Bill McMillan
San Rafael, California, USA
Languages: English
I am a retired Marriage and Family Therapist living in Santa Barbara, California. I completed the six-year REN XUE Teacher Training and have been teaching a variety of classes since 2013. While I have taught classes and workshops to the general public, including high school students, veterans and seniors, my primary focus has been programs for cancer survivors and family members.
I retired as a Marriage and Family Therapist after twenty-five years of working with adolescents, adults, and veterans, with an emphasis on family systems, trauma, grief and recovery. My training includes Level II Certification as an Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapist, Hospice training and Family Mediation.
Contact: mcmillan@ccountry.net
Monica Simms
Arcata, California, USA
Languages: English
As a psychotherapist in private practice for 35 years, I worked with individuals and couples. I spent 20 years volunteering for my local rape crisis center where I trained interns, worked with staff and acted as a clinical consultant. I loved my work, learned so much from each one of my clients and felt honored to be part of their healing journey.
In 2011, I started to study REN XUE and Qigong and incorporate it into my work. I found REN XUE and Qigong naturally supported the work I was doing as a Somatic Therapist treating deep trauma. A Somatic approach aims to resource and empower the individual to tap into their own innate healing.
My personal gains from REN XUE have been many. I find a more settled place inside, greater depth of peace and balance in my daily living. I have found that there is easy curiosity when I talk about this work and others are drawn to it. I have completed the six years of teacher training and enjoy teaching in the growing community my classes are creating in our small town. I have retired as a psychotherapist, and at this point in my life, I can again make a commitment to volunteer and am excited to be part of the Mental Health Advisory Team.
Contact: monicasimms@psychotherapist.com
Jackie Blunt
Christchurch, New Zealand
Languages: English
Practicing and teaching Yuan Gong and REN XUE have been rich and highly enjoyable parts of my life for many years now and I very much enjoy helping other people benefit from these great tools for life development too. My professional background is in Western Medicine and I have worked as a GP (family doctor) since the nineties until a few years ago when I moved into the area of wellbeing, where I am more focused on helping people to feel good and function well. It feels very natural to combine REN XUE, Yuan Gong, Western and Chinese Medicine and wellbeing in the way I work with people and has brought a real sense of peace and integration to my life.
While the many different ways people have of working on health and life have long been of interest for me, REN XUE now forms the heart of any help or advice that I offer in consultation with another REN XUE teacher or student. I don't give GP advice in this setting but may suggest that a person sees their own health practitioner if I think that would be wise or necessary. Looking at questions and issues from a wide and interrelated perspective on life including physical and mental health is a great way to come up with new connections and understandings together. It is a real joy to work with people this way and to jointly discover relationships between the mind and patterns, states of being in the heart and physical or life issues, and to help people to progress and grow.
Contact: wellnessworks100@gmail.com
Rich Danon
San Rafael, California, USA
Languages: English
I’m a recently retired psychiatric nurse and substance abuse counselor. Throughout the many years of working with my clients on their unique journeys of healing, I sought and often had the deeply gratifying experience of connecting with trust and respect in establishing caring and therapeutic relationships.
My spiritual and healing path, including various practices and modalities, has taken many twists and turns with many lessons learned. When I met Yuan Tze in 2009, I started a new journey that has unified and actualized everything I’d been seeking and has been truly transformative in all aspects of my life. As a REN XUE practitioner and teacher, I’m growing and continually realizing my natural abilities and full potential. I’m grateful for this teaching and the powerful and profound support available, especially in these challenging times.
Contact: rdanon@comcast.net