Integrative Mental
Health University
Training for professionals and support for individuals navigating spiritually transformative experiences
What is Integrative Mental Health?
Modern mental healthcare is incomplete without a respectful, competent way to address spirituality. Bringing spirituality into the standard of care means pairing evidence-based clinical treatment with practical spiritual support, so extraordinary experiences aren’t automatically dismissed as pathology.
For professionals, it means a grounded framework and tools to work skillfully with spiritual beliefs and non-ordinary states. For individuals, it offers care that supports relief and stability while also honoring their experiences.
this model includes
Spirituality included in care with respect, not dogma or pathologizing
Clearer assessment of positive transformation versus crisis states
Grounding and integration tools for intense experiences
Thoughtful referrals to spiritually competent support networks
What IMHU Provides
Integrative mental health providers are trained to work respectfully with non-ordinary states of consciousness (NOSC)—including those brought on by trauma, near-death experiences, mystical states, psychedelics, and other spiritually-transformative markers.
Identify both root causes and symptoms
Customize treatment to the individual
Support healthy lifestyle choices
Recommend meaningful community connection and spiritual practices
Understanding Spiritual Awakening and Spiritual Emergency
What is a Spiritual Awakening?
A spiritually transformative experience, sometimes called a spiritual awakening, is a profound shift in awareness that changes how you relate to yourself, life, and reality, often bringing a deep sense of meaning, connection, or purpose that can feel uplifting, disorienting, or both.
What is a Spiritual Emergency?
A spiritual emergency is a crisis within that same awakening process. It occurs when spiritually-transformative experiences become overwhelming or disorienting. Symptoms may resemble mental illness, but the root cause is spiritual growth, not pathology.
What If You or Someone You Know Needs Help?
The most important thing during a spiritual emergency is to feel safe and supported. Speaking with a trained coach or professional can help bring clarity, validation, and tools for healing.
Once mental health providers understand spiritual emergencies, they can help clients transform what feels like crisis into an opportunity for growth.
Benefits of Working with a Trained Provider
A safe space to speak openly without fear of being labeled "crazy"
Clear understanding and validation of spiritual experiences
Tools for navigating anxiety, overwhelm, or isolation
Support for integration and personal growth
Connection to a wider community of seekers
A path forward that honors your experience
Professional Training and Certification
To empower therapists, counselors, psychiatrists, coaches, nurses and other practitioners
IMHU recognizes that true healing is not just about eliminating symptoms but about cultivating wholeness and purpose.
Get Educated
IMHU offers professional-level courses to give practitioners real-world tools for recognizing and working with spiritual emergence. Our hybrid courses offer Continuing Education (CE) credits and combine on-demand content with live discussion.
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Get Certified
Want to go deeper? IMHU certifies individuals as Spiritual Emergence Coaches®, offering comprehensive training in this emerging specialty. We’ve trained over 135 practitioners from 17+ countries.
Get Certified
Get Connected
Once certified, join our international directory to support individuals in spiritual crisis and help expand access to respectful, holistic care.
Our Coaches
Earn Continuing Education Credits
Are you confident distinguishing spiritual emergency from mental illness? IMHU’s CE-eligible courses help you build clinical confidence and cultural competency around spiritual emergence.
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Spiritual Emergence
Coach® Certification
Become an IMHU-Certified Spiritual Emergence Coach®
1
How to Effectively Support Someone in a Spiritual Emergency
5 expert-led online webinars
Biweekly live discussion sessions
10.5 CE credits for healthcare professionals
2
Spiritual Emergence Coach Practicum
A 2 or 3-day experiential workshop held annually in the U.S. and U.K.
14 CE credits
Skill-building in deep listening, trauma-informed care, and spiritual integration
Live On-Location Training
Spiritist Therapies Seminar — Goiania, Brazil
Experience firsthand the Spiritist healing modalities practiced in Brazil’s Spiritist Psychiatric Hospitals and Community Centers. A 7-day immersion offering up to 35 CE/CME credits where you get to meet leaders in research and interact with practitioners.
What is Integrative Mental Health University?
IMHU contributes to improving mental healthcare through online and in-person educational courses, training, and certification programs. We believe spirituality is an essential—but often overlooked—dimension of mental health, and we aim to change that.
We support both wellness seekers and healthcare professionals by offering:
Online courses and live events
Certification as a Spiritual Emergence Coach®
CE-eligible professional development
A growing international directory of spiritual emergence providers
Resources to reduce stigma and expand awareness
Words of Praise for
imhu
“The straightforward approach to delivering challenging concepts balanced by supporting an Optimal Wellness potential, the whole person paradigm, is so key to redefining the normal that has been standardized… People want to know where they're going and what that looks like.”
Terry T. Monnell, MA, CSC, ILC
“Dr. Bragdon is on the leading edge of issues that must be addressed if we are going to realize a transformation in the ways in which healthcare is currently conceptualized and delivered.”
Jeffrey Rediger, MD, Harvard Medical School Faculty
“Of greatest value for me in the Brazil trip was the chance to see existing Spiritist models of healing in action in Brazil.”
Darius Soon, Director & Practitioner, Radiant Wellness Centre
“The straightforward approach to delivering challenging concepts balanced by supporting an Optimal Wellness potential, the whole person paradigm, is so key to redefining the normal that has been standardized… People want to know where they're going and what that looks like.”
Terry T. Monnell, MA, CSC, ILC
“I enthusiastically recommend attending Dr. Bragdon's workshop… Her many years as a psychotherapist, healer, scholar, and presenter shine through… creating many rewarding opportunities for expansive professional and personal enrichment.”
Ted Esser, PhD, Director, Spiritual Emergence Network
“The straightforward approach to delivering challenging concepts balanced by supporting an Optimal Wellness potential, the whole person paradigm, is so key to redefining the normal that has been standardized… People want to know where they're going and what that looks like.”
Terry T. Monnell, MA, CSC, ILC
Free Resources Bundle of 6 Presentations
When someone is in crisis it can be scary…and we reach for information to help us understand what to do ASAP.
These presentations are brief and give you:
A Definition of Spiritual Emergency
Stories of Awakening from Experiencers
Resources for Residential Care
An Understanding of Integrative Mental Healthcare
The Power of Peer Specialists’ Support
When someone is in crisis it can be scary…and we reach for information to help us understand what to do ASAP.