Jonathan Barfield, PhD began his personal practice in 1997, with two years of intensive shamatha practice. Continuing his practice, in 1999, he moved from Chicago and into the deserts and mountains of the southwest where he studied ecology, earned a PhD in psychology, and lived in a tipi on the Colorado Plateau for nearly 6 years. He began studying with Lama Tsultrim Allione in 2008.

Currently, Jonathan lives in Telluride, CO and is a psychotherapist in private practice using cognitive, mindfulness, and compassion based approaches. He lectures, facilitates workshops, and publishes internationally on the subjects of Buddhism and Ecopsychology, Buddhism and Psychotherapy, and the Psychology of Meditation. He coordinates projects and programs with various universities at the front of compassion and altruism research and guides wilderness programs for two ecotherapeutic institutions. Apart from research and psychology, Jonathan is a singer for traditional native ceremonies and has been involved with traditional ways for 13 years. He is newly a father.