Team

Cassandra Vieten, PhD, is Clinical Professor and Director of the Center for Mindfulness at the Centers for Integrative Health in the Department of Family Medicine at UC San Diego. Her research focuses on mindfulness-based interventions, spirituality and health, and transformative experiences that support emotional well-being.

Philayne Pribnow, originally from Wisconsin, moved to California back in 1999. Her most recent job was at UC San Diego Rady School of Management where she was an Event Manager for 6 years. Philayne began working as the Administrative Coordinator for the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness in March of 2022. She looks forward to continuing to build on her mindfulness training and offering administrative support to the center. In her free time, Philayne enjoys golfing, pet sitting, and hanging out with family and friends.

Mariana Ampudia is a certified mindfulness instructor for kids and teens with training through the UCSD Center for Mindfulness and experience teaching school-based mindfulness programs and supporting mindful and compassionate parenting workshops.

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.

Betsy Atwell is a practicing therapist in Madison, Wisconsin, specializing in addiction and trauma. She has been facilitating Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention since 2016 and integrates mindfulness into her clinical work, supervision, and personal practice.

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.

Carolina Bautista-Velez is a consultant, mindfulness teacher, facilitator, and leadership coach whose work centers on collective liberation, healing, and well-being. She partners with groups and organizations to create spaces rooted in healing justice, popular education, and trauma-informed practice.

Michelle is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, founder of Wise Compassion, and developer of the Compassion for Couples program who teaches and speaks on compassion internationally. She is a senior compassion teacher, teacher trainer, and mentor, and hosts the Well Connected Relationships podcast.

Natalie is the founder of Mindful Wellness and a senior certified mindfulness and self-compassion teacher who brings practical tools for calm, clarity, and resilience into everyday life. She leads program development for the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion, teaches with UCLA’s MARC, co-created major self-compassion trainings (including for healthcare professionals), and works globally with individuals and organizations.

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.

Sarah Bowen is an associate professor at Pacific University and a clinical psychologist specializing in mindfulness-based approaches for addictive and impulsive behaviors. Her research, teaching, and supervision focus on treatment adaptation, mechanisms of change, and supporting diverse and underserved populations.

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.

Neha Chawla is a postdoctoral fellow at the Addictive Behaviors Research Center at the University of Washington and a co-creator of Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention. Her work focuses on mindfulness-based treatments for substance use disorders, therapist training, and mechanisms of change across clinical settings.

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.

Margaret Cullen is a licensed psychotherapist and early certified MBSR teacher who has spent over two decades pioneering secular mindfulness and compassion programs across clinical, academic, and military settings. She is founding faculty of the Compassion Institute, co-author of Mindfulness-Based Emotional Balance, and a longtime facilitator of support groups for cancer patients and their loved ones.

Helen E. Davis, PhD, LMFT, is a licensed psychotherapist in group practice who has taught and integrated Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction into her clinical work since 2013. With over two decades of therapeutic experience, she specializes in applying mindfulness to anxiety, depression, trauma, and emotion regulation to support greater well-being.

Dr. Anish Dhamija is a psychiatrist and family medicine practitioner who has practiced and taught mindfulness and self-compassion since 2010, working with diverse populations from the unhoused to physician trainees. He emphasizes an approachable, realistic style that helps people integrate these skills into everyday life.

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).

After a world-class swimming career, Corrie discovered mindfulness at a 2002 yoga retreat and later integrated it into her work as a certified yoga instructor and Head Swimming Coach at UC San Diego. Now a certified mPEAK coach, she helps athletes and teams enhance performance through present-moment awareness and lives with her husband and two children in Solana Beach, CA.

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.

Joe Glaser-Reich is a rotary wing search and rescue professional, rescue swimmer in the federal government, certified mPEAK coach, and Assistant Instructor in the University of Pennsylvania’s Master of Applied Positive Psychology Program. He works with high performers and organizations to integrate mindfulness, positive psychology, and performance psychology to enhance resilience, well-being, and performance.

