What
shall we
Practice?
A Deliberately Developmental Prayer:
"God, in your clumsy and elegant ways, please continue to show me where I had it wrong.
Amen"
Fueled and Loved… by Practice
​
Welcome fellow traveller! I delight most in sharing and guiding what I practice every day! My “system of systems”, called Deliberately Developmental Psychology, is based on 6 psychospiritual principles. They are enacted as life-and-spirit affirming "attitudes" informing a robust life of growthful practice. ​
​​
​​
​​Engaging the truth of the present moment
Allowing space, curiosity and compassion for the hard stuff
​
Enjoying the person you are while aspiring to the greater good
​
Nourishing the senses, tracking what you expose yourself to
​
Collaborating and communicating clearly, knowing impact​
​Playing in the unexpected, letting go with a sense of humor
​
​
Approaches in a nutshell:
*Former Psychotherapist 13 years- Gestalt, Transpersonal, Somatic Experiencing, Three Pillars (Ideal Parents Protocol), Parts Work, Mindfulness-Based, Integrally Informed.
​
*Zen Priesthood- 100+ weeks of retreat in Therevada, Vajrayana and Zen Buddhist schools. Assistant Dharma Teacher.
​
*Teaching- Naropa University Adjunct Professor, Meditation Instructor, Integral Zen Denver Community Leader, co-founder Inward Journey/Outward Bound wilderness meditation program.
​
*Coaching- Conscious Death Coach, Immunity to Change Facilitator, Colorado Outward Bound Instructor Trainer.​​
​
*Streams of Practice influence- Integral Theory, Diamond Approach,Vertical Development Academy, Robert Kegan, Reichian Character & Breathwork, Holotropic Breathwork, Buddha Wisdom Energies, Enneagram, Jin Shin Jitsu, Intuitive and subtle energy healing​
​​
​
Our Encounters...
Our 1-to-1's are an encounter with the present moment. I anticipate anyone I'm working with will have interest in consciousness, contemplative practices and the desire to work experientially in the here and now. In this way we can investigate your life as it is. It's kind of simple.
​​​
Say there’s a hole. You fall into it and it hurts. A therapist may temporarily join you in the hole. A life coach throws down some tools. And a teacher explains the hole so you’ll see it differently next time. Yes, yes and yes... I enjoy a broad range of these skills too.
I'd also encourage you to fully experience the hole, intimately and compassionately. Why? Because in true intimacy with yourself, the hole ceases to be what you thought it was. Or as a Zen priest exclaims, "How empty are your holes!"
During our encounters, you can expect my full human presence . I'm a passionate integralist and believe it's essential to develop our waking up and growing up dimensions in tandem. I'll teach you my deliberately developmental "bag of tricks" so you can fuel your own self-healing and awakening journey. I collaborate on homework and expect you will be a practitioner rather than a student, client or patient!
​
And yes, we can talk about plant medicine if this interests you.
"Chad made it clear the goal was to not need him anymore. We did more than cleaning up my inner life. We spent time in the deepest practices and he taught me to be my own therapist”
"He is like a gentle laser"
"Chad makes sense of the world around him with spiritual discipline and a loving heart. While dialogue with him can be quite frank, you get the impression that he is working from a strong frame of meaning that allows for deep appreciation of complexity and loving openness."
Facilitator & Coach
"We cannot solve problems with the same [level of] thinking we used when creating them"
-Albert Einstein
I promise I will tell you directly what I believe your problem is. Here is why the Immunity to Change process is so powerful. The first step in the process impels you to find your kingpin issue and invites you to articulate the "One Big Thing" it is that would change everything. Second, it is simultaneously a research based tool to "Grow Up" your level of development while also "Clean Up" powerful shadows, the drivers of your behavior and psychology which you don't see. Finally, it is thorough. When your map is completed and you take home the insights, you'll have a path of where you can continue to uncover and grow, plus you'll have plenty of direction and motivation to make sustained changes that stick.
In a course of Life Coaching together, we assess your own level of development and leverage the edges of any limiting beliefs to discover your new potentials. I'm a certified Immunity to Change Facilitator and coach. Developed at Harvard University, ITC is one of the most rigorous, comprehensive and research based systems for making big and sustained developmental changes. I also have training in Career Counseling which I've taught in the Naropa University Graduate School of Psychology.
Upcoming...
​
-
WHN cohort Wednesdays April 30th-July 2nd, 9-11am MDT​
​
-
Keeping Quiet: Day long meditation retreat May 3rd, 9am-5pm MDT​
​
-
Keeping Quiet: ongoing meditation group M, W, F, 7:00-7:45am MDT
"I brought a very challenging psychedelic experience to Chad for integration. His precise and exquisite experiential invitations, as well as his wisdom about the medicine and the nature of altered states, allowed me to embody the learning from the trip"
My Groups...
I've been facilitating groups since I was 17 years old. I directed Outward Bound courses for 13 years with teens-corporate-veterans- meditators-grieving populations-leadership academies and the like. I've co-led meditation groups and retreats in India, Europe and USA. I also designed "Head-Heart-Guts (and Nuts)" men's groups which inform the 3 centers model I still use today.
​
​
What's Happening Now? (WHN)
Several cohorts of WHN have run since 2023. ​They are "ungroupy" as groups go and they provide opportunities for personal inquiry and for me to teach with transparency how I think about healing, development and awakening.
Therapists, coaches and practitioners say they're especially fond of WHN.
"Tweaking the Breath Class"
​​​​I've done several kinds of breath work over the years and have discovered a safe way to help you learn it at your own pace and practice it on your own.
​In this workshop, we begin with the Wim Hoff method which is a mainstream approach. As the course progresses, I'll add tweaks from other approaches which will make it much more powerful! I'll teach a step, then you'll practice until we meet again the following week.
​
​
"Keeping Quiet: Meditation Training
​
I offer individual and group trainings using various meditations from the Buddhist tradition...
​
Scroll down just below for more...
Keeping Quiet: Meditation Training
​
​​​​​​ The practice at the center of Deliberately Developmental Psychology is meditation, a journey which typically unfolds in a progression of state and world view shifts. The meditation path to greater stages of awakening usually unfolds much more smoothly when three areas are developed in tandem:
1) Metacognition- the ability to step back, know what you are experiencing and know what meaning you make.
​
2) Emotional Regulation- the development of equanimity plus a skillset to increase emotional intelligence and regulate your nervous system.
​
3) Positive States training- the ability to literally "change your mind" toward kindness, compassion and other more life-and-spirit affirming states.
​
I encourage time to be set aside for silence and guidance in meditation during 1-to-1 sessions and my group offerings.​
I was ordained as a Zen priest in 2018 and I continue to train in and instruct meditation under the guidance of the Rinzai Zen lineage.
​​
