Eve Ekman Ph.D., MSW is a contemplative social scientist designing, delivering and evaluating tools to support emotional awareness in the fields of health care, wellbeing, and technology. Eve draws from interdisciplinary skills and first-person experiential knowledge from clinical social work, integrative medicine and contemplative science and meditation. Eve was raised in San Francisco with a love of new york bagels and social justice action and is a cold water ocean enthusiast.

As of Spring 2021 Eve is not taking new consultations as she is focusing on a meaningful ongoing project in the wellbeing and technology space and using her free time to focus on co-authoring the forthcoming Cultivating Emotional Balance book!

Ekman draws from an interdisciplinary set of skills and knowledge from her professional work and personal practices in clinical social work, integrative medicine, emotional awareness, contemplative science, and meditation. Eve began her career in art and journalism seeking to create social change through transformative media experiences. Eve became a trained social worker at UC Berkeley and discovered a passion for the direct, applied practice of compassion in mental health and medical crisis settings. After six years working in the emergency room at a level one trauma center, Eve returned to UC Berkeley for a PhD to study burnout and test interventions to sustain compassion for frontline providers. At this same time Eve joined her father, Paul Ekman, and Buddhist scholar Alan Wallace in the first public training of an evidenced based contemplative science training for emotions, Cultivating Emotional Balance, CEB.

In her PhD dissertation Eve delivered a CEB based program to Juvenile Justice Officers, and in her Postdoctoral Training at UCSF Osher Center of Integrative Medicine she continued this work with physicians in training, nurses, and hospital staff. Since 2010 Eve has been developing, delivering, and evaluating the practices for addressing burnout through the lens of diminishing destructive emotions, altruistic intelligence, and integrated compassion for applied settings such as hospital, educational, and criminal justice systems. Eve has also consulted with organizations large and small to offer training and consultations across professional settings from the courtroom to the hospital room to the board room.

Eve’s first formal training in meditation came from Tibeat Buddhist teacher and prolific author B. Alan Wallace. Eve learned and teaches Alan’s simple secularized version of deep Tibetan Budshist teachings including attention, introspection, and heart practices which are offered in CEB. Eve has had the good fortune to learn subtle body and awareness practices from Tsoknyi Rimpoche during Dzogchen retreats in California and Colorado. Her primary teacher is Jennifer Welwood who brings together Vajrayana Teachings and Western Psychological orientation embody compassionate transformation for the sake of all beings.

CURRICULUM VITAE

Technology Sector-Content Expert on Well Being April 2020-Present

Working 75% time to develop content and strategy for teams across the Apple ecosystem interested in developing software and hardware to support well being. 

Greater Good Science Center, UC Berkeley, July 2018-Ongoing

Senior Fellow with a focus on science based programs for empathy, compassion and well being for health and mental health professionals.

UCSF Department of Pediatrics Volunteer Clinical Faculty 2019- Ongoing

Clinical instruction for small groups to support the department of Pediatrics trainees and faculty with burnout focused interventions.

Cultivating Emotional Balance 2010-Ongoing

Director of Cultivating Emotional Balance program and training.

2010- Ongoing

SF Dharma Collective 2016-Ongoing

Teacher at the San Francisco center regularly and occasionally in Los Angeles site.

Atlas of Emotion Co-Creator

Co-creation and ongoing improvements for an online visual tool to increase an understanding of universal emotions. The Atlas is a project commissioned by the Dalia Lama and carried out by myself, Paul Ekman, and Stamen Design.

Head of Emotion Awareness and Assessment, Wisdom Labs

Consultation and creation of online and live teaching of mindfulness and emotion awareness content for private sector clients. 

May 2017-May 2018 

Freelance Consultation on Mindfulness and Emotional Awareness 

Ongoing work to support implementation of mindfulness, meditation and emotion regulation content via online and live teaching and technologies. Current clients include Lumosity and UCSF Department of Oncology.

New York University, Gallatin School of Individualized Study BA 2002

University of California Berkeley School of Social Welfare MSW 2006

Health Track Concentration 

University of California Berkeley School of Social Welfare PhD 2014

Social Welfare with mentorship in Public Health and Psychology

Osher for Integrative Medicine University of California San Francisco

NCCAM Postdoctoral Training Program in Research in Integrative Medicine (TRIM)

Postdoctoral Fellow 2014-2017

San Francisco General Hospital Emergency Room

Medical Social Worker 2006 – 2012

San Francisco Kaiser Outpatient Clinic

Medical Social Worker Per-Diem 2009-2010

Seneca Center For Children and Families 

Mental Health Crisis Mobile Response Team, Clinical Case Manager and Research Consultant 2007-2009

