Catherine Crooks has over thirty years of professional experience in the health and wellness field with a focus on integrative and holistic healing modalities. The mind/body approach to healing has been the focus of her personal and professional journey. She earned her Ph.D. in Health Education/Health Psychology and has worked in a variety of settings including higher education, cardiac rehabilitation, hospitals and public schools. One of her passions in life is teaching and she has had the privilege of teaching in the psychology department at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) for 26 years.

Catherine’s meditation journey began in college when she sought out a meditation teacher/therapist to help her overcome a debilitating phobia of public speaking. After that very profound and successful encounter, she began to investigate and practice meditation. In 2001 she began a formal meditation practice in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and in 2007, completed the professional training program in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) under the direction of Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn and Dr. Saki Santorelli. In 2019 she completed an advanced, 50-hour professional training in MBSR facilitation at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Vanderbilt University. Currently, she teaches mindfulness meditation classes at MTSU, in the community and at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine.