Dyrian Benz-Chartrand, Psy.D is a mindfulness and somatic psychology educator, practitioner, and author. He is co-founder of the Embodied Psychology Association presenting training in the field of embodied, mindful psychology including the Relational Somatic Psychology Certificate Program at Esalen Institute. He is the originator of the Santa Barbara Psychology Conferences, adjunct faculty member at Meridian University, Antioch University and former professor at Santa Barbara Graduate Institute. He is author of GroupField: A Practitioner’s Guide With An Experiential Perspective For Teams and Groups, and he offers training, seminars, and retreats in the United States and in Europe.

Master Mingtong Gu will bring his joyous teachings and extensive master skills to train your ability to expand wisdom and energy. Born and raised in China, Master Gu received extensive Qigong training and experience at the largest Qigong medicine-less hospital in China, which has a documented 95% success rate. He has mastered the unique ability to lead the collective energy field to accelerate personal and global healing. Named The Qigong Master of the Year by the World Congress for Qigong and TCM, Mingtong Gu leads retreats and workshops internationally. Master Gu is the author of key books and the Pure Qi Online series that translate the ancient teachings of Wisdom Healing Qigong for contemporary times. www.chicenter.com

Michael Mayer, PhD is a licensed psychologist, hypnotherapist, and Qigong/Tai Chi teacher who specializes in giving his patients self-healing methods for health problems. Dr. Mayer presents his approach to bodymind healing at professional conferences, national/international workshops, universities, and hospitals; and he is a keynote speaker. He co-founded the Transpersonal Psychology Program at John F. Kennedy University where he trained therapists for 12 years; and he is a co-founder of, and a practitioner at, The Health Medicine Center, a multi-disciplinary medical clinic practicing integrative health-care. Dr Mayer was the Focusing Training coordinator of the SF East Bay area for ten years. www.bodymindhealing.com

Dr. John Amodeo is a member of the faculty at Meridian University. He is author of The Authentic Heart, Love & Betrayal, and is coauthor of Being Intimate, which applies Focusing to intimacy. He co-authored a chapter with Susan Johnson on EFT and Buddhism in recently released, The Emotionally Focused Casebook, edited by Susan Johnson, James Furrow, and Bret Bradley. He has been an MFT for thirty years. He is an adjunct faculty member of Meridian University and has spoken internationally on Focusing-Oriented couples Therapy and related topics. He has been interviewed or written articles for publications that include The Chicago Tribune, The Dallas Morning News, and the San Jose Mercury News. www.johnamodeo.com

Babette Rothschild is known as a specialist in the treatment of trauma and PTSD. She is the author of 5 books (in 9 languages), including the bestselling The Body Remembers, and is the creator/editor of the 8 Keys Self-Help Series, all published by WW Norton. She travels the world giving professional lectures, trainings, and consultations. www.trauma.cc

John Conger, PhD is a member of the faculty at Meridian University. He is a licensed psychologist and psychoanalyst. He also is an international trainer in Bioenergetics. He is the founder and director of the Analytic Somatic Therapy Training Institute. He runs his own training in Analytic Somatic Therapy and teaches at Meridian University and California Institute of Integral Studies. Dr. Conger is in private practice in Berkeley, California. Publications include: Jung and Reich, The Body as Shadow, The Body in Recovery, and Somatic Psychotherapy and the Self.

