Workshops & Retreats

Booking a workshop is a high-impact investment for your organization that can really raise the bar on the quality of what you’re offering to clients.

I am a sought-after presenter for workshops and conferences on meditation as a therapeutic aid for professionals, applying Buddhist practice in counselling, narrative therapy for community work, motivational interviewing, burnout prevention, and more.

I teach retreats internationally, including Costa Rica and Portugal. Meditation retreats are a great way to establish or deepen your practice.

I have facilitated workshops for organizations that include:

I have presented at various conferences, including the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association’s annual conference, 7 Cities Housing First conference in Edmonton, the Therapeutic Conversations narrative therapy conference, the Housing First Partners Conference in New Orleans, the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness conference in Montreal, and the Dalai Lama Centre’s Heart-Mind conference here in Vancouver.  I am a national trainer in Housing First practices for the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness.

These are some comments from past participants of my workshops and retreats:

“Brian is a talented clinician. Empathic and careful listener and creative problem solver. During the AtHome/ChezSoi project, his approach using trauma informed care combined with narrative therapy offered new life-changing perspectives to his clients. We all learned a lot!”

Sam Tsemberis, Pathways to Housing

“A few years ago, I attended a series of mindfulness sessions that Brian Dean Williams gave to my Ernst & Young (EY) colleagues and me. The experience was rewarding. Brian combined the best wisdom of well-known mindfulness instructors with real-world examples and meditative exercises for us to practice then and later. Brian exudes calm and attentiveness. He listens well and gives good, creative feedback. As a daily meditator, I learned some helpful tips to improve my practice. Other colleagues, with perhaps less experience practicing mindfulness, found the sessions to be truly transformative—some of the best sessions that EY offered to improve the quality of employees’ life and work.”

John Lasseigne, EY Law

“We have worked with Brian on a number of workshops over the last 6 years. He is always a delight to work with. His knowledge and presentation skills have really appealed to our employees. I would recommend Brian for any one looking for a stress busting, mind expanding, thoughtful and calming presentation.”

Vikki Jensen, Air Canada / CUPE

“Brian has a calm and inviting manner that makes the listeners feel accepted and valued. He has been much in demand as a presenter because he brings not only the education that we crave and which helps us in our work, but also teaches us how to bring our best selves to the meetings with his interest in a mindfulness approach to our distracting world. Throughout the pandemic, Brian held weekly virtual meetings that brought us together and helped us cope. With his guidance, we looked forward to our meetings and to the connection they offered. I would recommend Brian as a presenter to any group looking for someone with knowledge and the ability to bring a group of people together.”

Holly Hutchinson, Hollyburn Family Services, Foster Parent Support Group

“Brian has been facilitating Mindfulness meetings with our flight attendant group for over 2 years. Through these meetings, many of our members have discovered the benefits of Mindfulness, and the mind-body connection.

We were very fortunate to have Brian’s support during COVID, as we endured the pandemic and the many disruptions that resulted.

On a weekly basis, our group met via Zoom for the various topical sessions he presented. Each week we discovered different coping methods to adapt to our very stressful work environment. The 30 minutes spend with Brian gave us a sense of balance, strength, and community. We all looked forward to our weekly sessions with great anticipation, as they provided an oasis amidst some very challenging times.

Thank you Brian for your generosity of spirit and your calming nature as we navigated unprecedented times.”

Mary Keough, National Coordinator of Employee Assistance, Air Canada Component of CUPE