THE INTERNAL LIBRARY
Clarify - Create - Transform
(Where I frequently Appear)
MY BACKGROUND
My name is Matt Babb, and my mission is simple: To help others live meaningfully using Integrative Psychology
I was born and raised at the dividing line of a forest and a relatively peaceful town. With the blessing of two loving and supportive parents and a full spectrum of siblings, I was given a steady diet of encouragement, confidence, challenge, and a little more freedom than I knew what to do with.
Over my childhood years of martial arts (Kajukenbo), skateboarding, self-taught musicianship, and exploring in the wild backyard mountains, I developed a deep interest in introspection and personal development that I can easily trace back to my first (secret) solo hikes at age 5.
As I continued to grow and experience new facets of what it means to be human in this modern world, I discovered philosophy (both east and west), psychology, and an impressive catalogue of tools for transformation, both modern and ancient.
From there, I slogged my way through more than my fair share of existential crises and psychedelic crack-ups, and consequently found myself naturally playing the counseling/therapeutic role for my peers (and for myself) at a quite a young age.
Once I found this role as a teen, I have always known that I would play it as an adult. It's simply who I am, and I decided long ago that the best thing to do was to just roll with that.
MY WORK AND MY MISSION
Underneath each interaction, I have always palpably felt that insight is right there for the claiming. There is a reservoir of accessible wisdom in people that is just below the surface. It's my absolute favorite thing in the world to see that burst of energy release behind someone's eyes, expressing the change that has just erupted into their consciousness, bringing them to the next level of integration that they were finally ready for.
Luckily for us, gaining access to this internal realm has been the purview of much of philosophy and science for millennia, and they have left us a whole host of tools. My life's work is to learn, integrate, and share these tools with as many people as possible, equipping them with the skills and capacities we need not only for our personal and interpersonal lives, but for our collective adventure as this variegated web of living, churning, and evolving consciousness.
If, at the end of my life, I can look back and see that I gave my all to sharing the gifts that I was given for deep transformation and powerful connection, then I will die happy, peaceful, and eager for whatever may come next.
COMPLETED EDUCATION
HYPNOSIS AND HYPNOTHERAPY
I completed my two-year training in hypnotherapy in 2017. This training took me to many continents and all throughout my own mind, giving me the skills and instincts to guide willing minds into the deeply potent unconscious, that place from which all of our dreams, creativity, and emotions spring forth.
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Led by Igor Ledochowski (and his cadre of fellow mind-benders), this training focused explicitly on Formal Hypnotherapy, Conversational Hypnotherapy and Coaching, Ericksonian and Metaphorical Hypnotherapy, and Self-Hypnosis.
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I've seen firsthand an uncountable number of inductions, processes, and transformations thanks to hypnosis and hypnotherapy. I've come to trust this modality as one of my go-to's for change work. Advances in hypnosis both as a psychological phenomenon and as a therapeutic modality are constantly being made, but the vast collection of skills that were downloaded in my mind still amazes me. These teachers were true masters, and it is an honor to carry on their tradition as a hypnotherapist.
COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY
I’ve been studying this modality both explicitly and implicitly over the last couple of years, both in its “pure” form as formal Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and in its philosophical proto-form as Stoic Philosophy.
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I have found this modality to be the ideal counterbalance to hypnotherapy and lucid dreaming. These two can stretch the mind beyond it's comfort zone if proper grounding is not put in place. CBT is that grounding.
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As of Fall 2019, I completed a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy course through the Achology Foundation, led by Kain Ramsey. His course taught me how to approach all sorts of issues with CBT, ranging from anxiety, depression, paranoia, unhealthy habits (both mental and physical), and more. As this is a newer field for me, I deeply look forward to continuing my education in this area. I hope to eventually apply this to my work with patients with severe clinical disorders once I am a certified clinician.
PRANAYAMA AND MEDITATION
My exploration into these esoteric practices began in my high school years. I was gifted a copy of Deepak Chopra's The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga, and undertook my first real meditation and pranayama session on my dusty bedroom carpet straight out of the back of that book. It clicked immediately, and since then, both pranayama and meditation have been a consistent part of my psychological upkeep.
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Over the following years, I've made significant investments of time and resources delving deeper into these topics. I've completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training, I've learned (and diligently practiced) The Wim Hof Method, I've been on several meditation retreats (including a 10-day silent Vipassana retreat), and have dug into an uncountable number of books, lectures, and workshops.
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I cannot overstate the significant of these two techniques. Together they have given me the greatest tool I could have ever asked for - a ready-at-hand method of stilling my mind and finding peace in any situation. Breath and attention, working together in tandem, have gotten me through some bleak moments, and everyday they provide me with the perfect leaping-off place to glide through my day in greater peace, focus, and lightness.
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Up until recently, I was leading a free daily virtual meditation and pranayama class at The Center SLO in San Luis Obispo. But after over 1,000 consecutive days, I decided to temporarily put this offering on hiatus while I regroup, reground, learn more, and plan my next regular offering. Stay tuned for that update sometime this year!
EDUCATION IN PROGRESS
In 2022, I received two Associate of Arts degrees at Cuesta Community College (one in Psychology, the other in Music Theory and Performance). As of now, I am currently enrolled at California Polytechnic State University as a Psychology major, and I expect to complete my Bachelor's of Science degree in 2025. From there, my plan is to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology.
In the meantime, I am vigorously studying as much as I have the endurance for, so you can expect this site to gain new pages, more scientific references, and more connections to fellow mind-workers.
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Formality aside, it goes without saying that my education and exploration will never be complete. I will spend my entire life swimming through the science, art, and practice of many change methodologies, and I expect to spread these techniques as far and as wide as my abilities will take them. There is nothing more important for me to do with the given years I have on this Earth.
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Thank you for your curiosity, and I look forward to meeting you!