Siegmar Gerken, PhD, ECP, HP has pioneered body-oriented and heartcentered therapy and Humanistic Psychology since 1971 and is the founder of the Energy & Consciousness Programs and of Core Evolution. Siegmar is adjunct teaching faculty at the Santa Barbara Graduate Institute, at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, as well as at the Esalen Institute, Big Sur, California, the renowned Institute for the development of the Human Potential. He conducts body-oriented therapy and mindfulness-based trainings at the Behavioral Therapy Training Institute in Hamburg, and specialized Management and Coaching Seminars at Systema Management Trainings. www.coreevolution.com

Rae Johnson, PhD, RSW, RSMT is a member of the faculty at Meridian University. She is a somatic movement therapist, educator, and researcher. She is former Chair of the Somatic Psychology Department at the Santa Barbara Graduate Institute, former Director of the Body Psychotherapy Program at Naropa University, and the author of “Knowing In Our Bones: Exploring the Embodied Knowledge of Somatic Educators”. www.embodimentstudies.org

Will Johnson is the founder and program director of The Institute for Embodiment Training which combines the orientation of Western somatic psychology with Eastern meditational practices. His books include The Posture of Meditation, The Spiritual Practices of Rumi, and Yoga of the Mahamudra.

Francis Spalluto has been a practicing bodyworker and movement teacher for nearly 22 years. For 10 of those years it was pretty much pure Hellerwork, which is a strange comment as Hellerwork is such a marvelous blend of so many somatic therapies. Studying Hanna Somatics offered me the opportunity to integrate a more neurological approach to structural bodywork. My continued studies in somatics have led me to study Dr. John Sarno’s work with psycho-emotional aspects of healing which is a brilliant accompaniment to Hellerwork and Hanna Somatics. Being a student and a practitioner of somatic modalities has resulted in a very non linear path.

William Bento, PhD, has worked in the field of human development for more than thirty years. He is a recognized pioneer and a published author in psychosophy (soul wisdom) and astrosophy (star wisdom) and travels extensively as a speaker, teacher, and consultant. He currently resides in Citrus Heights, California. Dr. Bento is presently the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at Rudolf Steiner College in Fair Oaks, California, and works as a transpersonal clinical psychologist at the Center for Living Health in Gold River, California. His involvement in guiding social therapy seminars for Camphill Communities has been well received over the last two decades.

Mark Metz danced his way from rock-and-roll through the rave movements and began writing about dance and culture in the early 90's while he owned the clothing store Ameba in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury. He views the cutting edge of dance culture to be the froth on the leading wave of evolution, and has focused his life’s energy on translating it to the world as a 'cultural engineer." He is co-founder and publisher of Conscious Dancer magazine. www.consciousdancer.com www.facebook.com/mark.g.metz

Pat Ogden, PhD, is a pioneer in somatic psychology having trained in a wide variety of somatic and psychotherapeutic approaches. She has 34 years experience working with individuals and groups in diverse populations and first author of the groundbreaking book, Trauma and the Body: A Sensorimotor Approach to Psychotherapy. Dr. Ogden is both founder and director of the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute, a clinician, consultant, international lecturer and trainer, co-founder of the Hakomi Institute, and on faculty at Naropa University. Currently she is working on her second book, The Body as Resource: Sensorimotor Interventions for the Treatment of Trauma. sensorimotorpsychotherapy.org

Lisa Herman, MFT, PhD, REAT is a member of the faculty at Meridian University. She is Director of Creative Expression and Executive Core Faculty at ITP where she teaches in the Masters, PhD, and PsyD programs. She is adjunct faculty at the International School for Interdisciplinary Studies (ISIS-Canada) in Toronto and a dissertation advisor at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco where she received her PhD in Integral Studies with a concentration in Transformative Learning and Change. Lisa is a Registered Expressive Arts Therapist and a licensed MFT and supervisor. She has worked as an expressive arts therapist with couples, families, individuals and groups for over thirty years. www.Lisaherman.net

Stanley Keleman is the director of the Center for Energetic Studies in Berkeley California. where he teaches the Formative approach to human development. He has been a somatic educator who has been researching and developing the Formative principles an original method for influencing inherited behavior. He was awarded a Phd in Human Letters from Saybrook Graduate School in 6,17,2007. He is the director of research in Formative Psychology at the Center of Form and Development in Zurich, Switzerland, and Solingen Germany and visiting lecturer at Spectrum , School of Humanistic Psychology in London, England. He is the author of the pioneering books. Emotional Anatomy, Embodying Experience, Your Body Speaks its Mind, Insults to Form, Living Your Dying and Myth and the Body, and numerous clinical books. He can be contacted in Berkeley California at skeleman@aol.com

