Daniel's Counseling Methodology

Mentors who influence my work: 

A few of the inspiring teachers who currently influence my work are Ani Pema Chödrön, Dr. Janina Fisher, Dr. Thema Bryant, Dr. Shelly Harrell, Dr. Paul Brunton, Dr. Richard Schwartz, Dr. Ann Drake, Spring Washam,  Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, Lorain Fox Davis, Helen Hamilton, and Paul Oertel. I often share with clients and colleagues tools, resources and helpful teachings.

For more about Daniel's counseling background and services, please click here for further details.

What is an Integrative Psychotherapy Approach? 

These Integral Approaches (as described by CIIS' academic program) to psychotherapy align with my stance as a counselor: 

"The holistic orientation of the Integral Counseling program invites students to articulate their personal vision of psychology within modern theoretical approaches. Students benefit from a spiritually-oriented, multicultural, libratory framework for therapy with individuals, groups, couples, and families.

Clinical Skills

Conceptualize frameworks and appropriate interventions, assess and attend to the needs and goals of the client, including being able to identify client strengths, resilience, worldview, and resources. 

Diversity Awareness  

We may explore the impact of power and privilege on those in the dominant and nondominant cultures.  Actively explore our own filters and biases, while being challenged to understand differentness and develop competencies in applying diversity sensitivity to clinical practice. 

Personal Growth

Personal growth,  experiential and dyadic exploration, collaborative discussions


-- Accessed from https://www.ciis.edu/academics/graduate-programs/integral-counseling-psychology     on   4/12/23

What is Contemplative Psychotherapy?

"Contemplative psychotherapy, a branch of therapy integrating Eastern Buddhist philosophy and practice with the clinical traditions of modern Western psychology, is rooted in the belief that all people are granted the internal wisdom necessary to heal from pain.

People seeking therapy to increase self-awareness, improve overall health, and promote a general sense of well-being may find contemplative therapy to be a beneficial approach. 

Contemplative psychotherapy was developed in the 1970s by Tibetan meditation master, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, who was influential in bringing Buddhism to the West. In his efforts to do so, he was challenged by the view many held of Buddhism as solely a religious ideology. To clarify the philosophy of Buddhism and make the concepts more accessible to Westerners, Rinpoche adopted the language and theory of Western psychology, using terms and phrases like “depression” and “unconscious mental pattern” to help people see meditation as something other than an esoteric religious practice. He founded Naropa Institute (which later became Naropa University) in Boulder, Colorado in 1974 to offer classes in contemplative psychology. 

Since that time, contemplative psychotherapy has evolved into a therapeutic practice that blends the meditative techniques of Buddhism with the theory and application of traditional Western psychology. Contemplative psychotherapy integrates such aspects of Buddhism as meditation, mindfulness, and the concept of “brilliant sanity” with the distinct language of mental health, the use of an intimate therapeutic relationship, and the exploration of the stages of human development.

Contemplative psychotherapists believe people are inherently good and have the capacity for what is known as brilliant sanity. This core concept describes what contemplative psychotherapy upholds as the fundamental nature of human beings: all people have natural wisdom within them, and this wisdom can be used to achieve healing and self-awareness. Brilliant sanity is believed to be ever-present, even if it is not fully manifested. The goal of contemplative psychotherapy is to help people uncover this brilliant sanity and tap inner resources to achieve improved well-being. "

-- Accessed from  https://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/types/contemplative-psychotherapy   on   4/12/23