In order to understand Brandon’s story, it is best to understand how he learned about mindfulness. “While in grad school a person told me about mindfulness and how focusing on the breath is so important. I about laughed in their face and said, 'That’s ridiculous!' I thought this was for hippies and not for me at all. One day, I went with this person to a conference that, to my surprise, was all about mindfulness. I practiced one time and was hooked ever since. I had never experienced the mind at such a peaceful state as I did in that exercise. The thing is, the person who I laughed at is now my wife!”

Brandon has been practicing mindfulness for about a decade and has had a personal daily practice throughout this time. He attended Arizona State University where he earned his doctorate in Counseling Psychology. His background is in trauma and he completed his Clinical Psychology Postdoctoral training in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). He was trained in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE), Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindfulness Self Compassion (MSC) and completed a VA-approved Mindfulness Facilitator Training. While doing trauma work, he began to see how much trauma and chronic pain overlap, so he began working in VA's Integrative Health – Holistic Medicine running mindfulness groups for Veterans experiencing all sorts of psychological and physical difficulties. Recently, he was hired as the Mindfulness Center Director and is involved in mindfulness patient care, research, and education. Brandon’s areas of interest are in making mindfulness more accessible to Veterans, creating brief mindfulness interventions, self- and other-compassion, and valued living.