Laury Rappaport, PhD, REAT, ATR-BC is a member of the faculty at Meridian University. She is the founder/director of the Focusing and Expressive Arts Institute and the author of Focusing-Oriented Art Therapy: Accessing the Body's Wisdom and Creative Intelligence. She is a Certifying Coordinator and Trainer for The Focusing Institute in NY and has been teaching the arts therapies and Focusing for 30 years in graduate academic programs including, Lesley University, Notre Dame de Namur University, CIIS, and Meridian University. She conducts lectures and trainings nationally and internationally. www.focusingarts.com

Marti Glenn, PhD, is a member of the faculty at Meridian University. She is the Founding President of Santa Barbara Graduate Institute specializing in prenatal and perinatal psychology and somatic psychology. Marti has been a pioneering psychotherapist for over 30 years, as well as a professor of clinical psychology, integrating neuroscience with attachment, early development, and trauma. Dr. Glenn is a board member of the Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health and has been chair of numerous conferences including Neurons to Neighborhoods: Preventing and Healing Trauma in Children and Adults and co-produced the broadcast quality documentary, Trauma, Brain, and Relationship: Helping Children Heal.

Eleanor Criswell is a member of the faculty at Meridian University. She received her Bachelor's and Master's from the University of Kentucky and her Doctorate from the University of Florida. She has been a professor of psychology at Sonoma State University since 1969 and has formerly been its Chairperson. She is the editor of the journal Somatics and the Director of the Novato Institute for Somatic Research and Training. As a Counseling Psychologist, she maintains a private practice in psychotherapy and somatics and is the author of Somatic Yoga and Somatics and Biofeedback. www.somaticsed.com

Meagan Pugh, D.Min., ATR-BC, SEP, is a Transpersonal Counselor, Internal Family Systems Therapist, Graduate School Educator and Certified Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner with a private practice in Sebastopol serving individuals, couples and groups. She is the author of the book and companion CD, The Spiral of Healing: A Journey Through the Chakras to Awaken Creativity and Body Wisdom, and offers Somatic Art Therapy trainings for professionals. Dr. Pugh has researched with individuals and groups the use of the creative arts to identify and heal trauma responses in the body and incorporates an in-depth exploration of archetypal energies. www.art-2-heart.com

Rob Fisher, MFT, is a psychotherapist, consultant and CAMFT certified supervisor in private practice in Mill Valley, CA. He is an adjunct professor at JFK University and at CIIS and the Co-Developer and Lead Instructor in the Certificate Program in Mindfulness and Compassion for Psychotherapists at CIIS in San Francisco. He is also a Hakomi Trainer who teaches Hakomi Mindfulness Based Experiential Psychotherapy internationally. He is the author of Experiential Psychotherapy with Couples, A Guide for the Creative Pragmatist, published by Zeig/Tucker, in addition to numerous articles published in the US and abroad. www.robfishermft.com

Aftab Omer received his Bachelor's from M.I.T. and his Doctorate from Brandeis University. Formerly a faculty member in both the Psychology and Sociology departments at Sonoma State University, he is currently the President of the Council for Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychologies. Aftab’s research has focused on the emergence of human capacities within transformative learning communities and his work includes assisting organizations in tapping the creative potentials of conflict, diversity, and complexity. His published articles include “The Spacious Center: Leadership and the Creative Transformation of Culture” and “Between Columbine and the Twin Towers: Fundamentalist Culture as a Failure of Imagination.”

