Spiritual Emergence at CIIS |
People |
Spiritual Emergence and Other Extraordinary Experiences at CIIS |
Coordinator, Michelle Boyle has had a lifelong affinity for land and animals. She began walking into wild knowing seventeen years ago, as Spirit began to speak to her through visions and directly through the natural world as she began her training as a healer. The power of those visions led her into a lifelong path of study. She is trained as an integrative counselor and ordained as a priestess in the Church of All Worlds. Michelle studied fine arts at the Massachusetts College of Art, and holds a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies at the California Institute of Integral Studies, where she is currently studying Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness. She is a certified practitioner and instructor of therapeutic bodywork, and has led professional and community bodywork and health classes since 1998. It is her mission to support individuals and communities in transformation toward more wholeness and authenticity. She seeks to use her skills and talents as a counselor and bodyworker to facilitate healing, assisting people in connecting with their essence and inspiring them to thrive.
Co-coordinator: Michelle Anne Hobart, MA is a practitioner of energy medicine and holistic health educator. She holds a BS in Biology, and an MA in Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness. Currently, she is doing coursework in Integral Counseling Psychology at California Institute of Integral Studies. Michelle is an advocate in the Neurodiversity movement and a certified Spiritual Emergence Coach. She supports those whose gifts and experiences have been judged or oppressed, and who are in the process of reclaiming and recovering their power and personal truth. She also has a passion for promoting practitioner self-care and resiliency. Michelle offers workshops, retreats, support groups, and one-on-one sessions. Her first book, Becoming Sacred Space resonates with the mission of this personal and collective process of resourcing, honoring, and collaboration.
Presenter: Will Hall, MA, DiplPW is a therapist, trainer, and schizophrenia diagnosis survivor. Host of Madness Radio, Will teaches internationally at the forefront of innovations in psychosis treatment. His writing has appeared in Journal of Best Practices in Community Mental Health, Oxford University Press' Modern Community Mental Health An Interdisciplinary Approach. and Psychology Tomorrow. He has taught doctors, nurses, social workers, family members, the peer movement, law enforcement, lawyers, and at the American Psychiatric Association's Institute of Psychiatric Practice. He trained in Open Dialogue at the Institute for Dialogic Practice, and is the author of the Harm Reduction Guide to Coming Off Psychiatric Drugs, translated into 7 languages.
http://www.willhall.net
http://www.willhall.net
Presenter: Ron Unger LCSW. Ron Unger specializes in cognitive therapy for psychosis, and has personal experience of, and a special interest in, the connections between psychosis, trauma, creativity and spirituality. His blog is http://recoveryfromschizophrenia.org/
Presenter: Kirk Templeton received his Ph.D. (2013) from the California Institute of Integral Studies. Kirk’s general research interest lies in the area of comparative world philosophy with a focus on the study of consciousness. His areas of specialization include the Indian tantric tradition of Kashmir Śaivism, the Persian illuminationist tradition of Islamic philosophy, western scholasticism and the hermetic tradition. Kirk is a scholar-practicioner, that is, he engages in spiritual practices derived from the traditions he studies and teaches. He is currently teaching Islamic philosophy at CIIS and the hermetic tradition at the
University of Philosophical Research.
University of Philosophical Research.
Presenter: Lane Arye, Ph.D. has been practicing and teaching Process Work worldwide for 25 years. Approaching our joys and our troubles with curiosity, respect, and heart, he fosters the experience that life is mysterious, rich, and meaningful. Lane has trained therapists locally and around the world, and in Poland he supervised a psychiatric day hospital and support groups for victims of domestic violence. In the Balkans, Lane co-led a six year UN funded project working with Serbs, Croats, and Muslims after the war. He is the author of Unintentional Music, and co-author of “Transforming Conflict into Community: Post-war Reconciliation in Croatia.” Lane works in private practice in Berkeley and San Rafael. http://www.ProcessWorkLane.com
Presenter: Al Galves, PhD is a psychologist who lives in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He is past Executive Director of the International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry (ISEPP) and a long-time member of the Board of Directors of MindFreedom International. He is the author of Harness Your Dark Side: Mastering Jealousy, Rage, Frustration and Other Negative Emotions (New Horizon Books, 2012).
