Counselor

Ven. Marc B. Paine, MDiv, MS, LAC

As a Licensed Associate Counselor, I practice Gestalt and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy with children, adolescents, and adults. I treat a variety of difficulties and disorders, but most of my work is with mood disorders like Depression and Anxiety.

I am a certified LGBT-Affirmative Psychotherapy Provider (American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, California), as well as a provider of mindfulness therapy with children and teens.

I am also trained in an Eastern psychological model called Yogacara.

I am a member of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science, the professional association for Acceptance and Commitment Therapists.

I received my Master of Divinity degree from Concordia Seminary in 2006 and my Master of Science in Community Counseling from John Brown University in 2015.

I am happy to see Mindfulness receiving so much attention in the areas of mental health and education, but Mindfulness isn’t just a collection of interventions and techniques. It is extremely important that Mindfulness-based therapists actively practice mindfulness as a life discipline.

I have been practicing meditation and mindfulness since 1993. In 2013, 20 years after I began my practice, I received ordination and dharma transmission from the Ven. Koro Kaisan, OBW. This was later confirmed by the Ven. Fa Dao Shakya, OHY (d. 2015).

In 2011, I was a survivor of the EF5 tornado that devastated Joplin, MO. I lost my home and everything I owned and relocated to Northwest Arkansas. This trauma became a turning point in my life. I became a hospice volunteer (patient and family respite worker) and the next year I returned to graduate school to pursue a degree in counseling.

It is my sincere belief that every person has the ability to transform the suffering of life into wisdom, but only one person in ten thousand can do so without help.