About Mariana Caplan
Mariana Caplan, PhD, MFT
is a psychotherapist, humanitarian, and award-winning author whose work bridges psychology, mental health, yoga and meditation and the deeper human questions of meaning, resilience, and care. With more than 25 years of clinical experience, she is widely recognized for her ability to translate complex psychological and spiritual ideas into grounded, accessible frameworks that speak to imminent human suffering and real possibilities for healing. Her work addresses a broad audience concerned with mental health, well-being, and the ethical responsibilities we hold toward one another in an increasingly fragile world.
Dr. Caplan is the author of eight books on psychology, global mental health, yoga, and spirituality, translated into more than a dozen languages. Her titles include: Yoga & Psyche, Eyes Wide Open, The Guru Question and Halfway Up the Mountain, several of which have become international classics and are used in clinical, academic, and training settings worldwide. Her most recent books were published by Sounds True (Macmillan) and have received multiple national awards, including the Gold Independent Publisher’s Award and the Silver Nautilus Award.
In addition to her books, her essays and articles have appeared in publications such as Tricycle, Shambhala Sun, ReVision, and the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology. Her personal writing has also received critical acclaim, including works featured in Best Buddhist Writings and adapted for the stage.
Clinically, Dr. Caplan’s training spans psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, gestalt, somatic, and trauma-informed approaches. She is a certified Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and has long integrated neuroscience, trauma theory, and body-based therapies into her work. In addition to her private practice, she consults with organizations, spiritual communities, and leaders navigating crisis, ethical rupture, or institutional breakdown, helping them restore health, accountability, and humane structures of care. She has taught internationally since 1997 and has served as a professor at institutions including the California Institute of Integral Studies, Naropa University, John F. Kennedy University, and Sophia University, where she developed innovative graduate-level programs at the intersections of psychology, yoga, meditation, and human development.
In recent years, Dr. Caplan’s focus has expanded toward global mental health and humanitarian engagement. In 2023, she co-founded Soccer for World Peace with her teenage son—a nonprofit dedicated to fostering connection, dignity, and psychological resilience through sport and play. The organization hand-delivers soccer balls to children in underserved communities while offering trauma-informed training, psychoeducation, and community-based healing initiatives. In its first two years, Soccer for World Peace reached children in more than 20 countries, from the Brazilian Amazon to North, East, and West Africa, and is currently preparing to sponsor a United Nations sponsored landmark-inclusive tournament and peace-building program in the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, serving hundreds of children from 24 different nations and backgrounds, and more than 200 spoken languages, including youth with disabilities.
Her forthcoming book Through A Pinhole of Light: Radical Care and the Future of Global Mental Health emerges directly from this convergence of lived experience, clinical depth, and humanitarian commitment. The book reflects Dr. Caplan’s belief that mental health is a collective responsibility—and that credible storytelling, ethical witnessing, and compassionate action can help catalyze cultural change. Through her writing, teaching, and humanitarian work, she continues to advocate for a global mental-health paradigm rooted in dignity, realism, and care.
Dr. Caplan lives with her son and spends much of her time traveling, teaching, and working internationally. Together, they have visited more than 40 countries—often carrying duffle bags filled with soccer balls—and continue to learn from the people and communities they meet along the way.