I grew up in a loving and stable family, mainly in the suburbs of Los Angeles; my mother was a homemaker and administrator, and my father was a zoology professor. A shy and bookish kid who loved the outdoors, I entered UCLA at 16 and graduated\u00a0summa cum laude<\/em>\u00a0in 1974 (and was honored to be one of four \u201coutstanding seniors\u201d chosen by the UCLA Alumni Association). Over the next several years, I founded a successful seminar company, worked for a mathematician doing probabilistic risk analyses for things like the odds of a nuclear power plant melting down, and did management consulting. After working on a Masters in developmental psychology at San Francisco State University, I received a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the Wright Institute in 1991, with a dissertation titled, \u201cGratifying control: Mothers offering alternatives to toddlers.\u201d<\/p>\n My clinical practice (now closed to new clients) has included adults, couples, families, and children, as well as psychological assessments of children and adults. I have worked in several independent schools, and have given many talks to meetings of parents or child development specialists. I served on the Board of\u00a0FamilyWorks<\/a>, a family resource agency in Marin County, and chaired it for two years. I am a former Trustee of\u00a0Saybrook University<\/a>.<\/p>\n I co-authored my first book in 2002, Mother Nurture<\/em><\/a>, with my wife Jan Hanson, M.S., L.Ac.<\/a> \u2013 an acupuncturist specializing in clinical nutrition \u2013 and Ricki Pollycove, M.D. Many related articles and other resources can be found at www.NurtureMom.com<\/a>. Jan and I have two adult children, and being parents has been the most fulfilling experience of our lives.<\/p>\n As we\u2019ve learned so much more about the brain over the past twenty years, I\u2019ve been deeply interested in the historically unprecedented meeting of modern neuroscience and ancient contemplative practices, which is the focus of my books Buddha’s Brain<\/a><\/em> (2009) and Neurodharma<\/a> <\/em>(2020). With Rick Mendius, M.D., I founded the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom<\/a> which publishes the monthly Wise Brain Bulletin<\/a>\u00a0and hosts the\u00a0www.WiseBrain.org<\/a> website.<\/p>\n A recurring theme in my work is the need for mental resources such as mindfulness, self-compassion, and positive emotions. We acquire these resources through learning<\/em>, but there has been remarkably little attention paid to the actual \u201chow\u201d of growing such inner strengths. My books Just One Thing <\/a><\/em>(2011), Hardwiring Happiness<\/a> <\/em>(2013), and Resilient<\/a><\/em> (2018) offer practices and teachings on this theme, and Making Great Relationships<\/a><\/em> (2023) applies those ideas to our interactions with others. I also developed the online Positive Neuroplasticity Training<\/a>\u00a0to teach the general methods of self-directed brain change, and the related online\u00a0Professional Course<\/a> in applying these methods when working with others, such as in psychotherapy, coaching, and human resources training.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In 2021, my paper on positive brain change \u2014 Learning to Learn from Positive Experiences \u2014 appeared in the peer-reviewed Journal of Positive Psychology<\/a>, December 6, 2021.<\/p>\n I\u2019m a Senior Fellow of the\u00a0Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley<\/a>, and have been invited to speak at NASA as well as at Oxford, Harvard, Stanford, and other major universities. My books have been endorsed by leading scholars, meditation teachers, and self-help experts, including Thich Nhat Hanh, Lori Gottlieb, Stephen Porges, Tara Brach, Kristin Neff, Jack Kornfield, Lori Deschene, Dan Siegel, Harville Hendrix, Steven Hayes, Geneen Roth, Robert Emmons, Paul Gilbert, Mark Williams, Sharon Salzberg, Roman Krznaric, Jim Doty, Jennifer Loudon, Stan Tatkin, Michael Singer, Paul Gilbert, Christine Carter, Frank Ostaseski, Philip Zelazo, Jerome Engel, Christina Feldman, Shauna Shapiro, Ruby Wax, Joseph Goldstein, Roger Walsh, Shawn Achor, Joan Borysenko, Jim Gordon, Dacher Keltner, Daniel Levitin, and Deepak Chopra.<\/p>\n In 2022, I founded the Global Compassion Coalition (GCC)<\/a> with colleagues from around the world, with a mission to create a world in which people and nature are cared for and thrive.\u00a0<\/p>\n My personal interests include rock-climbing, sailing, novels, travel \u2013 I lived one year in Finland and one in Germany \u2013 and having fun with family and friends. You can reach me through my administrator by using this form<\/a>.<\/p>\n For more information, please see my Summary CV<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Full CV<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#ffffff” pac_dcm_carousel_specific_module_num=”0″ box_shadow_style=”preset1″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”30px|20px|0px|20px|false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.6em” custom_margin=”||20px||false|false” custom_padding=”|20px|0px|20px|false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n I have learned a great deal from the people or organizations below, and am very grateful to them. Many of them are supported through the generosity of others, and if you were so inclined, that would be one more good thing in this world.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.6em” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”|20px|0px|20px|false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”||20px||false|false” custom_padding=”|20px|0px|20px|false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n James Baraz<\/a><\/p>\n Sylvia Boorstein, PhD<\/a><\/p>\n Deric Bownds<\/a><\/p>\n Tara Brach, PhD<\/a><\/p>\n Leigh Brasington<\/a><\/p>\n Jonathan Cohen<\/a><\/p>\n Mark Coleman<\/a><\/p>\n Richard Davidson, PhD<\/a><\/p>\n Jack Kornfield, PhD<\/a><\/p>\n Sara Lazar<\/a><\/p>\n Phillip Moffit<\/a><\/p>\n Sharon Salzberg<\/a><\/p>\n Dan Siegel, MD<\/a><\/p>\n Evan Thompson, PhD<\/a><\/p>\n Phillip David Zelazo, PhD<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.6em” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”|20px|0px|20px|false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”||20px||false|false” custom_padding=”|20px|0px|20px|false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Abhayagiri Monastery<\/a><\/p>\n Barre Center for Buddhist Studies<\/a><\/p>\n Greater Good Science Center<\/a><\/p>\n Inquiring Mind<\/a><\/p>\n Insight Meditation Society<\/a><\/p>\n\n
With Appreciation<\/em><\/h2>\n
People<\/h4>\n
Organizations<\/h4>\n