Our Staff at The UCLA Family Commons

The mission of The UCLA Family Commons is to inspire families and communities to discover their unique potential for well-being. We offer a welcoming environment filled with classes, events, coaching and excitement about creating healthy, engaged lives.

We envision a world where all possess the tools they need to move through the world with confidence and innovation—for life. Healthier families make stronger communities, and healthier communities make stronger families. When children and parents take charge of their own well-being, they build both.

Susan L. Smalley, Ph.D.

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Susan L. Smalley, Ph.D.

Dr. Sue Smalley is Professor of Psychiatry and Founding Director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center (MARC) at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. Dr. Smalley helped create MARC to bring to a renowned mental health research institution the ancient art of mindful awareness in a scientifically supported and rigorous form. Her work with MARC focuses on increasing self-awareness through mind-body practices (such as meditation) and exploring how practicing mindful awareness may help promote well-being in the 21st century.

Dr. Smalley has three children, ages 24, 21, and 19. In her free time, she likes to travel, paint, garden, run, practice yoga, and write poetry. She’s hoping to change her habit of constantly trying too hard to change for the better, but she also accepts that this trying may just be part of our human nature.

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