MBSR Mentorship

Lisette Atala-Doocy is a Certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction teacher and co-founder of the Bilingual Center for Mindfulness, teaching mindfulness programs in English and Spanish.

Allan Barboza is the Founder and Director of the Centro Costarricense para Mindfulness in Central America, a certified MBSR Teacher and Mindfulness Based Psychotherapist who pioneered MBIs in Costa Rica and serves as a Spanish-speaking MBSR Mentor.

Sheryl Bathman, MSoSc Counselling, is the founder and director of Lifesteps Singapore, a trained psychotherapist, and a mindfulness teacher who pioneered the MBSR program in Singapore in 2010.

Katherine Bonus is the founding teacher for the UW Health Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program (1993) at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, and has developed and offered trainings and retreats for MBSR participants, patients, healthcare providers, and educators for over 20 years.

João Carvalho das Neves is a professor of Leadership & Finance at ISEG, University of Lisbon, and a Certified teacher of MBSR through the UCSD Center for Mindfulness who teaches mindfulness and MBSR through his company, ZENACTION Business Consulting & Coaching.

Sandra Cubillos, MD, is a Certified MBSR Teacher and family physician from Colombia who founded and directs a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program at UNIMED. She's passionate about bringing mindfulness to the Spanish-speaking community and serves as a Spanish-speaking MBSR Mentor.

Rachel Donaldson, MSW, LCSW RYT-500, is Director of Community Mental Health and Supportive Services at NCJW/LA and an MBSR and MBCT teacher certified through the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.

Pam Erdmann has worked with the Center for Mindfulness, University of Massachusetts Medical School since 1993, and since 2003 has designed and taught MBSR teacher training courses at the University of Bangor, Wales, supervising teachers for Oasis (CFM).

Alessandro Giannandrea, Ph.D., is a psychologist and psychotherapist, a certified teacher of MBSR and MBCT by the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness, and the founder and director of the Abruzzo Center for Mindfulness.

Allan Goldstein is a senior advisor with the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness who focuses on MBSR teacher training and mentorship. He helped develop the UCSD Center for Mindfulness Mindfulness-Based Professional Training Institute and MBSR certification programs, and has taught MBSR widely in health care, university, veterans, and community settings.

Cassondra Graff, M.S., LCSW is a Certified MBSR Instructor, Certified MSC Instructor, and Director of the Speakers Bureau at UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness, who sees mentorship as an adventure — a relationship, a process, a rich teaching environment.

Gwénola Herbette, Ph.D. is a Certified MBSR teacher trainer who has been teaching MBSR since 2009, pioneering the program in French-speaking Europe, and training MBSR teachers at the Institut Pleine Conscience she founded in Belgium.

Steven Hickman is the founding director of the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness and the executive director of the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion. He teaches and trains others in mindfulness- and self-compassion-based programs internationally, with particular interest in supporting men, athletes, first responders, and military communities.

Diana Kamila is a certified MBSR Training Consultant and former Senior Teacher at the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society (CFM) at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, with over thirty years of experience teaching stress reduction programs.

Pedro Lôbo is a Certified MBSR Instructor by the UCSD Center for Mindfulness, a teacher-in-training in MSC, and the Director and Founder of the Mindfulness Institute in Brazil.

Lorraine M. Hobbs, M.A., is Founding Director of the Youth, Family & Education Programs at the UCSD San Diego Center for Mindfulness, a family therapist, and a certified teacher of MBSR, MSC, CCT, and the Humanize Contemplative Dyad program. She is co-author of two books on self-compassion for youth, pioneers mindfulness and self-compassion training globally, and develops innovative curricula including AI-supported emotional strength training for kids.

Trish Magyari is a mindfulness-based psychotherapist and insight meditation teacher who has taught MBSR more than 70 times, with a focus on trauma, chronic pain, illness, anxiety, depression, and grief. She has also led mindfulness programs in clinical research settings and brings extensive experience in teacher training, practicum, and supervision.

Kate Mitcheom has been practicing meditation since 1991 and teaching since 1995. She holds a Master’s in Nursing from Yale University and founded the MBSR Program at the Fair Haven Community Health Center in New Haven, CT, in 1996.

Zayda Vallejo is a mindfulness instructor and trainer with decades of meditation practice and extensive experience teaching MBSR in academic, clinical, and community settings. She has also developed curricula, trained aspiring MBSR teachers, and leads silent retreats.

Gwen Morgan is a Clinical Social Worker with over 25 years of experience in medical settings, currently facilitating MBSR and MBCT groups with the East Greater Toronto Area Family Health Team and as a Mindfulness Facilitator for the Centre for Mindfulness Studies in Toronto.

Noriko Morita Harth is a certified MBSR and MSC instructor, longtime Managing Director of the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness, and a mentor and teacher trainer at the Mindfulness-Based Professional Training Institute. Born in Japan, she has taught mindfulness and self-compassion since 2014 and is dedicated to sharing these practices across cultures, including within the Japanese community.

