Rick Breden

Rick Breden is a counselor, hypnotherapist and the founder and CEO of Behavioral Essentials. He began his professional career in counseling in 1988, studying at Texas A&M and Purdue University, and founded New Light Counseling centers in 1990.

After years practicing clinical psychology, he founded Behavioral Essentials in 2006 to bring the principles of family therapy into the workplace. The idea behind it is that self-awareness and support inside organizations can lead to the same breakthroughs individuals and families find outside of them. The company's promise is "We change behaviors. Not people."

Today Behavioral Essentials offers a behavioral assessment platform and coaching for individuals, groups and teams. It also offers executive retreats in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico, where nature is the teacher. The work centers on awareness, and its stated values include courage, flow, openness, optimism and curiosity.

Rick is a committed student of Zen, Way of Nature, Systems Psychology and Tai Chi. He also studied medical hypnosis at the Milton Erikson institute and continues to study with John Milton, the ecologist who founded The Way of Nature.