John Howard, LPC-S, LMFT-S
John Howard, LPC-S, LMFT-SFounder
John Howard is a psychotherapist, educator, entrepreneur and spiritual teacher based in Austin, TX. He is best known for practicing the very leading edge of couples therapy techniques and trains other couples therapists and clinicians internationally. He works with individuals and couples to help them clarify issues, set goals, and move efficiently to improve their lives. He specializes in relationships, anxiety, life purpose and meaning, personal growth and self-exploration, and achieving life goals. His methods are based in the latest neuroscience and psychology and his insight and experience can illuminate new paths forward and novel solutions.
John is a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Supervisor. He has served as a professor of Private Practice in the St. Edward’s University Masters of Arts in Counseling program and as an instructor of Couples & Family Therapy at the Dell/Seton Medical School in Austin, where he designed their couples and family therapy curriculum. John has been a podcaster (Apple Podcasts—Ready Set Love®) and designed the first online neuroscience-informed personal growth course for couples (Ready Set Love®).
John was 1 of 12 couples therapists in the world selected to form the founding core faculty of PACT®, an advanced neuroscience-informed institute that trains couples therapists in the latest methods. He studied closely for six years and later taught with Dr. Stan Tatkin, widely considered one of the best couples therapists in the world, and was Dr. Tatkin’s first teaching assistant for PACT Institute trainings. John has developed and led a relationship wellness program at Google and other companies, and has spoken at numerous psychological conferences. John’s writing is focused on the new science of relationships and he was voted the Top Mental Health Professional in Austin in 2018 and 2019 by the readers of Austin Fit Magazine.
John is the Founder of Presence Therapy®, a novel approach to psychotherapy that integrates mindfulness, interpersonal neuroscience, experiential therapy and psychobiology to offer an inclusive, comprehensive, and integrative approach to therapy and couples therapy based in the latest science. In 2017, he developed CORE Pre-Marital Counseling® in order to update premarital counseling for the 21st century, increasing its basis in neuroscience, attachment theory, and improving inclusivity and multicultural awareness in premarital work. Part of John’s work is to move the field of relationship counseling away from outdated cultural frameworks to science-based definitions of relationship health that do not exclude same-sex and nontraditional couples.
In 2014, John created Ready Set Love®, an online educational platform for couples dedicated to the promotion of healthy relationships worldwide and the first online relationship improvement program based in the neuroscience of connection.
John has authored numerous articles for various media outlets including LifeHack, The Huffington Post, and print magazines, including a regular monthly mental health column for Austin Fit Magazine. In 2016, John presented Bringing Interpersonal Neuroscience into Couples Therapy at the Attachment, Trauma & Intimacy Conference alongside Drs. Dick Schwartz, Amir Levine, Ellyn Bader and Maggie Phillips. In 2013 he presented How to be More Connected as a Couple as part of the Extraordinary Family Life Conference alongside Drs. Dan Siegel and Shefali Tsabary. In 2019 he presented The Spirituality of Relationships at the Contemporary Relationships Conference. He has also taught seminars for the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapists, Attachment Parenting International, Keller Williams Realty International, and more. He has taught with Dr. Diane Poole-Heller as part of her online Mastermind series for therapists and has taught for Dr. Ellyn Bader’s Couples Institute training group for couples therapists. He also runs private training groups for therapists in Austin, TX.
John founded Austin Professional Counseling in 2017, a counseling practice employing the most current treatment protocols for anxiety, depression and more. The practice grew and in 2019 he founded Presence Wellness, a multidisciplinary mental health center integrating mental, physical, and relationship health along with nutrition, yoga, community, meditation and more. At Presence, John is furthering the application of next-level biopsychosocial care and creating a playful community of seekers who want to grow and learn via the latest science-based approaches to health & wellness. John believes in working collaboratively with businesses and organizations to bring awareness to the importance of comprehensive wellness that includes mental, emotional and relational wellbeing.
John helps partners in relationship reconnect and deepen their love. He also helps single individuals with personal growth, self-exploration, to date wisely, and handle depression, anxiety, confidence issues and more. He combines leading-edge science and empirical, evidence-based methods with a warm, empathic and caring presence. John’s non-religious spiritual development groups are popular with therapists and non-therapists alike and focus on helping members deepen their inner spiritual life. As a group therapist, he helps members develop authentic relating, communication skills, self-knowledge, and the ability to love and be loved.
John is Cuban-American, grew up in New York City, and speaks three languages. He has traveled extensively, living and working in different countries, and is comfortable working across cultures. John is inclusive of diverse cultural backgrounds, religions, beliefs and approaches in his work and is well-versed in a wide variety of relationship structures and lifestyles. His latest book More Than Words: The Science of Deepening Love and Connection in Any Relationship (Simon & Schuster, 2022) is about the new brain science of connection and how to improve our most important relationships. John is based Austin, TX. In his personal time he enjoys road trips to new destinations, adventures, meeting new interesting people, and photography.
Professional Affiliations:
- American Counseling Association (ACA)
- American Association for Marriage Family Therapists (AAMFT)
- Austin IN (Interpersonal Neurobiology) Connection (AINC) (Board of Directors, 2014-2017)
- Austin Group Psychotherapy Society (AGPS)
