Echo Rock Therapy Center
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Grant Rudolph MA, MFT
As a meditation practitioner of 40 years, I immediately recognized the mind states produced by Low Energy Neurofeedback as very similar to what happens after a long silent retreat: people get clear, present in the moment, contented, aware of bodily sensations, confident, and resilient through the ups and downs of life. They start making wiser choices. I was so excited about the improvements LENS made to my own stamina, productivity, and organizational skills that I used it with all my psychotherapy clients. They all got better quickly and graduated from therapy. I now use Low Energy Neurofeedback with all of my clients, because real changes happen in months not years. LENS seems to disrupt repeating thought patterns created by past traumas not relevant to today. The new spaciousness of mind opens an opportunity for change–it’s like getting three wishes from the genie of the lamp. We spend the most time together envisioning what is the best you could wish for, and noticing what it feels like when it happens. My training in traditional Jungian archetypes and Buddhist practice techniques provides structure for these discussions. After working at Alta Mira Recovery Center, a residential treatment program in Sausalito, CA, I conferenced with colleague Judith Miller, PhD on the Colorado Protocol. We modified the protocol based on our experience into the Echo Rock Protocol, integrating mindfulness, nutraceuticals, and daily LENS to quickly bring back clarity and contentment after overuse of alcohol, prescription medications, or street drugs. In one study, the success rate of addiction treatment went from 20% to 80% after LENS neurofeedback was added to the program. I’m a founding member and practice guide at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and can draw on my own experience to point out the direct path to letting go. In thousands of LENS sessions, I have noticed my clients’ patterns of changes parallel the subjective experiences described in early Buddhist texts. Today, fMRIs are confirming what careful observation revealed 2600 years ago: there is a path to happiness that works. I am keeping careful notes and working on a book about how we notice changes happening. As an early member of San Francisco Transformative Technology Meet-Up, I am leading a team to develop devices that deliver practical, transformative feedback and make meditation much easier. I feel grateful to have lived a creative life so far, curious about many different people and disciplines. I have started several businesses, conducted an orchestra and chorus, married a good woman, and raised children who are loyal to their friends. Exposure to many worlds has helped me notice a glimmer of what is universal and mysterious in each person, and enabled me to believe in their destiny. My interests in initiation and friendship led me to participate at the start of the men’s movement, and I have led men’s groups on and off since 1976. Stories from our elders, long gone, have marked the path where they stumbled, that we might pass by safely on our journey. Thinking on the old stories has taught me to converse in metaphor, the language of our inner helpers. If they like, people bring in their dreams to monitor the progress of their inner story after neurofeedback. My intention is to also pass on some of the wisdom, humor and warm kindness my elders have shown me. Brain science has proven how mirror neurons exchange kindness and information between people. I am grateful to the many teachers who helped me learn about the old ways: Buddhism at Dhamma Sukha, mindfulness meditation, Jungian dream work at Pacifica Graduate Institute, the joy and discipline of music practice at Tanglewood, the satisfaction of learning at Yale University, the ecstasy of dance and song, the daily steadiness of family love, the necessity of community and beauty. –Grant Rudolph has directed Echo Rock Therapy Center since 1986. He has taught at California Institute of Integral Studies, College of the Redwoods, and JFK University. |
Victoria Vogel, MA, MFT
I have over 25 years experience counseling couples, adults, and teens, using a holistic Body-Mind-Spirit orientation. The cornerstone of my work is the warm connection I have with people. This “non-judging” mood in the room models something important for them–the strength and acceptance to be present with their most shameful feelings and secret thoughts. When the inner Friend is at home, suffering vanishes. Wisdom calms inner conflicts. Relationships flourish. Insight flows naturally. As a seasoned therapist, I am skilled with a variety of therapeutic tools and situations. I have saved many marriages. I am especially successful with lonely people who want a partner. I am an expert helping parents with spirited children. I use EMDR for PTSD. I talk to teenagers easily. I am a rock for couples on the sands of divorce. I have compassion and knowledge for people with poor health. My therapeutic framework includes Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy for quick results, Transpersonal Therapy for depth, Positive Psychology for moods, Family Systems Therapy for patterns, and Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing for trauma. But to put it simply, I work with grace. I have a successful 20 year marriage, a teenage daughter and son in college. VIPASSANA/MEDITATION BACKGROUND Sitting has been my practice since 1978–more than forty extended retreats and family retreats. I am a graduate of the Dedicated Practitioners Program at Spirit Rock. I have studied Advaita Vedanta, Tai Chi, QiGong, Yoga, and Zen. I continue a strong daily meditation and exercise practice. RELEVANT CLINICAL TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE My master’s degree in Transpersonal Counseling combines Psychology with spirituality. My skills were honed at Langley Porter Children’s Hospital, UCSF. I have been Co-Director at Echo Rock Therapy Center for 22 years. My post-graduate training includes 12 years of Masterson group consultations. I have led a CHADD International ADHD Parent Support Group for 10 years. I am a member of the California Marriage and Family Association. Victoria Vogel, MFT |
Scott A. Jordan, CYT
A Vietnam service veteran, Jordan began his lifelong study in yoga and mindfulness meditation in 1970. After graduating from Florida State University in 1973, he moved to Los Angeles where he studied Soto Zen Buddhism and Vipassana with Ruth Dennison and Robert Hover. He received a California State Teaching Credential in 1977 in the San Francisco Bay area where he taught yoga at Cañada College and in community centers. He continued his meditation studies with Nani Bala Barua, Shri Munindra-Ji, Joseph Goldstein, and other leading meditation teachers. In 1978 Jordan was a founding board member of the Theravada Buddhist Society of America and newsletter publisher. He studied Buddhist psychology, meditation, and the Pali language with the Venerable Sayadaw U Silananda, until his passing in 2005. In his travels, Jordan studied yoga and Buddhism in India, trekked the Himalayas, and lived several years in the Middle East. He is a certified RYT 500 yoga teacher and the former publisher of Polipoint Press in Sausalito. Jordan has been a lifelong political activist and is an outspoken advocate for yoga and meditation practice as a personal pathway to achieving health and happiness. He continues to practice meditation and study Buddhist suttas and history with the Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi, abbot of Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center. His workshops and talks are open to the public in the San Francisco Bay Area. |