Richard Goerling is a resiliency trainer and affiliate faculty member at Pacific University’s Graduate School of Professional Psychology. Drawing on decades of experience in law enforcement and military service, he trains first responders in mindfulness and resilience to support personal, organizational, and community well-being.

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.

Dr. Andrea Grabovac, MD, FRCPC, is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia and Co-Director of the North American Chapter of the Mindfulness-integrated Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (MiCBT) Institute. Her clinical work focuses on mindfulness-based treatments, and she trains and mentors clinicians internationally in Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) through the UCSD Mindfulness Based Professional Training Institute.

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.

Joel Grow, PhD 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.

Gabrielle Hammond is a movement and qigong teacher whose healing practice is grounded in decades of work in Taoist and Traditional Chinese Medicine. Her teaching draws from long-term practice in qigong, meditation, tea ceremony, and plant-based healing traditions.

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.

Cayce Howe is a meditation teacher with nearly 30 years of practice experience and almost a decade of leading the InsightLA Long Beach Sangha. His teaching draws on deep retreat experience and a holistic approach that helps people from diverse backgrounds explore mindfulness in transformative ways.

Amandeep, raised on Canada’s West Coast with roots in Punjab, India, is trained in Mindful Self-Compassion and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and holds degrees in Psychology and Clinical Social Work from the University of British Columbia. He provides compassionate, tailored therapy to teens, adults, and families across diverse settings.

Jon Aaron has taught at New York Insight since 2006 and is a Certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction teacher and teacher trainer who has led more than 120 MBSR courses. He also leads retreats in the U.S. and Europe and co-founded several mindfulness communities, including Space2Meditate.com.

Shannon is a leadership and wellbeing expert who translates the science of mindfulness and human flourishing into impactful programs for leaders, teams, and global organizations, drawing on decades of experience in coaching, talent development, and corporate learning. A board-certified coach with advanced training in mindfulness and sustainable transformation, she now focuses on holistic leadership development and resilience following her transition from the corporate world.

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.

Helen Hyun-Chung Kim is a Certified MBSR and MBCT teacher and former psychiatrist. She brings deep compassion and clinical insight to her mindfulness teaching, supporting healing, awareness, and self-discovery.

Louije Kim is a Bay Area dharma teacher and psychotherapist who has taught at centers locally and across the U.S. Their work is grounded in long-term Buddhist training and more than a decade of community mental health practice supporting communities impacted by collective, political, and historical trauma.

Pete Kirchmer is the mPEAK Program Director, a life coach, and a meditation teacher based in Encinitas, California. He helps clients use mindfulness to support healthy lifestyle change, resilience, and performance in work and daily life.

Mark A. Lau, PhD, L Psych is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia, and a registered psychologist in private practice at the Vancouver CBT Centre. He is a Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) trainer and mentor of the UCSD Mindfulness Based Professional Training Institute, as well as a Founding Fellow of both the Academy of Cognitive & Behavioral Therapies and the Canadian Association of Cognitive and Behaviour Therapies, and a Certified Trainer/Consultant of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy.

Lucas has cultivated a mindfulness practice since 2002 and brings extensive experience as a teacher, trainer, and group facilitator. He is passionate about helping others integrate mindfulness and compassion into daily life, particularly supporting those beginning or deepening their practice.

Renée is the Acting Director of the Youth, Family & Education Programs at UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness. With education as her background, Renée is very interested in mindfulness for teens and adults alike.  In 2013, Renée was hired as the Administrative Coordinator for the Center for Mindfulness. During this time, Renée attended her first MBSR class. Since then she has been practicing daily and has developed a passion for teaching mindfulness. She attended the MBSR Teacher Training in 2015 and since has become a Certified MBSR teacher.

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.

Mirjam Luthe is certified in yoga, Mindful-Self-Compassion, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, and Awake in the Wild, complemented by Mindful Schools training, Council Practice and similar dialog techniques. She serves as International Affairs Manager at the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion, and a core team member of the European Network for Grateful Living and the annual Swiss ETH Cortona Week. Mirjam is also a teacher at Monviso-Institute in Italy, a real-world laboratory for research, education, entrepreneurship and new living on sustainability transitions and regenerative design.

