I barely knew Steve. We both assisted an SE training online last year. It was my first time meeting him through the SE community, and I was struck by his presence not just with the SE students but with the team of assistants. In particular, he reached out in the Zoom chat to make me feel welcome within the assistant team and to support ideas and suggestions I brought to the training. Zoom is a tricky platform to make someone feel heard and seen, and yet Steve did that with ease and grace. I was really looking forward to getting to know him more at future SE trainings. I am so sorry for your unimaginable loss and will be holding Steve and your entire family in my heart. Thank you for sharing him with me and the rest of the SE community. We are all better for knowing him.  


May The Lord's Blessings be with you, Janai and Kynnadi , Gary  and all of your family !!
 
   You held  a " very special place in my heart today"  and know you  will continue to be in my prayers  !! 
   
    May the Lord's presence of His Love,  Peace , Comfort and Strength be with you in each new day !!

        Georganna


                              

                                                                
    
                                       

            
     

   

Dear Janai - Steve was so deeply intertwined in our lives back in the early 2000s. I’ll never forget all the get-togethers and growing up we all did together. (David A, Sasha was the Great Dane’s name). The thought of him not on this earth is hard to fathom. If there is a heaven, I am sure he is in it. Put in a good word for us Steve! 

Steve was a friend, a mentor, a person who was instrumental in my earliest days and years of recovery and struggle. My fondest memories of Steve include his laugh, his gentle gestures of kindness and affection, and his relationship with that darn Great Dane. I’m trying to remember its name but it was a puppy when I was around. Game nights with Steve and Janai turned into bumper cars with that darn dog! Too funny. Memories I won’t forget. May your new place be filled with goodness, my old friend.

Steve was a training assistant for my SE cohort. He was such a kind, gentle, masculine presence and I was so glad to learn he was based in Austin! He did a personal session for me one training weekend in Houston and that was the session that brought SO much of what we were learning together for me. He was so intuitive and I instantly knew two things: (1) this modality will work beautifully for all my clients and (2) I wanted him to be my personal therapist when we returned from training. 

Steve helped me get through the uncertainty during the beginning of the pandemic. I remember our last session in person together before going virtual, he gingerly sprayed down the leather couch in his office and wiped it down. I  thought it was the funniest thing! 

I'll also never forget his openness about his faith. It was important to me to have an ongoing therapist who was open to me talking about my faith without any baggage. We got to joke about him being a "California Christian" and that made me feel so much freer to let my guard down in sessions. 

I'm so sad that our community and (especially) his family are grieving the loss of such a beautiful soul... 

I went to graduate school for counseling with Steve and he was assigned to me my partner for one of the most vulnerable classes, Basic Skills, in which you counsel a fellow classmate while being recorded and watched by the class. I was so nervous and Steve went out of his way to make our work together as comfortable and as genuine as possible. I was so grateful I got him as a group partner and loved getting to know him. He and his kind energy will be very missed by classmates and colleagues. It was very clear how much he loved and cherished his kiddo and family. My thoughts and prayers are with you in this time. 

Steve and I met in Somatic Experiencing training in 2014. He was an extraordinarily gifted therapist. Over time, Steve became the go-to therapist to whom I could refer young men who needed a strong, reliable, sensitive man to finish raising them. He was the toxic masculinity antidote, a living demonstration to his clients that vulnerability is not weakness. That feeling is courageous. Like any good therapist, Steve had done enough of his own healing that he could provide a safe container for others to face their pain. He was a therapist's therapist. I am so grateful to have known him for a short period of time. His death leaves a hole in my heart and I will miss my friend and colleague. My heart aches for his family who lost so much more.  This picture is of our last day of SE training.

OBITUARY

Steven Penn Bryan

August 30, 1967 – May 5, 2021

Cook-Walden/Forest Oaks Funeral Home and Memorial Park

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