Unfold.Transform. Flourish.
Meet Ben
I am an emergency medicine physician, transformational coach, and ketamine-assisted therapy provider working in Ventura and Ojai, California, on the unceded lands of the Chumash Peoples. I focus on building resilience, finding balance, rediscovering purpose, and supporting people in personal transformation, career shifts, and growth from burnout. I work with healthcare professionals, men navigating life transitions, people living with chronic health conditions, and individuals seeking deeper authenticity and purpose. My work anchors in body-oriented mindfulness informed by a belief in our inner capacity for healing and wholeness.
I honor my Mizrahi and Eastern European Jewish ancestry—lineages grounded in resilience and wisdom and steeped in the complexity of war and displacement.
I emerged from the rigidity of medical school with my idealism somewhat battered, but still intact. However, by the end of residency, that idealism had shifted into disillusionment. Life had become centered on the hospital; a cycle of documentation, clerical work, and pressure to never allow bad outcomes. Even though I felt stuck, I also felt firmly entrenched. I was fluent in the world of medicine; the hospital was a familiar and comfortable place. So I leaned further in, completing fellowships in emergency medicine, critical care, and ultrasound, eventually splitting my life between the ER and the ICU, with little dabs of (intense) time off.
The tipping point was not a dramatic case or clinical failure. It happened at 3:00 AM on a graveyard shift. On my way to see a child with a minor illness, I caught my reflection in a mirror: a weary, unshaven, harried, and unhappy face. In that pause, I felt the morass of it all: the resentment, the burden of being stuck, and the realization that I was absent from my own life in every way that mattered. I was disconnected from my family, my purpose, and the ideals that had started the journey
I eventually returned to the ER, but I didn't go back as the same person. My mindset and my relationship with medicine were completely rebuilt. I’ve come to understand that being a "healer" is a much wider concept than I once thought. Also, that my own healing is a continuous, deepening process. I followed my curiosities into Hakomi therapy training, ancestral lineage healing, psychedelic assisted therapy training, and opened a ketamine assisted therapy clinic and coaching practice.
I also learned that we cannot do this in isolation. Modernity and our educational systems have deeply ingrained patterns of separation, materialism, rationalism, and extractionism into the ways we move through the world. We all hold these patterns and we all deserve a space to see them clearly so we can step out of the stuckness and create new possibilities for how we are in the world.
I don’t offer a map or a ten-step plan to "fix" your life. I have learned that the fix-it mindset is often part of the patterns that keeps us feeling trapped and incomplete. Instead, I offer a partnership in inquiry. Whether you are navigating a high pressure job, a shifting of career or personal priorities, or a sense of stuckness that you can't quite name, I provide a space to slow down. Together, we look at the habitual ways you move through the world, not to judge them, but to understand them. When we stop the doing and start seeing, new possibilities for how to live organically emerge.
From Doing to Being
It was while standing on a remote section of the Great Wall of China that I decided to study medicine. I had a degree in anthropology and had been living and working abroad, immersing myself in different cultures and experiencing the variety of ways humans are in the world. I saw medicine as a skill that would allow me to be of service anywhere in the world. I saw medicine as more than just a job; it was an art, a rigorous science, and a platform for activism
I addressed this the way we are trained: identify the problem, find a solution, and fix it. I rearranged the external pieces, several times. I adjusted my schedule, attempted career shifts, changed my diet, and took lucrative though numbing jobs to pay the bills. But the sense that there was some fundamental misalignment was always there.
Real change only began when I stopped the constant doing and started looking inward. I took time off for deep inquiry; spending time on meditation retreats, traveling, and being present with family. I realized that transformation isn't about finding a new job; it’s about noticing the habitual and conditioned patterns that keep us feeling trapped, regardless of our profession or circumstances.
Experience and Training
I am originally from the east coast where I studied anthropology and environmental science at NYU. I then spent time spent living and working in Asia, South and Central America, and Europe before graduating from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia.
My medical path includes a family medicine residency and fellowships in emergency medicine, critical care, and point-of-care ultrasound. I also completed the Primary Care Psychiatry Fellowship at UC Irvine. I am certified in ketamine assisted therapy from The Ketamine Training Center, earned a certification in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy from Naropa University, trained with MAPS|Lykos for MDMA Assisted Therapy, and am a certified mind-body coach through The Embody Lab. I completed level 1 and level 2 training in Hakomi therapy. I am part of the first cohort of Earth Awareness Teacher Training, a nature-based mindfulness meditation training and am part of the 2026 cohort of the Upaya Buddhist Chaplaincy Training Program. I own Horizon Healing, a ketamine assisted therapy clinic in Ventura, CA.
method
Every Journey is Unique
While each session for each person is always unique, many coaching journeys share a common path.
Initial Sessions: Building Connection
In our first one or two meetings, we will review your intake forms and take the time to get to know each other. We will explore your goals, motivations, challenges, expectations, concerns, personal history, and current circumstances to establish a strong alliance and foundation for our work together.
Introducing Transformative Methods
In subsequent sessions, we begin to incorporate the Hakomi Method, which facilitates self-discovery through present-oriented mindfulness and body awareness. Depending on your needs, we may also integrate:
- Polyvagal Theory: Understanding the nervous system to enhance emotional regulation
- Somatic Exercises: Engaging the body to release stored energy and promote healing
- Breathwork: Using conscious breathing techniques to reduce stress and increase clarity
- Ecotherapy: Connecting with nature to foster well-being
- Lifestyle Medicine: Implementing healthy lifestyle changes to support overall health
- Mindfulness exercises: Being aware, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally
- Focusing: tuning in to “felt senses” (subtle, internal bodily experiences that carry meaning)
Core Principles: Curiosity, Mindfulness, Respect, Compassion, and Connection
All our sessions are grounded in these core principles. I honor your innate capacity for healing and wholeness, creating a nourishing and spacious environment. Whether you are a healthcare provider managing stress, a man exploring emotional awareness, or someone seeking deeper connection with yourself, there's no agenda or assumption that something needs to be fixed. Instead, we focus on building a strong, supportive relationship that empowers your personal growth and healing. Frequently, when we slow down and listen to ourselves with the help of a compassionate listener, change and transformation naturally unfold.
A Safe and Supportive Space
Our relationship is built on trust and mutual respect. Together, we create a safe container where you can explore, heal, and thrive without judgment. This healing alliance provides the stability and support needed for meaningful transformation.