Services and Training Topics

Training for Mental Health Trainees and Professionals
‍
Applied Liberation Psychology
(CLICK HERE FOR PDF OUTLINE)
‍Dr. Sawyer’s main training specialty is immersive training in Applied Liberation Psychology, the perfect complement to any training program or treatment setting hoping for a catch-all approach to cultivating intersectional cultural competence. Treatment adaptations for specific oppressed populations (e.g., people of color, sexual and gender minorities, etc.) always run into intersectionality as a potential complication in considering culturally sensitive treatment, but by training with Dr. Sawyer, you gain a universal framework and practical in-session techniques. To accomplish this, he relies heavily on energy psychology to develop what he calls "Energy Literacy". He then pairs this literacy with a focus on increasing what he defines as "Compassionate Magnetism", allowing professionals to energetically experience compassion for anyone they work with.

Core to Dr. Sawyer’s approach is the embodiment of non-directive compassionate energy, rather than abstract, what-to-say, generalized scripts for specific populations. As he notes frequently in his program, generalized approaches to mental health service for oppressed populations may inadvertently increase our reliance on stereotypes, and pull professionals out of the present moment where compassion is truly contacted. Therefore, he focuses on the ongoing psychological development of trainees and professionals, so that they can remain in the present moment while also able to "feel" those moments with sensitivity and compassionate attunement. He also provides energy-psychology-based follow up tools for your organization to use, ongoing access to his Liberation Psychology online share drive, and consultation opportunities.

‍Treatment for Racial Stress and Trauma
‍Race-based stress and trauma is a global phenomenon, perpetuated by white supremacist systems. Being that the field of psychology was conceived within a system of global white supremacy, helping clients heal from racial trauma requires that clinicians develop self-awareness, self-compassion, and present-moment attention. In this training, Dr. Sawyer relies on his dissertation and clinical work to offer an integrative, empowering approach to treating race-based stress and trauma with a mindfulness and liberation psychology-based approach.

While he certainly relies on principles similar to his Applied Liberation Psychology training, he focuses much more on the history of global racism, internalized racism, identifying what he calls "racial gaslighting", and how racism manifests across a variety of contexts. He accomplishes this by educating you on the anthropological roots of racism, whiteness, and energy-psychology-based strategies to increase what he calls "Compassionate Magnetism". These tools work together to override strong, generational cultural conditioning that cause oppressive attitudes and behavior- especially in therapeutic contexts.

‍Applied Mindfulness and Meditation
‍Attention is the mental health professional’s most valuable resource. Dr. Sawyer has a strong, 8-year-long practice in mindfulness, meditation, and Buddhist psychology, and is well equipped to train professionals the art of steady attention, compassion, and how attachment to the mind causes challenges in providing therapy. While treatment protocols are effective, by sharpening attention, increasing patience, and understanding suffering itself, we can develop what Dr. Sawyer calls "Moment-to-Moment competence"- allowing us to match the right moment with the right therapeutic tool.  
--
‍
Compassion Fatigue Training for Healthcare and Non-Profit Professionals

High-Level Compassion Athletes: Mindfulness and Compassion-Based Burnout Prevention
‍Whether we are physicians, nurses, therapists, social workers, or non-profit employees, relentlessly helping others without burning out is endlessly challenging. Rooted in mindfulness and compassion-based performance psychology, Dr. Sawyer trains you in the neuroscience of burnout prevention, and teaches you basic inner engineering practices to bring sustainability to your professional helping activities. As a former college basketball player, Dr. Sawyer takes a performance-based approach to training healthcare professionals in demanding treatment settings.

‍Rest, Self-Service, Self-Compassion, and Harm Reduction
By helping ourselves, we become better helpers. As high-impact helping professionals, without rest and self-compassion we risk burnout, which can ultimately harm those we serve, and even shorten our careers as helpers. In this training, Dr. Sawyer relies on his mindfulness and compassion-based background to teach the neuroscience and practices of relaxation and self-compassion. Additionally, Dr. Sawyer will connect the dots as to why high-impact helpers can reduce the amount of harm they cause by practicing restfulness, and how this self-compassionate stance cultivates nourishing relationships with coworkers, improves overall performance, and increases job satisfaction.
‍--

Public Health Education Topics

Mental Health Hygiene
‍Mental health is often seen in an “all or nothing” fashion, meaning that we either go to therapy, or we do nothing at all to improve our mental health. As a result, we often wait until we need emergency healing- almost like rarely brushing our teeth, then needing emergency root canals. Instead of waiting for high stress, burnout, and our mental health to deteriorate, in this training Dr. Sawyer will teach you a radical approach he calls “mental health hygiene”. He will teach you several scientifically-supported, low-impact practices and philosophies of mental health that keep our mental health intact long before we become overwhelmed by stress.

‍Mindfulness and Meditation
‍Mindfulness and meditation are widely popular in the modern world, but how do we learn the basics and begin to practice? With 8 years of experience practicing and teaching mindfulness and meditation, in this training Dr. Sawyer will unpack the science and benefits of meditation, while also teaching several basic techniques. Dr. Sawyer will also teach ways to effectively use mindfulness and meditation in everyday life to increase focus, improve mental health, and enhance feelings of connection to oneself and others.

