Manbrain has a few things to offer, and as the site grows, more posts will accumulate. Check back from time to time as we build our site in 2025.
Manbrain Counseling PLLC.
We offer counseling in two specialties: men under 27 attempting to rebuild their lives after fighting active addiction, and men with professional licenses who wish to resolve their issues without the public display so often required by government-based/inspired programs. If you would like to ask about our general counseling services, please write us at
[email protected]. To look at our general policies, including our rate sheet, check us out on our main counseling services page. If you want assistance navigating a specific relationship or issue, this is where we start. This is also where you will be assessed for –
The Manbrain Protocol.
This is the life recovery protocol that we have developed with over a decade of specific treatment and client-driven data. This is offered by invitation after a few weeks of general psychotherapy, and only to eligible clients. It successfully combines the Buddhist Eightfold Path and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in a way that Dialectical Behavior Therapy does not. Check us out on this site page (will be linked when ready).
It’s not like we are better than these other methods; it’s just there’s only so far you can go with them for reasons we discuss. However, by including the
Noble Eightfold Path in our curriculum, we allow the manifestation of a healthy life. This covers:
- Right View
- Right Action
- Right Thought
- Right Speech
- Right Intention
- Right Concentration
- Right Vocation
- Right Meditation
Cinematherapy
There are multiple posts here on specific films that can be useful in a group setting or even individually. For every film I write about, I provide a connection to my own Plex server for my clients’ viewing. It’s fairly low-res, so people on big screens are disappointed, but I don’t want to provide therapeutic readings of films you can’t afford to watch. Plex is a last-ditch connection to ensure the movie is available, and works best on phones and medium-sized tablets.
But the
Cinematherapy course is fun, and one of my most popular offerings. I have only done it in person, eight weeks with six films, selected by the needs of the viewers I’ve chosen. But as I attempt to expand Manbrain, I must learn to teach it online. It’s coming.
In the meantime, cinema study in the counseling area is laughably aclinical. Usually, you see a movie your therapist likes, and they watch you watching a clip with the anticipation one expresses when asking someone to confirm their personal tastes. Nothing clinical is going on here. In film studies, the formal academic process of reading and teaching film, this approach is called the “O wie schoen” school of criticism. The reader (you) is to react by saying, “Oh, how beautiful,” and there’s not much more to it than that.
We do Cinematherapy Differently.
I started with 64 films to provide eight choices for each of the eight steps of the Noble Eightfold Path. Some steps have required more filmic illumination. If you become a Manbrain subscriber, you will have access to live viewings, group discussions of individual films, and printouts of each film should you decide to teach it yourself.
So check it out. If alcohol is your thing, I recommend Groundhog Day. Please print out the movie guide and watch it with those questions in mind. You’ll be surprised what a different film it becomes. You can also link below to a reading of Roxanne, a small masterpiece that too many young people don’t know about.
Restoration
As we view psychotherapy as a technique to grow and restore for ourselves the dreams and plans we had as much younger men, it’s turned out that restoring the cars we grew up around is surprisingly cathartic.
Our nonprofit, the Manbrain Foundation, exists to support this effort by providing scholarships for young men who cannot afford the full Manbrain Protocol, and to enable us to accept donations and to sell our cars at auction (for classics) and via other online marketplaces (for regular cars like many we have been given). So take a look at how we’re approaching our F100, and you’ll see what kind of work you can expect to learn how to do in the Manbrain Protocol.
Woodshop
Not all of us are motorheads. Some clients come alive more beautifully while learning basic woodworking. The Foundation assists our efforts to maintain a small woodshop – it cannot coexist with classic cars due to sawdust – and we learn how to use routers, miter saws, bandsaws, and planers. We have all made cutting boards for family members in the runup to Christmas. They bend more than they tell ya they will – and we teach those little secrets woodworkers keep so you won’t figure out it’s a pretty simple field to get good at – if you are patient.
What Else?
I teach meditation.
Every other Saturday at the First Unitarian Church of the Hill Country. The Hill Country Sangha has its own site here, and information about this week’s session can be found on the Church’s website.
I marry people.
I am an ordained minister in the Universal Life Church and give secular Buddhist ceremonies and eulogies upon request. If I speak at your wedding, we will be laughing. Beyond that, what I say is up to you.
Manbrain Foundation
Our newest project is designed to unify our efforts as I am just one person, and my time is scalable only so much. We need the Foundation to support the manpower to make the entire practice work. We are a Texas nonprofit awaiting our determination letter from the IRS by mid-2025. We are live and can legally accept donations.