About Brad Heinz

I'm very fortunate in many ways. I grew up in a stable household with two kind and supportive parents and three great sister.  The highlight of my life centers on my good fortune as a father figure to three caring and very accomplished daughters, and their equally amazing son and  two daughters. These spirited and affectionate grandkids (in their teens and young adult years) gently tease me as a "tech and social media dinosaur".  All the while reminding me with how much sharper, wiser, and more capable they are than I was at their age.

For 25 years, I was married to an extraordinary woman, Deb. A free spirit and fearless advocate for social justice , she was the director for the first AIDS residential and Hospice facility in Chapel Hill, NC during the deadly AIDS epidemic of the 80s and 90s. She was also a deeply compassionate and inspiring presence to her family and many friends. Another remarkable gift came from  her  being a member within  the original Enneagram community just forming in California and Chicago in the late 70s. She underwent three years of intensive group study, ego reduction,  and meditation practices. This taught her to skillfully recognize both the defensive ego patterns along with the special spiritual gifts of each of the 9 Ennegram Personality Types.. She was a great  teacher,( cutting no slack for my stubborn ego!) and patiently sharing her extensive  Enneagram knowledge. She left this world over a decade ago. Her influence still powerfully guides our family.

My own roots are classic post-WWII suburban Cleveland: a modest house, adventures with buddies — and pickup neighborhood basketball, baseball, and tackle football games. High school was immersed in the classic rock music of the 70s. A Jesuit High School education sharpened my thinking, and the looming shadow (and compulsory draft system) of Vietnam chastened it. A college deferment at Kenyon College in Ohio gave me a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Religion. These studies sparked my fascination with Eastern spiritual traditions.

Graduate school led to a PhD in Clinical Psychology at Loyola University of Chicago in the 1980s. My dissertation was a theoretical exploration contrasting Eastern and Western models of meditation.

My work life has been varied: starting at age 16 with fast-food jobs, followed by summer stints in restaurants and factories, and later in some unusual (and short-lived) roles as steel foundry worker and home-delivery milkman. In college, I served as an EMT and firefighter on the local volunteer fire department. After college I was in the initial paramedic squad trained for emergency services in Cleveland, serving in the inner city. I also worked as a paramedic in San Francisco before attending graduate school. Those emergency services calls included some of my most rewarding work with my colleagues before entering the mental health field.

Today, I draw on all of it — mindfulness, the Enneagram, David Hawkins' Map of Consciousness, Eastern teachings, and more — to help people navigate emotions, release old patterns, and open to greater peace and freedom. If any of this resonates, I'd love to connect and explore together.