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.

Dr. Jennifer Miller is a senior meditation teacher, licensed clinical psychologist, and certified MBSR instructor who teaches mindfulness and self-compassion programs while contributing to research on mindfulness and pain. She also leads a clinical practice in mindful psychology and founded a free weekly virtual meditation group, Mindful Monday.

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.

Ikela Moniz-Lewis is a clinical psychology doctoral candidate at the University of New Mexico with experience delivering MBRP in a range of treatment settings. His research and clinical work focus on how mindfulness-based interventions support recovery for people with substance use disorders, especially in underserved communities.

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.

Jim is a Certified iRest Yoga Nidra Teacher, yoga instructor, and co-owner of Oakes Healing Arts who leads meditation and movement classes integrating yoga, Yoga Nidra, and somatic practices. A former Navy officer, athlete, and coach, he is passionate about helping others cultivate balance, health, and well-being.

Lisa Marie is a Certified iRest Teacher, 500-RYT yoga teacher, massage therapist, and co-owner of Oakes Healing Arts specializing in seniors and clients with complex health concerns. She leads chair yoga, gentle yoga, and sleep and stress reduction classes, creating inclusive programs and workshops that deepen mindfulness and well-being.

Dr. Alia Offman, C. Psych is a registered psychologist in Ottawa, providing counselling and professional training services using MiCBT. She is a contract instructor at Carleton University, a trainer at the MiCBT Institute and teaches mindfulness skills to grade school students as a volunteer with the Mindful School Program.

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.

Burrell Poe is a U.S. Army Veteran from the West Side of Chicago. Burrell is very passionate about social and environmental justice and dedicates his time to furthering solutions for these issues. Burrell is on the Board of Compassion It and the Anthropocene Alliance. Burrell works as the Director of the Chicago Peace Fellows at the Goldin Institute. Burrell is working with the Goldin Institute Global Associates in Colombia and Uganda to refine a new curriculum on the themes of peacebuilding and tools for forgiveness, compassion and reconciliation.

Julie Potiker is a mindfulness and self-compassion teacher, founder of the Balanced Mind Meditation Center, and author who helps individuals cultivate calm and resilience through her Mindful Methods for Life programs. Trained in Mindful Self-Compassion, trauma-sensitive mindfulness, and positive neuroplasticity, her work has been widely featured in major media outlets.

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.

Dr. Deborah Rana is a board-certified pediatrician, clinical professor, and certified MBSR and Mindful Self-Compassion teacher who has taught at the Center for Mindfulness since 2010. She specializes in resilience and well-being education for healthcare professionals and continues to care for patients at San Ysidro Health.

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.

Sara Schairer is the founder and executive director of Compassion It®, a global nonprofit and social movement promoting daily compassionate action, and creator of the Compassion It® wristband. She develops and leads workshops on burnout prevention, implicit bias, mindfulness, and compassion, and is a senior facilitator of Compassion Cultivation Training®.

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.

Gulwinder “Gullu” Singh is a mindfulness and dharma teacher whose work is grounded in long-term meditation practice and professional experience in high-stress legal settings. He teaches and mentors across several mindfulness training programs and shares meditation as a path to well-being, compassion, and resilience.

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.

Elena Stein is a clinical psychologist at McLean Hospital and an instructor at Harvard Medical School. Her work focuses on mindfulness-based approaches for addictive behaviors and co-occurring mental health conditions, with particular attention to diverse populations and culturally responsive care.

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.

Katie Witkiewitz is a professor of psychology at the University of New Mexico and a clinical psychologist whose work focuses on substance use disorder and recovery. Her research, training, and supervision emphasize mindfulness-based relapse prevention, relapse prediction, and mechanisms of change in treatment.

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.

Douglas Ziedonis is the executive vice president for the University of New Mexico Health Sciences and chief executive officer of the UNM Health System. He is a physician-scientist and academic leader internationally recognized for his work in addiction, mental illness, and recovery-oriented interventions.