Women’s Community Clinic, Shift Supervisor

Public health outreach for sex workers 2003-2005

Five Week Residential CEB Teacher Training 2010-2018

Year Long CEB Teacher Training- 2018-Ongoing

Week Long CEB Residential Retreats 2014- Ongoing

Clinical Instruction for healthcare professionals on Burnout Courses (from one hour to 8 weeks)  UCSF, John Muir, Sutter Health, Petaluma Health Center, Presbyterian Health,  Kaiser and more. 2012-Ongoing

Weekly Dharma Teachings and Meditation guided from contemporary and ancient texts at SF Dharma Collective 2016-Ongoing

Mind and Life Fellow 2021

Greater Good Fellowship, UC Berkeley School of Psychology 2011-2012

UC Berkeley Graduate Dean’s Fellowship 2012-2013

Carnegie Grant for Journalism 2006

Student Publication Journalism Award 2006

1. Anderson, B. T., Danforth, A., Daroff, R., Stauffer, C., Ekman, E., Agin-Liebes, G., … & Woolley, J. (2020). Psilocybin-assisted group therapy for demoralized older long-term AIDS survivor men: An open-label safety and feasibility pilot study. EClinicalMedicine, 27, 100538.
2. Sansó, N., Galiana, L., Cebolla, A. et al. Cultivating Emotional Balance in Professional Caregivers: a Pilot Intervention. Mindfulness8, 1319–1327 (2017). 
3. Ekman, E & Ekman,P (2017) Is Global Compassion Achieveable?, Oxford University Press Handbook on Compassion
4. Ekman, E., & Krasner, M. (2016). Empathy in medicine: Neuroscience, education and challenges. Medical Teacher, 1-10.
5. Steger, M. F., & Ekman, E. (2016). WORKING IT. Mindfulness in Positive Psychology: The Science of Meditation and Wellbeing, 228.
6. Ekman, E., & Halpern, J. (2015). Professional Distress and Meaning in Health Care: Why Professional Empathy Can Help. Social work in Health Care.
7. Ekman, E., (2015). Development, Delivery, and of an Evaluation of a Pilot Stress Reduction Emotion Regulation, and Mindfulness Trining for Juvenile Justice Officers. Journal of Juvenile Justice.
8. Ekman E, & Steger M., (Under reivew). Working it: Making Meaning with Workplace Mindfulness,. In I. Itvzan (Ed.) Mindfulness in Positive Psychology: The science of Meditation and Wellbeing, Routdledge.
9. Internation Conference to Promote Resilience, Empathy and Wellbeing in Health Care Professions, Key-Note Speaker, “Good Medicine, The Benefits and Burdens of Empathy for Patients and Providers”, Washington DC, 2015.
10. Mindfulness and Compassion, The Art and Science of Contemplative Practice, Invited Speaker, “The Alchemy of Empathy”, San Francisco State University, CA, 2015.
11. Stanford Center for Compassion and Altruism Research, Compassion Week Invited Key Note “Compassion and Health Care”. San Francisco, CA, (2014).
12. International Symposium for Contemplative Science, Invited Presenter “Cultivating Emotional Balance, Past-Present and Future”, Boston, MA, (2014).
13. Ekman, E,. (2104) Inside Insight, Opportunities for Meaning, Empathy and the Obstacles of Stress: An Exploratory Study and Pilot Training Among Juvenile Justice Officers (Docotoral dissertation) University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved from http://gradworks.umi.com/36/86/3686265.html
14. Ekman, E., (2013). Cultivating Emotional Balance Training, In Singer, T, and Bolz M. (Eds.) Compassion: bridging practice and science. Retrieved from www.compassion-training.org
15. Grand Rounds of Psychiatry, Invited presenter “Burnot Reseach and Skills”, San Francisco General Hospital, UCSF (2013-14).
16. Ted-X Hayward, Invited Presenter “Peace of Mind and Empathy”, (2013)
17. Moore, M., Ekman, E., & Shumway, M. (2012). Understanding the critical role of social work in safety net medical settings: framework for research and practice in the emergency department. Social work in health care, 51(2), 140-148.
18. Society for Social Work Research Conference, Invited presenter. Washington, D.C. (2012).
19. Happiness and Its Causes Conference, Invited presenter “Emotional Skills in Everyday Life” Australia (2011), 
20. Stone, S., Ekman, E., English, D., & Fujimori, S. (2008). Teaching notes: Collaboration among social work and journalism students and faculty: An instructional model. Journal of Social Work Education, 44(1), 163-172.
21. Ethsix* Magazine 2006-2009, Founder & Art Director of interdisciplinary publication on social issues.
22. Greater Good 2006- present contributing journalist.
23. Mason, M. A., & Ekman, E. M. (2007). Mothers on the fast track: How a new generation can balance family and careers. Oxford University Press.