Presenter: Cardum Harmon, MA, with a Master’s degree in Culture and Spirituality, has studied and experienced various faith traditions and worked as a wellness consultant and retreat facilitator in the Bay Area for over 20 years. She currently serves as the Interim Executive Director for the Total Health institute, Co- Director for the Bay Area Mandala Project, Campaign Manager for the Alameda County 10x10 Wellnes Campaign and the Program Manager for the Health & Human Resources Education Center. As an artist, person with lived mental health experience and mother of an energetic eight year old, Cardum has a strong belief in approaching wellness from a holistic perspective. She is the author of,"Mandala Project: Mysticism, Metaphysics & Divine Manifestation."
Presenter: Dina Tyler experienced stigma, labeling and trauma from the psychiatric system. Dina now uses her lived experience to advocate for compassionate alternatives within the mental health system. She is the Coordinator of Peer and Family Support Services at PREP Alameda County, an early psychosis intervention program for young adults ages 16-24. She is the Co-Director for the Bay Area Mandala Project and the Co-Founder of Bay Area Hearing Voices. She facilitates peer support groups, provides individual peer support, trains clinical staff on recovery-based language and approaches, and supervises peer specialist interns. Dina has a degree from UC Berkeley in Sociology, with a focus on mental health and stigma.
Presenter: Michael Cornwall, PhD, MFT, has done therapy with people in extreme states since 1980 in medication-free sanctuaries and community settings, and has had the lived experience of extreme states. He completed doctoral research on the Jungian sanctuary, Diabasis House, and leads Esalen workshops and conferences on extreme states. He blogs on http://www.madinamerica.com. http://www.michaelcornwall.com
Presenter: David Lukoff, PhD is a Professor of Psychology at Sofia University in Palo Alto, CA and a licensed psychologist in California. He is author of 80 articles and chapters on spiritual issues and mental health and co-author of the DSM-IV/DSM-5 category Religious or Spiritual Problem. He presents internationally on spirituality in grief, death and illness, and on spiritual problems and emergencies. He has been actively involved with the mental health consumer movement for 25 years.
Presenter: Chaya Grossberg will discuss her own experiences with spiritual emergence, being diagnosed psychotic and moving through oppression while on a spiritual path. Chaya is writing a book and creating a blog and campaign to raise awareness about the many people whose emergence has been interfered with by psychiatric drugs, and the difficulties of coming off as well as what has helped people start to break free from oppression. She is a writer, teacher, coach and group facilitator living in San Francisco. She has been actively involved in "mental health" activism since 2002. She has worked with the Freedom Center, Western Massachusetts Recovery Learning Community, Massachusetts PAIMI council, Windhorse Associates, Alternative to Meds Center, Mental Health Association of Portland, Portland Hearing Voices and the Mental Health Association of San Francisco. Chaya has taught at numerous conferences on Coming Off Psychiatric Drugs including NARPA, INTAR and Alternatives. Chaya operates her own blog and coaching business, http://chayagrossberg.com.
Presenter: Nick Walker is an Autistic educator, author, speaker, transdisciplinary scholar, and martial artist. He is a faculty member in the Interdisciplinary Studies BA program at California Institute of Integral Studies, and the Psychology and Liberal Arts BA programs at Sofia University. He holds a 6th degree black belt in aikido, and is founder and senior instructor of the Aikido Shusekai dojo in Berkeley, California. Nick is a leading voice in the emergent field of neurodiversity, and has been a key figure in the evolution of Autistic community and culture since 2003. Many of his writings on autism and neurodiversity can be found on his blog at http://neurocosmopolitanism.com.
Presenter: Asherah Eden, MA Somatics, 2012 , as Jessica Abelson, is an intuitive channel, life coach, and speaker based out of Oakland, CA. She has twenty years experience studying, practicing, and applying somatic and spiritual healing techniques . In her free time she can be found in handstands, making paintings, and worshipping her small dog, Muppet. Professionally, Asherah offers depth transformation programs to select clients and groups around self trust, intuition, the divine feminine, whole-life organization, and personal power. Asherah can be contacted at http://www.asheraheden.com.
Presenter: Dr. Howard Whitehouse's dissertation revealed a phenomenological map of the structure and process of the shamanic medicine experience, with a particular focus on the the challenges individuals encounter when they attempt to return and integrate these extraordinary experiences into the context of their ordinary lives. He is currently the Alumni Advisor to ERIE at CIIS, served as adjunct faculty at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), and worked as a Research Associate at UCMed Langley Porter Psychiatric Clinic.
