James Rosser, LCSW

James began his meditation practice in 1987 under the guidance of Spirit Rock Meditation Center co-founder James Baraz. A dedicated practitioner, he graduated from Spirit Rock’s Dedicated Practitioner Program and InsightLA’s Dedicated to the Dharma Program. He is also a graduate of the inaugural class of Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach’s Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program (MMTCP), and is currently participating in Spirit Rock’s Dharma Institute and Community Dharma Leaders Program. 

As a Dharma teacher and Board of Directors member at InsightLA, James teaches and co-leads retreats at both InsightLA and the Big Bear Retreat Center. His primary teacher is Tempel Smith, with significant influences from Phillip Moffitt, Venerable Bhikkhu Analayo, and Spirit Rock’s Co-Guiding Teacher, Tuere Sala. Deeply invested in mindfulness, he serves as a Mentor at Kristin Neff’s Self-Compassion Institute and is a Trained Teacher for the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion. 

Professionally, James is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) at UCLA’s Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital, where he designs and leads intensive outpatient psychiatric programs. Intensively trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), he holds a Master’s in Social Welfare from UCLA and a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from the University of Tennessee.