Meet Jeanine Marie Austin Stotts: Psychotherapist, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Teacher

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jeanine Marie Austin Stotts and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jeanine Marie, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
The fact that I am a voracious learner and very passionate about helping others utilizing creative and evidence based strategies is the reason I think my brand has been successful. I’ve been in the field about 33 years if you can believe that! I have never stopped exploring techniques, strategies and tools. For example, just in the last 5 years I have attended summer school at Oxford University, completed Julie Montagu’s Yoga Teacher Training and attended trainings on Self Compassion, Social Thinking, personality disorders and wellness strategies. I also work full time at a hospital in behavioral health as a therapist and trainer. Working for a hospital is a wonderful ways to keep one’s skills sharp. I also work full-time for myself. If you love what you do, you never really work a day in your life!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
When I was 7 years old, I went with my aunt Marylou to her job. My aunt was actually a nun and a social worker who worked with marginalized families in East Los Angeles. I knew I wanted to be a social worker even then. I took steps towards this goal earning a bachelor‘s degree and master’s degree in Social Work and clinical social work licenses in California, New Jersey and Arizona.

As I developed my professional skill set, I worked with abused children, elderly patients in skilled nursing, people with autism and those with general mental health issues. I wrote for newspapers, made entries in edited books and published a book called Candie Canary’s New Home for children in congregate care. When staying home with my own children, I attended a non-traditional doctoral program. I studied areas that I was interested in but hadn’t had a chance to study such as: Integral Psychology (Ken Wilber), Spiral Dynamics, Positive Psychology, Transpersonal Psychology, The Enneagram personality measure and The Emotional Freedom Technique (a.k.a. tapping). I began writing articles and developed an international life coaching business.

One highlight was speaking panel as a coach with Marianne Williamson (former presidential candidate) and Jerry Jampolsky who wrote Love is Letting Go of Fear and founded the The Center for Attitudinal Healing in Tiburon, CA. I wrote my dissertation on suffering as I have always known my purpose has been to try and relieve it-for myself and others.

At this time, I obtained a certificate in hypnosis and EMDR. My passion at the moment is Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). I’ve attended two summer school courses recently at Oxford University and now teach MBCT in private practice and at the hospital I work at. Since somatic awareness is so much a part of it, I have recently completed Yoga Teach Training with Lady Julie Montagu. The road hasn’t been easy. As you can imagine, people around me often couldn’t understand my vision. When I was unclear about my path, I try to go back to my mission “to try and help relieve suffering”. If your brand has love and compassion at its center, you can’t go wrong.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love the Heard museum. Yayoi Kusami has an installation at the Phoenix Art Museum. Frida Kahlo’s Dorothy Hale painting is also there. Changing Hands bookstore in Tempe is one of my favorite haunts. I met author Laura Esquivel (who became a friend!!), Linda Ronstadt and intuitive Laura Day there. 24 Carrots in Tempe has great healthy food.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Lauren Gentile Weber has been an angel in my family’s life. She is an excellent teacher and tutor. Without Lauren, it would have been nearly impossible to be this advanced my professional development.

Website: www.CompassionCenteredTherapyforWomen.com
Other: https://www.mindful.org/a-directory-of-mindfulness-teachers-and-events/

Image Credits:
Carolyn Bently for the Blue Shirt, Christian Stotts for the headshot, Jon Simpson Jazz hands, Yoga Pose Jon Simpson