The Perks & Perils Of Awakening

Abstract

As fascinating as spiritually transformative experiences are, what happens beyond them is equally fascinating. In fact, where integration of such experiences begins and ends is a very fuzzy line, and some experiencers would offer that integration can be a life-long process. Navigating life beyond profound STEs and awakening experiences is full of paradox. It is simple, yet complex. It is easy, yet hard. It is a joy, yet painful. Experiencers often navigate clear stages after their experiences that include understanding the gifts of the experience, discovering their own gifts, moving into meaningful service, and being an active and engaged citizen in a world plagued by problems. Along the way, they discover the many perks and perils of life as a modern person with expanded consciousness.

Presenter Bio

Dr. Nicole Gruel is an Author, Doctor of Spiritual Health, and Cheerleader for Agents of Awesome, who descends from a long line of samurai. She inspires people to harness their spiritual and transformative experiences for life prosperity, joyful livelihood, and to become the Agents of Awesome they were born to be. Her books have been featured in leading wellbeing magazines and she’s been published in peer-reviewed academic journals. Her newest book, a finalist in the prestigious INDIES Award, is The Power of NOTEs: How Non-Ordinary Transcendent Experiences Transform The Way We Live, Love, and Lead. She’s an Advisory Board Member for Spiritual Awakenings International (SAI) and co-facilitates the Sydney chapter of the International Association for Near Death Studies (IANDS).

Mystical Experiences of the Dying: Multi-Cultural Perspectives

Abstract

Mystical experiences at end-of-life -- such as deathbed visions, out-of-body journeys and near-death experiences -- have been recorded since the beginning of human history. These accounts appear in sacred texts across cultures and religions, but did not enter the realm of contemporary academic research until the 1970s, when Dr. Raymond Moody and Dr. Melvin Morse published their findings on near-death experience. Since then, the topic has been widely studied, and reports from resuscitated patients have entered the medical mainstream through the work of contemporary researchers, most notably, Dr. Sam Parnia and Dr. Pim Van Lommel. In this presentation we will explore:1. Types of EOL spiritual experiences 2. Historical, religious and cultural influences 3. Current research 4. How to support patients having these experiences 5. Promoting acceptance of these experiences in clinical settings.

Presenter Bio

Terri Daniel, DMin, CT,CCTP is an interfaith clinical chaplain, trauma specialist and end-of-life educator certified in death, dying and bereavement by the Association of Death Education and Counseling and in trauma support by the International Association of Trauma Professionals. Her work focuses on assisting dying and grieving individuals to discover a more spiritually-spacious understanding of death and beyond. Terri conducts workshops throughout the U.S. to help the dying and the bereaved find healing through meditative, ritual and therapeutic processes that focus on inner transformation rather than external events. Her books and workshops are acclaimed by physicians, hospice workers, grief counselors, religious scholars and the bereaved for their pinpoint clarity on loss and bereavement. Terri's interest in the journey of the soul through birth and death began at age 12 when she began having mystical visions that sparked a lifelong interest in spirituality. But it wasn't until the death of her 16 year-old son in 2006 that she immersed herself in studying multi-cultural religious traditions and metaphysical practices that help the dying and the living find healing through meditative and ritual processes that open a conduit to other dimensions. Her unique form of "radical mysticism" incorporates elements of Buddhism, Shamanism, ancient pagan practices, gnostic Christianity and other spiritual traditions to break down limiting beliefs about forgiveness, divine judgment and negative experience. Terri is the author of four books on death and the afterlife:

• A Swan in Heaven: Conversations Between Two Worlds (2007)
• Embracing Death: A New Look at Grief, Gratitude and God (2010)
• Turning the Corner on Grief Street: Loss and Trauma as a Journey to Awakening (2014)
• Grief and God: When Religion Does More Harm Than Healing (2019)

She is also the founder of the annual Conference on Death and Afterlife Studies. Her academic credentials include a B.A. in Religious Studies from Marylhurst University, an M.A. in Pastoral Care from Fordham University, and a DMin from the San Francisco Theological Seminary.

