About Bryan
I cultivate a safe and private space where you can freely express and explore your innermost thoughts, curiosities, difficulties, dreams, and hopes. You feeling understood and supported is of utmost importance to me. As such, I am dedicated to protecting the privacy of your story, whilst remaining curious about what power you have and what changes can be made.
I identify as a cisgender, heterosexual male, Caucasian, Irish-American Christian, who is physically able, an abstract sequential thinker, Enneagram 7w6, ENFP, Christian who loves the openness of creativity, but thrives with structure.
I specialize in trauma, anxiety, depression, and dysfunctional communication patterns within families and/or romantic relationships. I have an eclectic approach, employing several different modalities (TRM, EFT, IFS, PET-C, Narrative, Bowen, Experiential, and others) depending on each unique client’s needs.
I have a PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy, I am a former pastor, a Certified Community Resiliency Model (CRM) Teacher, a Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE),a Safe Zone Ally, an Associate Professor, an AAMFT Approved Supervisor, and an AAMFT Clinical Fellow.
“I welcome the richness that arises from sustained exploration, inspection, and collaboration.”
— Dr. Bryan
I believe in the power of authenticity and vulnerability
If something happens in session that makes me happy, sad, or joyous—I will laugh, cry, and celebrate with you. If I think you need to be challenged, I’ll tell you. If I think you are selling yourself short, or minimizing how much power you have, I’ll point it out. But I’ll never force you to do something you don’t want to do.
I believe in a non-pathological and holistic approach to therapy—namely that our physiological, cognitive, emotional, relational, and spiritual experiences are all excellent sources of information about our current state and well-being (and future directions for growth). We ignore our mind-body connection at our own peril. If you don’t pay attention to your body, your body will eventually force you to pay attention to it.
If I don’t know that answer to something, I’ll let you know—and we’ll discover an answer (or a solution) together that works for you. If we ever disagree about something, please know that I’m not threatened by differing points of view—rather, I welcome the richness that arises from sustained exploration, inspection, and collaboration. In fact, I expect to learn from you about life and about therapy. I don’t hide behind my title.
I would love to help you put those challenges where they belong:
behind you.
Sometimes we experience distress in one area of our life, and this inevitably spills over into other areas. Thus, understanding our internal rhythms can be invaluable for understanding why and how we interact with other people/partners/family/systems. I believe that leaning into our strengths while increasing awareness of our growth edges often creates sufficient leverage to start moving us toward personal growth.
I believe therapy works best when we have (at least) two “experts” in the room. You are an expert on your life experiences and I am an expert on emotional/behavior patterns. As a result, my therapy is highly individualized to each client—because I aspire to be sensitive toward various aspects of your identity (gender, ethnicity, culture, class, sexual orientation, neurodiversity, enneagram type, Myers-Briggs, etc.), and your accompanying comfort level and needs. I am committed to collaborating with you on a journey to uncover new, meaningful ways to approach your life and relationships—This means that I’ll be working hard during (and between) our therapy sessions, and I’ll expect you to do the same.
I hope you will allow me to help you work through the challenges that are in front of you. I would love to help you put those challenges where they belong: behind you. Contact me here.
I’m here to help,
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2015–current: Associate Professor in the Counseling and Family Sciences Department in the School of Behavioral Health at Loma Linda University. Main research area of interest: How at-risk families respond to crisis and trauma. Published 20+ peer-reviewed papers (which have been cited 1000+ times) and 50+ presentations at local and national conferences.
2015 Ph.D. Marriage and Family Therapy, Kansas State University (Manhattan, KS)
2012 M.S. Applied Child and Family Studies, Specialization in Marriage and Family Therapy, Northern Illinois University (DeKalb, IL)
2009 M.Div. Emphasis in Family Ministry, Andrews University (Berrien Springs, MI)
2004 B.A.Theology & B.A Biblical Languages, Walla Walla University (College Place, WA)
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2019 Community Resiliency Model (CRM) Teacher Training. Five-day Intensive Workshop by the Trauma Resource Institute (TRI), Claremont, CA.
2016 Trauma Resiliency Model (TRM) Training. Five-day Intensive Workshop by the Trauma Resource Institute (TRI), Loma Linda, CA.
2016 Community Resiliency Model (CRM) Training. Five-day Intensive Workshop by the Trauma Resource Institute (TRI), Loma Linda, CA.
2014 EMDR Part 1. Three-day intensive workshop by EMDR Humanitarian Assistance Programs (HAP), Kansas City, MO. (Note: I previously used EMDR with clients, but now I only to use CRM/TRM—as it is much preferable IMHO—and there is a growing body of new research supporting its efficacy and effectiveness (https://www.traumaresourceinstitute.com/research). I’m also part of a trauma team that has traveled around the world teaching CRM to help people who have experienced disasters (man-made and/or natural). These CRM wellness skills have changed people’s lives, deepened their resiliency, and brought their autonomic nervous system back into balance—and anyone, regardless of language and culture can learn them, because these wellness skills are rooted in our biology! Also, there’s an excellent and free App to help practice the foundational wellness CRM skills: iChill App (https://www.traumaresourceinstitute.com/ichill)).
2013 Discernment Counseling for Couples Considering Divorce. Workshop by William Doherty, Ph.D. at the AAMFT Conference, Portland, OR.
2011 Five-Day Intensive Training in the Pragmatic/Experiential Therapy (PET-C) Method for Improving Relationships by Brent Atkinson, Ph.D. at The Couples Research Institute, Geneva, IL.
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Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (California) #121120 (2020-current)
AAMFT Approved Supervisor (2018-current)
Certified Community Resiliency Model (CRM) Teacher (2019-current)
Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) Credential (2013-current)
AAMFT Clinical Fellow (2012-current)
California Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, (2016-current)
National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) Member (2013-current)
Safe Zone Ally (2013-current)
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Family Systems Theory
Child Abuse and Family Violence
Advanced MFT Assessment
Advanced Family Studies: Theory Construction
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Regularly presents his Untangling Our Relationships Seminars at various churches to help families understand how anxiety and accompanying behavior patterns are passed own from generation to generation—even in the biblical narrative!
Improvisational theater (10+ years teaching, coaching, and consulting)
2004-2007 Family Life and Improv Pastor at the Green Lake Church of SDA (Seattle, WA)
Taught K-2 for one school year on Majuro, Marshall Islands
Married 10+ years, 2 daughters (via IVF)
Fantasy football champion (3x)
Board game enthusiast
Cinnamon roll connoisseur
