My journey to becoming a therapist was part of a major life transition. Looking back, there were certainly threads extending back throughout my life, including curiosity about people and what makes them tick—their motivations, desires, struggles, and disappointments—as well as the stories they create about themselves and others. These traits were visible in my love of literature and philosophy and my early career as a writer and editor, as well the somewhat frequent habit of becoming what friends called their barstool therapist. However, somewhere in between raising a daughter and supporting a family in Brooklyn, I found myself stuck in a job in finance that I had never imagined. Not only was the work stultifying, but it also felt so far removed from my values that I often had the sense that I was playing for the wrong team.
In life, nothing happens in a vacuum; indeed, my decision was precipitated by both the financial crash and the sudden passing of my dad, whereafter my sister and I took on the long-term care of our mom, who sadly was already suffering with the middle stages of frontotemporal dementia. Add to this a move across the country to Los Angeles, a separation, and ensuing single parenthood, and it is not surprising that this transition was at times overwhelming. Indeed, at several points, I felt it was too much to continue.
Sometimes in moments of hardship—call it luck, kismet, or karma—the universe provides just what is needed not only to persevere, but to thrive. For me, an opportunity arose during my practicum at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center that had a profound effect on my growth as a person and my work as a therapist. I had the privilege of participating on an interdisciplinary team in a yearlong intensive training in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and Mindful Self Compassion. With the guidance and support of the VA’s Dr. Greg Serpa and InsightLA’s Dr. Christiane Wolf, our team was the first to develop what has now become the national mindfulness facilitator training program in the Department of Veterans Affairs.
A bit about me
For me, mindfulness practice, and its underlying Eastern philosophical tradition, provides an understanding of the mind and the causes of suffering and discontent that is often lacking in Western psychological and medical models of treatment. It also happens to align with current scientific insights based upon advances in brain imagery and the most recent neurobiological research. Additionally, mindfulness provides the tools—available to anyone—which, when practiced regularly, can alter our neural circuitry and positively change our experience of ourselves, our lives, and the world.
Regular mindfulness practice remains a touchstone in my daily life and my therapy practice. And not surprisingly, I find other interventions that incorporate mindfulness or its philosophical-psychological framework, often in conjunction with cognitive behavioral approaches, particularly useful in addressing certain mental health challenges. These include Dialectical Behavior Therapy for high emotional reactivity and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for identifying purposeful and meaningful action even in the face of difficult thoughts and feelings.
Throughout over a decade of work, culminating as director and clinical supervisor at a community mental health agency, I’ve had the opportunity to witness the transformative effects of mindfulness—acceptance, non-judgment, concentration, and compassion for self and others—across a spectrum of clients in moments of crisis and despair. These include combat vets suffering from wartime trauma, people struggling with severe mental illness and addiction, and houseless and formerly incarcerated individuals as they struggle to repair themselves and their relationships and find purpose and meaning in their lives. I consider it a great privilege to continue working with clients on their personal journeys of recovery and self-discovery.
In between juggling work and family life, I enjoy yoga, climbing, travel, and hiking with Sansa, our intensely loyal, if slightly neurotic, rescue dog.
Education and credentials
1992 — Bachelor of Arts in English, University of California, Santa Barbara
1995 — Master of Arts in Philosophy: Critical Theory, University of Sussex, U.K.
2014 — Master of Social Work, University of Southern California
2014 — Mindfulness Facilitator's Training (MBSR), West Los Angeles VA Medical Center
2021 — Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Treatment Implementation Collab. & DBT-Linehan Board of Certification
Contact Mark
Feel free to contact me with questions or to book a free 15-minute phone consultation to see if we might be a good fit to work together.
