WELCOME TO Three Rivers Mindfulness Training & Psychotherapy

Three Rivers is a group psychotherapy practice, as well as a center for mindfulness training, located in Sacramento, CA.

You Belong.

As therapists and teachers, our mission is to offer services that promote growth, liberation, and equity. We are advocates of belonging, and we accept and practice from the fundamental truth that when there is a threat to belonging for one person or group, it is a threat to the integrity of the whole.

We all need to (and do) belong. It is wired into our neurobiology as the primary metric for safety. So when we experience repeated threats to belonging, it shakes us and shapes us. These threats can occur in early caregiving relationships, or in the context of racism, sexism, heterosexism, ableism, transphobia, or classism. Threats to belonging are at the heart of trauma, and can push us into our fight/flight/freeze system, sometimes without our conscious awareness. We are dedicated to healing individual and collective trauma and helping our clients and students build strong, authentic relationships with self and other.

"Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive."

– Dalai Lama

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Compassionate, Effective team

We Understand The Art & Science of
Human Growth & Connection

COUPLES THERAPY

We practice Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT). EFT is a short-term, structured approach to couples therapy developed in the 1980’s by Dr. Sue Johnson. We use EFT for one reason: because it works.

MINDFULNESS TRAINING

At Three Rivers, we think of mindfulness as the process by which a person comes fully alive. We currently offer 8-week courses in a research-supported program called Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC).

INDIVIDUAL THERAPY

We love the journey of relationally-oriented individual therapy. If you feel stuck in old patterns, we can help. We know the art and science of moving from unnecessary suffering to authenticity, freedom, and connection.

MINDFUL SELF COMPASSION

We specialize in teaching a particular mindfulness program: Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC). MSC is a set of skills designed to help you respond to yourself with kindness when you are in distress. For most of us, making an embarrassing mistake is an occasion for self-criticism not self-compassion. Many of us wouldn’t blink an eye at saying truly horrible things to ourselves (“I’m such an idiot!”)–things we would never say to another human being who is suffering. Unfortunately, habitually treating ourselves this way breeds depression, anxiety, shame, anger, and relationship problems. Learning to treat ourselves compassionately has been shown by research to help in each of these areas. In our clinical experience it is the only way to heal shame–which is the destructive common denominator at the root of so many of the ways we suffer as human beings. MSC is typically taught as an 8-week class. Please click here for more information about our current course offerings.

EMOTIONALLY FOCUSED COUPLES THERAPY

Have you ever felt like you are having the same fight with your partner over and over again? Maybe the fights differ in their content, but the positions and feelings remain painfully stuck? Perhaps your conflict tends to be fiery and explosive, or maybe it’s a cold, slow burn. Either way, if you’re ready to step out of the entrenched pattern that has taken over your relationship, EFT can help. Grounded in the science of human attachment, EFT is the only model of couple intervention that uses a systematic empirically validated theory of adult bonding as the basis for understanding and alleviating relationship problems. You will feel from your first session that your therapist comes equipped with a map that the three of you will reference as you move from cycles of distress to security and connection. Click here to learn more.

MSC COURSE TESTIMONIALS

I can lift a car. I like lifting really heavy things. Chopping wood excites me. I’ve got a red beard and weigh close to 300lbs. One would not view me as a typical participant in a course like this. But trust me guys, of all types, it is a valuable course. Don’t balk and shrug it off as a NorCal hippy thing. Nope it’s a solid course, a way to grow yourself from the inside. If you stick with this course, and maybe even attend it with your significant other, your relationships will deepen. You’ll end up judging yourself less and see the common threads between all of us. Every section of the course gets you to a better understanding of yourself and those around you.

Keith W

We are so fortunate in the Sacramento area to have Luana and Sean Cook as a resource for learning MSC. This compassionate duo teaches from the heart – experientially, passionately and with a rare combination of courage, patience and kindness. I left each session feeling more connected to myself, my values and feelings, with the added sweetness of loving awareness and gratitude. This course is the best kept secret everyone should know about. Come and see for yourself.

Ivana T.

As an avid sports fan, who prizes my NFL time above all else, there’s not much that could keep me away from my living room for eight Sundays in a row during football season. I can authentically say that spending those Sundays doing MSC was worth the sacrifice. I can’t remember the last time I focused on myself in this way, and I can say it really benefitted me both professionally and personally. Luana and Sean’s teaching styles really complement one another, and they cultivated a safe environment that made me feel comfortable sharing about my experience.

Scott S.