This interest extended to developing and testing mindfulness-based approaches to prevention of postpartum depression in pregnant women, as well as "MAMAS" - a mindful eating and stress reduction intervention for overweight/obese low-income inner-city pregnant women, which showed not only reductions in stress for pregnant women, but also beneficial outcomes for their children, from immediately to 8 years postpartum. She has also been a leader in establishing empirically based competencies for mental health professionals in the area of spiritual and religious diversity, including currently serving as co-chair of the American Psychological Association Division 36 Task Force on developing practice guidelines in this area. Her recent research has focused on the development of virtual reality interventions to foster prosocial emotions such as empathy, compassion and awe. She has authored three books, including Mindful Motherhood: Practical Tools for Staying Sane During Pregnancy and Your Child’s First Year and Spiritual and Religious Competencies for Psychologists and Mental Health Professionals. She has published numerous articles in scientific journals and is an internationally recognized keynote speaker and workshop leader.