Brian Stuepfert
Registered Nurse, Nurse Practitioner, Massage Therapist, Yoga Nidra Teacher, Husband, Father, Son, Brother, Uncle, Cancer Survivor, Runner, Nature Lover, Meditator
What’s in a title? Training and experience both shape a person. Often, though, even more important is how these things are expressed in an individual you put your trust in. I hope that everything I have learned and experienced will help me have the tools to craft an experience for you that helps you on your path of life, and will help you feel good as you traverse it.
The Training & Experience that shapes what I offer to you
Clinical Hypnotherapy: I learned Clinical Hypnotherapy from Maude Schellhous at the California School of Hypnotherapy in Sacramento, California. Maude also has a hypnotherapy practice in Sacramento with several other providers and has been practicing for over 25 years. I am very appreciative of the deep and subtle teachings from this course of study. I am continuously surprised and inspired by the many facets of our lives that hypnotherapy can touch – Physical, mental, emotional, and even the spiritual parts of ourselves. Hypnotherapy is the base of what I offer at BodyLight, the service that I believe has the most potential to bring you relief, change, healing, and becoming. It is a deep but subtle practice, helping your own inner potential stand up and be supported, strengthened, and emboldened to make the changes you want inside yourself and in your life that best support your life and being.
Massage Therapy: Most of my massage training was at the Acupressure Institute in Berkeley, California. Though the school no longer exists, the teachings of the wonderful, insightful teachers are still with me. The basis of the education was in acupressure; Using very light finger pressure along the meridians used in Chinese medicine to open up energy channels, remove blockages, free the body and the mind. Other classes were added on to this base, mostly Asian derived or inspired forms of massage and bodywork. I learned Thai Massage, Shiatsu, Tui Na, Ashiatsu (a barefoot shiatsu, no bars), and others. There was always a layer, and some dedicated classes, that honored intuition and ways to work with the body’s more subtle energies. The mind-body-spirit-life connection was discussed and experienced directly through the courses, through our practice of engaging the human body and mind through touch. I have also studied elsewhere, most recently at MTI, or the Massage Therapy Institute in Davis, California – Also a great place to learn. The base of my massage practice is Tui Na, within which I incorporate techniques I have learned in other styles. I typically finish a Tui Na massage therapy session with about 10-15 minutes of acupressure.
Hatha Yoga (the stretchy kind of yoga): Most of my yoga training has been through Sivananda Vedanta Yoga, in California. I lived in a yoga ashram for a number of months and also took a Yoga Teacher Training Course. I never became a seasoned hatha yoga teacher; I taught a little at Sivananda and filled in for a friend at a private yoga studio in San Francisco for a little while, but never made teaching a big part of my life. I still practice some hatha yoga, though not as much as in past years.
Yoga Nidra (the Ultimate Relaxation Experience kind of yoga): I learned from Marc Halpern, founder of California College of Ayurveda and Andrea Deerheart, founder of the HeartWay. I do work some of these techniques into sessions I offer to clients. There is similarity between this and a subset of hypnotherapy techniques.
Martial Arts (Tai Chi, Qi Gong, Wing Chun): I studied with Master Schauer in San Francisco for a number of years, learning tai chi, qi gong, and wing chun. I have dabbled in classes with other teachers in other locations over the years in these same arts, as well as others such as aikido. Martial arts was a steady focus for many years, though now I practice very little, mostly maintaining some Qi Gong practices.
Meditation: There has been meditation training in massage school, in my martial arts training, and mixed with hatha yoga teaching. I had more regular, daily, or sometimes twice daily practice while living a yoga ashram, and at another time while living for some months in a Zen Buddhist community, and more recently during a few shorter meditation retreats.
Nursing: My Registered Nursing (RN) education and my Masters of Science in Nursing, with my Nurse Practitioner training was all done at UCSF. I worked as a hospital, bedside nurse in pediatrics for several years, working with newborns, post surgery patients, patients with a variety of medical illnesses, and kids and young adults with cancer and blood disorders. As a Nurse Practitioner, I have worked mostly with kids, teens, and young adults who have cancer or blood disorders, as well as cancer survivors. Later, I also started working with adults who have cancer.
End of Life training: I have completed a Death Doula course and am a certified End of Life Specialist. As a volunteer, I give massage and Touch Therapy to persons enrolled in Hospice services. I am in process of completing a more lengthy course of study to become certified as an End of Life Practitioner. Once this is done I will offer compassionate, holistic, personalized support for individuals and families during cancer diagnosis and treatment. Support can continue beyond the end of treatment and into Survivorship. Support is also given to those facing death, the fear of death, or the loss of a loved one.
Continuing Education: It’s a good thing I like to learn – Most / all of my certificates and licenses have ongoing continuing education requirements. I keep my skills and knowledge growing, just for you!