About the Buddhist Recovery Network

Kevin Griffin

Kevin Griffin is the author of One Breath at a Time: Buddhism and the Twelve Steps. A longtime Buddhist practitioner and Twelve Step participant, he is a leader of the mindful recovery movement. Kevin teaches at Buddhist centers and treatment centers in the U.S. as well as speaking at professional conferences. He also teaches mindfulness in schools with the Community Partnership for Mindfulness in Education.

Noah Levine

Noah Levine, author of Dharma Punx and Against The Stream, is a Buddhist teacher, author and counsellor. He was trained to teach by Jack Kornfield of Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, CA. He is the founding teacher of Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society, with a center in Los Angeles and over 20 affiliated groups around North America. He teaches meditation classes, workshops and retreats internationally. Noah holds a Masters degree in counselling psychology. He lives in Los Angeles.

Professor G. Alan Marlatt

Alan Marlatt is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Addictive Behaviors Research Center at the University of Washington. In addition to over 200 journal articles and book chapters, he has published several books in the addictions field. He specializes in relapse prevention and has received several awards for his work, including the Jellinek Memorial Award for Alcohol Studies (1990), the Innovators Combating Substance Abuse Award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (2001), and the Distinguished Research Award from the Research Society on Alcoholism (2004). He is a Buddhist who practices in the Shambhala tradition.

Dr Ann Bolger

Ann Bolger is a Clinical Psychologist who maintains private psychotherapy practices in west San Jose and in Santa Cruz (USA), specializing in the treatment of substance abuse and other addictions. She has trained extensively as a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction teacher with Drs. Jon Kabat-Zinn and Bob Stahl. At present, she is teaching Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention to people recovering from alcoholism and drug addiction in the Bay Area. Previously, she held Lecturer appointments at San Jose State University (SJSU) and has served as Vice President of the Board of the Silicon Valley chapter of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD).

Sheila Blackford JD

Sheila Blackford is a lawyer and Practice Management Advisor for the Oregon State Bar Professional Liability Fund. She is a frequent speaker and author of articles on a variety of practice management, technology and malpractice avoidance topics. She was admitted to the Oregon State Bar in October of 2000, and frequently works with the Oregon Attorney Assistance Program to help lawyers struggling with substance abuse issues get their practice back under control. She has been a practicing Buddhist since 1973 and actively involved in a 12-step program since 2006. She serves as the Secretary-Treasurer for the Buddhist Recovery Network.

Paul Saintilan

Paul is an Australian Director, currently serving as the Interim Chair. He co-founded the website www.buddhistrecovery.com (which was donated to the Buddhist Recovery Network), and facilitated the Cannon Beach meeting which led to the founding of the Network. He has a history of involvement with the Sydney Buddhist Centre, and has had articles on Buddhism published (the most recent is Downshifting: A Theoretical and Practical Approach to Living a Simple Life - ICFAI University Press 2008). His professional career has been in arts and entertainment management, and he established the Master of Arts Management program at Sydney Opera House.