Institute for Creative Mindfulness

Dr. Jamie Marich (she/they/we) began her career as a humanitarian aid worker in Bosnia-Hercegovina from 2000-2003, primarily teaching English and music. Jamie travels internationally teaching on topics related to trauma, EMDR therapy, expressive arts, mindfulness, and yoga, while maintaining a private practice and online education operations in her home base of Akron, OH. Marich is the founder of the Institute for Creative Mindfulness and the developer of the Dancing Mindfulness approach to expressive arts therapy. Marich is the author of EMDR Made Simple: 4 Approaches for Using EMDR with Every Client (2011), Trauma and the Twelve Steps: A Complete Guide for Recovery Enhancement (2012), Creative Mindfulness (2013), Trauma Made Simple: Competencies in Assessment, Treatment, and Working with Survivors, Dancing Mindfulness: A Creative Path to Healing and Transformation (2015), and Process Not Perfection: Expressive Arts Solutions for Trauma Recovery (2019). Marich co-authored EMDR Therapy & Mindfulness for Trauma-Focused Care along with colleague Dr. Stephen Dansiger in 2018, and their new book with Springer Publishing Healing Addiction with EMDR Therapy: A Trauma-Focused Guide released in 2021. North Atlantic Books published a revised and expanded edition of Trauma and the 12 Steps in the Summer of 2020, and they released The Healing Power of Jiu-Jitsu: A Guide to Transforming Trauma and Facilitating Recovery in 2022. Her latest release with North Atlantic Book, Dissociation Made Simple: A Stigma-Free Guide to Embracing Your Dissociative Mind and Navigating Life came out in January 2023. She has three more projects in the works with North Atlantic Books, including her personal memoir about surviving spiritual abuse called You Lied to Me About God, due out in Autumn 2024. The Huffington Post published her personal story of being out as a clinical professional with a dissociative disorder in May 2023. The New York Times featured Marich’s writing and work on Dancing Mindfulness in 2017 and 2020. NALGAP: The Association of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Addiction Professionals and Their Allies awarded Jamie with their esteemed President’s Award in 2015 for her work as an LGBT advocate. The EMDR International Association (EMDRIA) granted Jamie the 2019 Advocacy in EMDR Award for her using her public platform in media and in the addiction field to advance awareness about EMDR therapy and to reduce stigma around mental health. Jamie also sits on the editorial board of the EMDR Journal of Practice and Research, and she was the 2008 winner of the Poster Research Award at the EMDRIA Annual Conference.

Dr. Steve played CBGB and Max’s Kansas City in the late 70s; drank, played drums in a toy rock band and then got sober in the late 80s; became an international educator and rocker again in the 90s; and is now a sought after clinician, writer and meditation teacher. Dr. Steve has attempted to cure Marc Maron on his world renowned WTF Podcast, become a master EMDR therapist and provider of EMDR Training and Advanced Topics Courses with the Institute for Creative Mindfulness, and is a pioneer in the Buddhist recovery field. He is the creator and founder of the MET(T)A Protocol (Mindfulness and EMDR Treatment Template for Agencies) which utilizes both Buddhist psychology and EMDR therapy to create an agency's primary clinical practice system. He is the author of Clinical Dharma: A Path for Healers and Helpers, EMDR Therapy and Mindfulness for Trauma-Focused Care (coauthored with Jamie Marich), and Mindfulness for Anger Management. He blogs and podcasts on topics related to mental health, recovery, and mindfulness. Besides maintaining a private practice in Los Angeles, he travels internationally speaking and teaching on Buddhist mindfulness, EMDR therapy, the MET(T)A Protocol, trauma, Buddhist approaches to treating mental health issues, and clinician self-care. He has been practicing Buddhist mindfulness for over 30 years (including a one year residency at a Zen monastery), and teaches dharma classes regularly in Los Angeles and other centers internationally. Steve is the Head of Health & Wellness Innovation & Partnerships at DropLabs (a company led by Susan Paley, former CEO of Beats by Dre), the creators of full immersion sound technology delivered through bluetooth to vibrational footwear simultaneously with your headphones. Steve’s technology company, StartAgain Technologies, develops, collaborates on and acquires applications to deliver through DropLabs hardware, to enhance the MET(T)A Protocol and add new dimensions and interventions to many other health and wellness platforms. Steve is also currently part of the 3rd Cohort of the Master of Health Care Innovation (MCHI) program at the University of Pennsylvania - studying and collaborating with fellow cohort members and faculty who include doctors, nurses, academics, researchers and administrators to continue his quest for finding innovative solutions in mental health care and wellness.