Meditation for Counseling

When: Tuesdays, starting Feb 17th 2026

Time: Tuesday’s from 6:30 to 8pm

Where: In person, address provided with RSVP.

Suggested donation: $10 per session, or what you can afford.  No one turned away for lack of funds. Money given helps people receive mental health services at Liberation Institute one turned away for lack of funds. 

To join contact: jean-paul@liberationinstitute.org or lizab@liberationinstitute.org

Meditation is the practice of being present with our experience and becoming familiar with our essential clarity and well-being. With many responsibilities in our lives, our thoughts and emotions often move very quickly. Through meditation, we can cultivate stability in our attention and begin to notice moments where we can pause and choose, rather than react automatically out of habit. This awareness opens new possibilities in our inner life, our relationships, and our work.

Meditation practice directly supports counseling by helping us recognize thoughts and emotions as they arise, notice patterns over time, and remain present during challenging moments. By strengthening our ability to pause and reflect, meditation makes it easier to make intentional choices and carry insights from counseling into everyday life.

In these 4-week groups, we will meet once a week to learn about meditation and to practice together. These groups will be ongoing; participants may come for one 4-week period or may continue through multiple group series. The first 4-week group will begin on February 17, 2026. Please commit to attending all four sessions. 

Facilitators:
Liza Baer is a Lama in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. She completed a traditional three-year, three-month retreat in the Shangpa Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism at a retreat center near Goldendale, WA, in 2018. She then taught as an Associate Lama in Ashland, OR, for 4 years, and served as the Executive Director of a center in NE Portland for 1.5 years. She is now a graduate student in counseling at Prescott College and a counseling intern at Liberation Institute. She has a background in ecology, botany, and multiple healing modalities. 

Jean-Paul is a long-time practitioner of yoga and meditation. He spent a year living and working at the Dhamma Dena meditation retreat center in Joshua Tree. His practice has been a central support in his recovery and a steady resource for presence and self-inquiry. He brings decades of experience as a musician and sound-based artist, with a focus on leading sound baths, collective improvisation, and deep listening practices. He is currently pursuing a graduate degree in counseling at the University of the Cumberlands and is an intern at Liberation Institute.