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David Tian, Ph.D., is a private adviser to founders and high achievers on the inner life of success.
Ph.D., University of Michigan, specializing in moral psychology and Asian philosophy. Certified IFS Therapy Practitioner (Level 3). Brown University Certified Leadership Coach. Former university professor of philosophy. Helping build lives of connection, meaning, and fulfillment through Asian philosophy, psychological insight, and relational depth.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who is David Tian?
David Tian, Ph.D., is a private adviser to founders and high achievers on the inner life that shapes the outer one. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, specializing in Asian philosophy and moral psychology, and was a tenure-track professor of philosophy at the National University of Singapore. He is a certified IFS therapy practitioner and a Brown University certified coach.
What does a private adviser do?
A private adviser works one to one and in select groups with a small number of clients on the questions that sit beneath their outer success: meaning, relationships, character, and what a life adds up to. The work is not strategy or performance consulting. It is sustained, confidential counsel on the inner life, drawing on philosophy and psychology rather than tactics.
How is private advisory different from coaching or therapy?
Coaching tends to optimize toward a goal, and therapy tends to heal what is broken. Private advisory does neither. It is a thinking partnership for people who are already successful and are asking what the success was for. It treats the client as a whole person across a whole life, not merely a problem to be fixed or a target to be hit.
Who does David Tian work with?
David works with a small number of founders, entrepreneurs, and high achievers, who have built outer success but found it did not settle the deeper, more meaningful questions. They are intellectually rigorous, private about their inner lives, and looking for counsel with real philosophical and psychological depth.