C.V.
Margaret Cullen, M.F.T.
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
Certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Teacher
EDUCATION
1974
Bachelor of Arts, Clark University
Double Major in French and Psychology
Worcester, MA
1972
Special Studies in Group Dynamics, Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
1973
French Literature of the Existentialists, L’Universite Aix-Marseille
Marseille, France
1991
Master of Arts, Clinical Psychology, Antioch University,
Los Angeles, CA
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
1991-
1993
The Cancer Support Community, Santa Monica and Walnut Creek, CA
Two Year Training and Internship in Group Facilitation.
1993-
2021
Group Facilitator: Facilitate support groups for cancer patients, their families and post treatment groups.
Designed and taught the first mindfulness program
for national headquarters and continue to teach and design innovative mindfulness-based curricula for this cohort including weekly meditation groups, bi-annual forgiveness workshops, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Compassion Cultivation courses for cancer patients and their families. Lead Facilitator for study in collaboration with David Spiegel, Stanford University.
1994-
2011
Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, CA
Taught MBSR courses to extremely diverse populations.
Developed and taught first MBSR course for physicians.
Developed and taught first “graduate” courses for both patients and physicians.
Primary Consultant for Region-wide revision of MBSR Curriculum.
2003-
2008
University of California at San Francisco
Co-Instructor and Curriculum Development for research study,
“Cultivating Emotional Balance”, teaching emotion skills and meditation to school teachers.
Margaret Kemeny, PhD., Principal Investigator.
2006-
2007
Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, San Francisco
Taught MBSR courses as part of long-term study with HIV patients.
2006-
2015
SMART in Education
Developed curriculum and taught ten week intervention for Denver Public School. Teachers combining meditation and emotional intelligence.
Developed and taught intensive emotion training/mindfulness program for school principals in Vancouver, Canada. Trained SMART instructors in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Berkeley, CA and Boulder, Colorado. Currently piloting online training for SMART instructors.
2007-
2008
University of California at San Francisco
Wrote curriculum and taught research study, “Craving and Lifestyle Management with Mindfulness”, combining meditation and emotion training for overweight women.
Elissa Eppel, PhD., Principal Investigator
2009-
2019
Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education
Stanford University
Senior Teacher
Collaborated on curriculum development for Compassion Cultivation training. Train and supervise new instructors.
2012-
2019
University of Miami
Develop and deliver Mindfulness-Based Emotional Balance Program for military spouses at Fort Drum, NY. and Maxwell Airforce Base, Montgomery, Alabama. Train and supervise MBEB instructor continued research at Fort Elgin Air Force Base, FL. , Develop and deliver mindfulness and compassion program for staff at Joint Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg.
2014-
2018
Portland State University
Develop and deliver Mindfulness-Based Emotional Balance Program for educators at public middle schools as part of large research study.
2016-
2021
Compassion Institute
Founding Faculty. Created “Compassion Corps” to reach underserved populations, oversee numerous projects including Angola Prison Compassion Training and Compassion Training for Police Officers, Co-teach Compassion Cultivation Teacher Trainings.
MINDFULNESS TRAINING
1980-
Present
Numerous Vipassana retreats ranging from ten days to three months primarily with Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield. Other teachers include: Sharon Salzberg, Christopher Titmuss, Steven Smith, Michelle MacDonald, Sylvia Boorstein Christina Feldman, Steve and Kamala Masters, Phillip Moffit, Ajahn Sumedho, Ajahn Amaro, James Baraz, Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Mingyur Rinpoche, Yvonne Rand and Shinzen Young.
1995
MBSR Professional Training with Jon Kabat-Zinn.
1998
Regional Teacher Development with Ferris Urbanowski.
1995
Participate in ongoing peer-led group of MBSR teachers
2005
Completed Certification Program in MBSR through the Center for Mindfulness, University of Massachusetts
2006
Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy training with Zindel Segal
SELECTED PRESENTATIONS AND WORKSHOPS
“Forgiveness”, Podcast interview with Michelle Becker, 2020 https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/well-connected-relationships-podcast/id1521963731
“Equanimity” Mind and Life Institute Contemplative Research Conference, 2020
“Equanimity in a World on Fire”, Online Series “Reimagining Being Human” with Gonzalo Brito Pons https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AZkccB4d9c
“Compassion Cultivation One-Day Intensive”, with Thupten Jinpa, Gyuto Foundation, 2020
“Introduction to Compassion Cultivation”, San Francisco, 2014
Science of Compassion Conference
“Cultivating Compassion Intensive” – Sydney, Australia, 2013
“Whack – a –Mole vs: Inner Peace: Turning toward the difficult as a hallmark of mindfulness-based interventions”, Keynote, UCSD, 2013
“The Science and Practice of Compassion Cultivation Meditation Training”, Center For Mindfulness Conference, 2012
“Integrating forgiveness Training into MBSR”, 9th Scientific Conference, Center for Mindfulness, 2011
“Mindfulness for Teachers”, 8th Scientific Conference, Center for Mindfulness, 2010
“SMART in Education”, Mindfulness in Education Conference, Oakland, CA, 2009
“Mindfulness and Stress Reduction” Kaiser Nurses, 2004, 2005
“Mindfulness”, Grand Rounds, Kaiser Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Oakland, 2006
“Forgiveness”, The Wellness Community, annually, 2005 through present.
“The Aikido of Communication”, The Happiness Conference, San Francisco, 2008
“Mindfulness and Forgiveness”, Integrative Pain Medicine Conference, San Francisco, 2009
“Integrating Emotion training into MBSR”, 7th Scientific Conference, Center for Mindfulnesss, 2009