Beth Mulligan, PA-C is a lead teacher trainer for the MBSR Teacher Training Intensive at UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness, and a certified MSC Teacher and teacher trainer who has taught MBSR for over a decade to diverse populations.

Holly Nelson-Johnson is a Family Nurse Practitioner, Senior MBSR teacher, Interpersonal Mindfulness Teacher, and Insight Dialogue Facilitator who serves as Executive Director of Mindfulness for Living.

Hugh O’Neill is co-owner of Mindful-Way.com, has taught more than 80 MBSR courses at universities, medical centers, corporations, and government agencies, and is Certified as an MBSR teacher through the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness.

João Palma is a Certified MBSR Instructor by the UCSD Center for Mindfulness and CMRP Bangor University, and the Director of Budadharma in Lisbon, Portugal, where he teaches and leads meditation and silent retreats.

Catherine L. Phillips, MD, FRCP(C) is the Founding Director of The Mindfulness Institute.ca and Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, who has run over 45 MBSR programs in diverse settings.

Korantema Pierce Williams is a mindfulness teacher and teacher trainer who facilitates MBSR training and mindfulness classes in Richmond, Virginia and with the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness. Her work integrates stress reduction, trauma-informed support, and transformational teaching for individuals and communities.

Megan Prager, MA, is the Compassion Programs Director at the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness and a certified teacher of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Mindful Self-Compassion. She develops and leads mindfulness and compassion-based programs for universities, healthcare systems, and organizations, with a focus on practical, evidence-based applications that support well-being and resilience.

Diane Reibel, PhD is the Director of the Mindfulness Institute at the Jefferson-Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine and Clinical Associate Professor in Emergency Medicine at Jefferson Medical College, who has taught MBSR for 18 years.

Patricia Rockman, MD, CCFP, FCFP is an associate professor with the University of Toronto and the director of education at the Centre for Mindfulness Studies, who has been educating healthcare providers in stress reduction, CBT, and mindfulness-based practices for over 20 years.

Karen Schwisow, E-RYT is the Director of MBSR Teacher Training and a Senior Teacher for Mindfulness Northwest, and Co-founder and Director of Yoga Teacher Training for Three Trees Yoga, who has mentored teachers for over a decade.

Cheryl Shah is a Certified MBSR and MSC teacher and Workplace Program Co-Director with more than 20 years of corporate leadership experience. She brings mindfulness and self-compassion into real-world professional settings, helping individuals build resilience, clarity, and balance.

David Spound is the director of Valley Mindfulness in Northampton, Massachusetts, where he teaches MBSR, Mindful Self-Compassion, and related mindfulness programs. He previously served on the teaching staff at the UMass Center for Mindfulness and coordinated its MBSR teacher training and certification program.

Paul Sugar is the Founder and Director of the Scottsdale Institute for Health and Medicine, a Certified MBSR instructor through UCSD CFM who has taught over 100 MBSR and MBCT 8-week programs over 25 years.

John Taylor is a mindfulness teacher with a long-standing meditation and retreat practice who is committed to fostering a more mindful and awake world. His work also includes racial equity, reconciliation, community dialogue, and nonprofit leadership in the Greater Richmond community.

Carmen Teo, EdD, MMH is a Certified MBSR Teacher, Certified MSC Teacher, and MBSR Teacher Mentor with UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness who founded Mindful Insights in 2015, currently based in Singapore.

Anne Twohig is a mindfulness teacher and teacher trainer based in Ireland and the founder of the Centre for Mindfulness Ireland. She has extensive experience teaching mindfulness across healthcare, education, nonprofit, prison, and corporate settings, and supports the ongoing development of MBSR teachers through training and mentoring.

Helen Vantine, Ph.D. is the founder and co-director of the Atlanta Mindfulness Institute, credentialed as an MBSR teacher through the Center for Mindfulness at UMass, who has taught over 500 individuals in MBSR courses.

Michael Waupoose is a social worker and mindfulness teacher who has been teaching in the UW Mindfulness Program since 2012, including MBSR courses for adults and the BIPOC community. His work also focuses on wellness, quality of life, and supporting skillful responses to racial and social injustice through mindfulness.

Char Wilkins, MSW, LCSW is a mindfulness-based psychotherapist certified to teach MBSR, MBCT, and Mindful Eating-Conscious Living™ (ME-CL), and a senior trainer for UCSD’s MBPTI.

Note: Char is currently unable to accept new MBSR mentees. Spaces are available for new ME-CL mentees.

Christiane Wolf, MD, PhD is a Buddhist teacher in the Insight (Vipassana) meditation tradition, a certified senior MBSR teacher and teacher trainer, and a senior teacher at InsightLA in Los Angeles.

Valerie York-Zimmerman has been teaching MBSR in Miami since 1998 and is a CFM Certified MBSR Teacher who co-founded Mindful Kids Miami, a nonprofit fostering high-quality Mindfulness-Based Programs in education and the Miami-Dade community.