Tim Desmond, LMFT

Tim Desmond is a psychotherapist, best-selling author, Distinguished Faculty Scholar at Antioch University, and student of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Founder of Peer Collective, and co-founder of Morning Sun Mindfulness Center, he lives in Oakland, CA, and teaches mindfulness and self-compassion practices to audiences around the world. His publications include Buddhist Practices for Healing Trauma (W.W.Norton 2026), Self-Compassion in Psychotherapy (W.W.Norton, 2015), The Self-Compassion Skills Workbook (W.W.Norton, 2017), and How to Stay Human in a Fucked Up World (HarperOne, 2019).

Westside Healing Arts Center
406 Mission Street
Suite E
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Welcome

Individual and couples therapy

“A longtime meditator and skilled clinician, Tim Desmond offers exceptionally clear, accessible, and insightful guidance in how to facilitate deep transformation while addressing the spectrum of emotional suffering”
— Tara Brach, author of Radical Acceptance and True Refuge

I specialize in helping people who are trying to make major changes in their lives and feeling stuck. Often that change is about wanting to develop more self-compassion or heal trauma, but it can be about anything. I developed Modular Constructivism in order to help people achieve the deep and lasting transformation they’re seeking. This method of therapy employs a combination of Buddhist practices with somatic trauma processing and part-work (similar to Internal Family Systems).

Within each cycle are strengthening exercises, designed to help us be present with our trauma; acceptance practices, which help us live with our feelings; and transformative practices, which help heal trauma in the present moment. Each cycle includes sutra study that delves more deeply into Buddhist teachings on trauma. Desmond maintains that trauma can be transformed into something valuable that leads to full healing. In his words: “Trauma is garbage. Yet, as any good gardener knows, garbage can be transformed into compost. And compost is an indispensable resource for a healthy garden.”
(from review in Tricycle Magazine)

Books