Edmund Knighton, PhD, is a registered psychological assistant at the Family Therapy Institute in Santa Barbara, and Department Chair, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology in the Somatic Specialization at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Edmund was trained in neuropsychology at UC Davis Med Center’s Dept. of Physical Medicine and Rehab as a member of a multidisciplinary medical team that used a biopsychosocial model to treat neurological disorders, including traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, and stroke. As an educator for 20 years, he has served on the faculty of four graduate institutes and four Waldorf Schools, where he founded peer counseling and social-emotional skills programs.

John Vasconcellos is the Dean Emeritus of the California Legislature, retired November 30, 2004 after 38 years representing the Heart of Silicon Valley in the Assembly and Senate.His legislative career was most distinctive because of his having simultaneously engaged in his 38-year search for becoming a person, according to the faithful vision of ourselves, our human nature and potential. His most notorious endeavor was the founding of the California Task Force to Promote Self Esteem and Personal and Social Responsibility.

Stephanie Mines, PhD, is the founder and director of an international training program, the TARA Approach for the Resolution of Shock and Trauma. She conducts seminars and workshops world wide with the purpose of ending the lineage of shock and trauma. She is the author of We Are All in Shock: How Overwhelming Experiences Shatter You...And What You Can Do About It, Sexual Abuse/Sacred Wound: Transforming Deep Trauma and The Dreaming Child: How Children Can Help Themselves Recover from Illness and Injury. Dr. Mines is a living embodiment of the power of identifying shock and overcoming its pervasive impact on everyday life. www.Tara-Approach.org

Katy Swafford, PhD, Dr. Swafford is a Psychologist in private practice for 30 years and teaches at St. Edwards University - Counseling program as well as Capella University’s graduate program. She is also Founder and Director of the Eidetic Imagery Institute which offers personal growth and training in this type of somatic imagery. She was certified as a Radix Practitioner in 1998 and Eidetic Imagery in 2000. She has also studied the systems approaches of Family Therapy which she currently applies to the Psycho-Somatic system of mind, body, and spirit. www.EideticInstitute.com

Charles Asher is a Jungian analyst and Marriage Family Therapist practicing in Petaluma, CA and is also an Episcopalian priest. He holds graduate degrees in theology and psychology and has been involved in higher education for many years serving as faculty and provost among other positions. www.drcharlesasher.com

Ariana Strozzi has been bringing the magic of nature-based practices and animal communication into leadership and self development since 1989. She is a zoologist, master somatic coach and a successful entrepreneur. She has written several books including, “Horse Sense for the Leader Within” and has been published in several books. She currently teaches and speaks on how somatics, biology, and intuition are key components of one’s ability to facilitate change in personal and professional endevours. www.SkyHorseServices.com

Susan Griffin’s most recent work, the anthology she co-edited, Transforming Terror: Remembering the Soul of the World has received high praise. Among twenty books, A Chorus of Stones, the Private Life of War, a New York Times Notable Book, was a finalist the Pulitzer Prize, winning the Northern California Book Award. An earlier volume, the ground breaking, Woman and Nature, is credited with inspiring eco-feminism. Named by Utne Reader as one of a hundred important visionaries for the new millennium, she has been has been the recipient of an NEA Grant, a Macarthur Grant for Peace and International Cooperation, and a Guggenheim Fellowship.Susan is Contributing Faculty at Meridian University. www.susangriffin.com www.transformingterror.com

Diana Fosha PhD is the developer of Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), and the director of the AEDP Institute. Diana is on the cutting edge of transformational theory andpractice. Changing how we think about change, she is opening up exciting possibilities for what can happen in psychotherapy. Diana has been exploring positive affective experiences as wired-in somatic markers of the transformational processes that are involved in healing psychic suffering and fostering flourishing and well-being. Diana is the author of The Transforming Power of Affect: A Model for Accelerated Change (Basic Books, 2000), and editor, with Marion Solomon and Dan Siegel, of The Healing Power of Emotion: Affective Neuroscience, Development, & Clinical Practice (Norton, 2009). www.aedpinstitute.com