“I look at it kind of like “ally”, right? I would prefer that other people would call me a healer rather than me calling me a healer. Just like I would prefer people calling me an ally rather than me calling myself an ally” ~Chris Hoff

Where to begin with Chris Hoff, PhD, LMFT? Do I start by introducing you to The Radical Therapist, his highly binge-able podcast in which he interviews like-minded rebels in the healing arts? Is it better to go waaaaaay back to his years as a successful but unfulfilled tech entrepreneur? Perhaps you’re more interested in his evolution from meditation newbie to devout Zen Buddhist? Or, maybe, you’re looking for a kindred spirit in recovery, anxious to hear about his decades of sobriety?

Whichever Chris you prefer, you’re in luck! Our conversation is as multi-layered as the man himself.

“I'm a man in recovery, you know? I've had my share of experiences of woundedness - and still do. I like the idea and I think Brené Brown points [to] this idea of imperfection and leaning into imperfection in all the ways, right? I'm okay with ‘wounded.’”

There’s an obvious link between Chris’ ability to exist in an easy flow with his woundedness and the years he spent trying to numb his unhappiness through work and substance abuse. His quest for spiritual and physical healing led him to Zen Buddhism and the study of psychology.

His podcast is his attempt to heal it forward by questioning therapy’s adherence to its current evidence-based approach. “More people are going to see psychics and tarot card readers and less people are going to see therapists because we've lost our art, our soul, our whatever you want to call it, right? Because it's become this idea, this medical model thing,” he laments. “[The] human aspect just got kind of drained out of it.”

It’s no accident that he chose the word radical for his podcast title. He thinks clients and fellow professionals are hungry to connect with people who embody the once pejorative term. An ex-punk rocker-slash-radical himself, Chris advocates infusing therapeutic practice with deeper, more intuitive understanding or, as he describes it, magic-with-a-K. Until his idea is widely adopted, he’ll continue expanding his tribe of rebels, offering his hard-fought knowledge to clients and students. And dropping new episodes where everyone can find them.