Ryan Lackner PhD

He teaches a number of mindfulness and compassion-based groups, including Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Mindful Self Compassion (MSC), and a mindfulness group for Veterans in addiction recovery. He is also involved in individual patient care, as well as ongoing research projects within the Mindfulness Center aimed at evaluating and developing mindfulness and compassion-based interventions for Veterans with a wide range of physical and psychological difficulties.

Ryan earned his PhD from Kent State University where he worked as part of a research team studying emotion regulation and developing treatments informed by mindfulness meditation practice. His doctoral research focused on body awareness and how connecting with present-moment experience may assist individuals in getting “unstuck” from perseverative forms of thinking such as rumination and worry. One of his favorite graduate school experiences was traveling with his research team to the Sera Jey Monastery in Bylakuppe, India to study the neurophysiology of practicing Tibetan Buddhist monastics.

Ryan maintains a long-term personal mindfulness practice and enjoys incorporating mindfulness into activities such as playing drums and guitar, exercising, cooking, and spending time in nature. His passion in psychology lies in creating connection with other human beings and spending time in his life helping others to live theirs more fully.