‍Men’s Mental Health
‍Men’s mental health is an often under-discussed topic, with little information available for men to successfully use when looking to improve their mental health. In his experience treating men in psychotherapy, and his personal experience navigating his own mental health, Dr. Sawyer will share mental health practices, information, and disclaimers about mental health in men. Importantly, Dr. Sawyer will reveal the psychology of balanced masculinity, and how men can engage emotions while maintaining a sense of empowerment and dignity.  

‍Black Men’s Mental Health
‍The field of psychology was invented within a system of global white supremacy, making it hard for Black men to navigate their mental health journey. In this training, Dr. Sawyer relies on his experiences treating Black men in therapy and his lived experience as a Black man, to provide a liberated, non-Western, empowering approach to Black men’s mental health practices. Additionally, Dr. Sawyer will unpack the nuanced implications of Blackness, masculinity, self-empowerment, and resilience in Black men.  

‍Healing Racial Stress and Trauma
‍Generational racial stress and trauma is a global and ongoing sickness, rooted in white supremacist thinking, behavior, and culturally-normalized systems of oppression. Sadly, racial trauma is alive and well, causing daily stress, low self-esteem, disempowerment, and hopelessness. Dr. Sawyer will teach people from non-white racial backgrounds how to identify, soothe, and understand racial stress, and how to thrive despite the ongoing psychological warfare that is white supremacy. In this training, Dr. Sawyer uses a blend of education, mindfulness, self-compassion, and non-Western approaches to improve mental health and resilience.
‍
Self-Compassion
‍Life and other people can make us feel like our failures, pain, and shortcomings are somehow all our fault, possibly leading to feelings of shame and low self-esteem. Instead of holding onto a critical relationship with ourselves, Dr. Sawyer will unpack how self-compassion can help us explore a completely new way of relating with life and our role in it. Simple yet effective, Dr. Sawyer will review several parts of self-compassion, and how we can embody self-compassion in everyday life, especially when things aren’t going our way.

‍Seasonal Depression
‍Seasonal depression is all too common, but by understanding the cold and setting intentions for growth, seasonal changes can be mindfully transformed into contemplation, rest, and rejuvenation. Dr. Sawyer will use his experience treating clinical depression and seasonal affective disorder to reveal the basics of navigating the colder winter months. Rather than struggle through the winter months, Dr. Sawyer teaches from an empowering perspective, leading others in a process of self-discovery, self-compassion, and personal growth.
‍--
‍
Retreats for Meditation, Mindfulness, and Compassion

 Basic Mindfulness and Meditation Retreats
‍With 8 years of experience teaching and practicing mindfulness, meditation, Buddhism, and compassion-based living, Dr. Sawyer is an embodied meditation teacher. When leading retreats or immersive meditation events, Dr. Sawyer works with you to customize the experience to maximize his teaching “fit” with the goals of your organization. Mindfulness and meditation retreats span from 3 to 7 hours, with a combination of meditation practices, reflections, and group teachings. In some cases, Dr. Sawyer offers several-day retreats, which also include one-on-one meetings with Dr. Sawyer.

Men’s Meditation Retreats
‍Meditation is a great addition to any man’s arsenal for mental health practice, life performance, and connection to himself and others. When leading men’s meditation retreats, Dr. Sawyer works to bring masculinity to the forefront of his teachings, helping men to tune into the present moment to achieve focus, relaxation, and action-based compassion. Men’s meditation retreats span from 3 to 7 hours, with a combination of meditation practices, reflections, and group teachings. In some cases, Dr. Sawyer offers several-day retreats, which also include one-on-one meetings with Dr. Sawyer.

‍Black Men’s Meditation Retreats
‍Black men endure significant hardships in our society today, and have unique needs when it comes to mental health and practices in mindfulness and meditation. With his 8 years of teaching and practicing mindfulness and meditation, Dr. Sawyer leads Black men in techniques and teachings that serve to enhance focus, clarify values, and soothe stress. Dr. Sawyer also approaches Black masculinity and self-empowerment as central to Black men’s retreats. Black men’s meditation retreats span from 3 to 7 hours, with a combination of meditation practices, reflections, and group teachings. In some cases, Dr. Sawyer offers several-day retreats, which also include one-on-one meetings with Dr. Sawyer.

‍Racial Stress and Resilience Retreats
‍Racial stress is all too common for people from non-white backgrounds (e.g., Black, Arab, etc.). Relying on his dissertation research in mindfulness, self-compassion, and racial stress reduction, during this retreat Dr. Sawyer helps people of color find peace within the present moment, develop mindful approaches to reducing racial stress, and cultivate a compassionate connection to themselves. Racial stress and resilience retreats span from 3 to 7 hours, with a combination of meditation practices, reflections, and group teachings. In some cases, Dr. Sawyer offers several-day retreats, which also include one-on-one meetings with Dr. Sawyer.

‍Buddhist Psychology Retreats
‍Buddhist psychology is rarely taught in plain-language and grounded in its usefulness for mental wellness, but during this retreat Dr. Sawyer will teach you the basics of Buddhist psychology and meditation practice. With 8 years of an immersive daily practice and study in Buddhism, Dr. Sawyer is an embodied teacher with plenty to offer beginners and advanced practitioners alike. Buddhist psychology retreats span from 3 to 7 hours, with a combination of meditation practices, reflections, and group teachings. In some cases, Dr. Sawyer offers several-day retreats, which also include one-on-one meetings with Dr. Sawyer.