Student Profile

Rheanna Hoffmann
Graduate Student Assistant

Rheanna is a first-year graduate student in the Transpersonal Counseling Psychology program pursuing the Wilderness Therapy concentration. During her undergraduate career at the University of Oregon, she worked as a research assistant with Holly Arrow, Ph.D., studying the influence of group dynamics on individual decision-making processes and, in 2003, she won the Outstanding Achievement Award in Psychology.

Rheanna's study of meditation began in 2002, when she became an initiate of Sant Thaker Singh, and practitioner of Light and Sound meditation. Since then she has studied Zen, and Shamatha Vipashyana meditation. While travelling in India, Rheanna saw the profound impact that acknowledging the spiritual components of being human has on psychological healing of an individual. She came to Naropa University to further her passion for transpersonal studies and Buddhist scholarship.

Rheanna cites professional opportunities, academic rigor, and personal growth as primary benefits of her time spent in the Naropa University Consciousness Lab. Under the direction of Peter Grossenbacher, Ph.D. she continues to experience the elegance of a contemplative approach to psychological science, as well as the creativity made possible by its precision.

Every human being, she says, is capable of positive change, and contemplative practice becomes an integral function of the self-awareness necessary for this change. This philosophy permeates her professional commitment to working with people in diverse contexts, including international work.