Presenter: Natalie Tobert is a British medical anthropologist, who has done research in India, Sudan and UK. Her book Spiritual Psychiatries, based at Sri Aurobindo's ashram in India, brings fresh perspectives to the dialogue about mental health and extreme experiences. She runs participatory seminars in UK hospitals, universities, and medical schools, which create a bridge between mainstream and new paradigm thinking. She is member of the Bay Area Mandala Project Advisory Board. https://www.facebook.com/SpiritualPsychiatries
Presenter: Tim Dreby has twenty years of experience in paid mental health experience, and eleven years tenure at Alameda Health System’s Highland Hospital Outpatient Psychiatric Unit. Inspired by reading about the Hearing Voices Network in Europe via internet, seven years ago he began to run Special Messages groups at Highland and has developed a paradigm for working with people in Special Messages Crisis that seeks to unite Special Message Receivers via establishing universal components of “psychosis” or Special Messages Crisis. Tim currently collaborates with PEERS in Alameda County to use an Alameda County Innovations Grant to help train, teach and revise this paradigm to peer counselors who specialize in outreaching to isolated individuals in the community. Tim has a memoir coming out in the end of March with Hidden Thoughts Press entitled, Fighting for Freedom in America which documents a two year period (mid-career) when he was in Special Messages Crisis.
Presenter: Ken Paul Rosenthal is a cinema artist and activist whose lyrical documentaries weave personal and societal narratives on madness through natural and urban landscapes, home movies, and archival footage from 1950’s-era social hygiene films. Emotionally intelligent and visually sensual, his films are ‘illuminated texts’ that touch the mind through the heart. Ken’s trilogy of poetic mental health films, Mad Dance, has collectively won seventeen awards, screened in forty-eight film festivals, and been presented at dozens of peer support networks, universities, mental health symposium and community events worldwide.
www.kenpaulrosenthal.com
www.whisperrapture.com
www.maddancementalhealthfilmtrilogy.com
www.kenpaulrosenthal.com
www.whisperrapture.com
www.maddancementalhealthfilmtrilogy.com
Kyle received his B.A. in Integral Psychology from Burlington College in Burlington, Vermont. During his undergraduate years, Kyle spent much of his studies researching indigenous plant medicine, Holotropic Breathwork, and the potential benefit of non-ordinary states of consciousness. Kyle has spent the past few years working in the mental health field. He currently works with at-risk teenagers at a hospital diversion program, and supports/helps individuals to move through extreme states/psychosis at Soteria Vermont. Kyle also offers breathwork workshops in Burlington, Vermont. http://www.settingsunwellness.com/
bio will be up soon for Kitzie Winship, Henny Kupferstein, Sarah Acevedo, Kelly J Kelly and naas siddiqui. see event flyers in 'upcoming events section' for more info for now...
And a special thanks goes out to collaborators-
Sound healers Tasya Herskovits & Shireen Amini
Expressive Artists Beatriz Chavez & Cassidy Barnes
Photographer and Musical Accompaniment Daniel Raznick
Faculty Support Brant Cortright
Student Alliance Liaison Angela Anderson
Logo Designer Daniel Oyinloye
Artwork Erica Edwards
graphic design for Holding the Shadow promotion Katarina Countiss
Nature Photographer naas's dad
Co-founders, former co-coordinators and vision Sarah & Nevin, naas siddiqui aka lovingly known as biznaas
our friends, supporters and visionaries: Marlee, Brock, Lindsay, Aidan, Paula, Christina, Evan, Hallie, Dr. Kathy, Bruce, D, Dr. Lam, Wendy, Bahman, Rachel Bryant, Eric
and so many more, and all the participants and community, like you!
Sound healers Tasya Herskovits & Shireen Amini
Expressive Artists Beatriz Chavez & Cassidy Barnes
Photographer and Musical Accompaniment Daniel Raznick
Faculty Support Brant Cortright
Student Alliance Liaison Angela Anderson
Logo Designer Daniel Oyinloye
Artwork Erica Edwards
graphic design for Holding the Shadow promotion Katarina Countiss
Nature Photographer naas's dad
Co-founders, former co-coordinators and vision Sarah & Nevin, naas siddiqui aka lovingly known as biznaas
our friends, supporters and visionaries: Marlee, Brock, Lindsay, Aidan, Paula, Christina, Evan, Hallie, Dr. Kathy, Bruce, D, Dr. Lam, Wendy, Bahman, Rachel Bryant, Eric
and so many more, and all the participants and community, like you!