Applications of Practice for Working with Individuals Integrating STE’s

Abstract

This presentation clearly outlines principles, tools and skills which bring efficacy to the process of integration of STE’s. As therapists, spiritual guides, and life and spiritual coaches, our work is the same:

• To create a context within which experiencers can experience themselves as whole beings, capable of transcending the barriers to the fulfillment of their human-spirit.
• To create a space within which an individual grows their capacity for courage and strength, in order to endure their worst fears, their darkest moments, and the ecstatic joys accessible and available only through human existence.
• To cultivate self-trust, self-acceptance, self-reverence in order to willingly choose the path that is their’s and their’s alone.
• To emancipate oneself from limiting perceptions and interpretations through which they have seen the world - up until their STE.
• To Faith-Leap into a Paradigm Shift where transformative experiences and knowing is given space and reverence, in the here and now of their human existence, and much more will be discussed in relationship to how to empower clients in the integration process.

I will share an integrative model of working with experiencers - Domains of Awareness. Provide an example of a client session, and list specific skills to be embraced by the practitioners.

Presenter Bio

Dr. Rosie Kuhn, author of the popular book, ‘Self-Empowerment 101’ and founder of The Paradigm Shifts Coaching Group, is the preeminent Thought Leader in the field of transformational coaching, coach training, and leadership development. Rosie began her career over 30 years ago as a clinical therapist for addiction recovery programs in Nova Scotia, Canada. In 1999 she founded The Paradigm Shifts Coaching Group, and in 2001, she created the Transformational Coaching Training Program in Silicon Valley, which she facilitated for over a decade.

Widening the Sacred: Cultivating Resilience Through the Integration of Spiritually Transformative Experiences (STEs)

Abstract

After 20 years of gathering stories of STEs, this formal presentation will explore common themes and universalities typically found within those experiences to glean the potential foundational phenomenological qualities of consciousness and the integration of those particular attributes. Difficulties in regard to integration can be seen as an inability to successfully merge what was learned “there” into one’s life “here” to some degree or capacity. Using STEs as a way to develop a spiritual philosophy in order to protect against a tendency toward maladaptive coping patterns will also be discussed. As we continue the crucial work to assist individuals with integration of STEs, it is also time to meet individuals in the middle of their integration processes by shifting some focus to the alteration of broader systems within the collective as well to accommodate and assimilate this information.

Presenter Bio

Lindsey Owens, MA is a four-time spontaneous mystical experiencer and a teacher, researcher, poet, and enthusiast in the realm of alternate states of consciousness and what we can learn from them in terms of our own personal and collective evolutions. She has a BA in psychology from Georgia Southern University, two MAs in psychology (one in humanistic and transpersonal psychology from University of West Georgia and one in clinical psychology with a concentration in spirituality and mind/body practices from Teachers College, Columbia University), and is currently working in psychedelic research at NYU. She is a certified Spiritual Emergence Coach and is finishing her training to become a Dreamshadow Transpersonal Breathwork facilitator.

The Systems View of Spiritual Emergence Support and Integration: Connecting Resonant Communities for Efficacy and Resilience

Abstract

Spiritual Emergence is an ongoing process of deepening inquiry, opening to more aspects and gifts within our selves, and releasing what has been completed. This may be soft and gentle like waves drawing us back into the sea, but more often then not, it is a purge through the fire. This initiation is an activation of soul purpose and capacities to be of service in the unique ways that only we can. Being an experiencer as well as a midwife as of this type of soul birth, facilitating the unfolding of psyche, is an honor and as we know, this requires deep levels of attunement and sensitivity. We can orient through lenses of Humanistic, Transpersonal, and Jungian psychology to offer frameworks on clinical practice. I also invite us to feel into and activate the synergistic collaboration of Spiritual Emergence with Neurodiversity, Ecology, and Cognitive Liberty, and the new ethics that these lineages demand from us all, where co-creating and manifesting together is possible. Join me in this exploration of my lived experience and clinical practice, of calibrating our instruments to another octave of resonance and integrity together in this time of transformation.

Presenter Bio

Michelle is a teacher, writer, energy worker, and Associate Marriage and Family Therapist at the Center for Mindful Psychotherapy. She trained as a Spiritual Emergence Coach with Emma Bragdon and collaborates with the Gnosis Retreat Center project. Her love for the Earth and education was exemplified in her past as a high school Biology and Health teacher working in the Baltimore parochial school system after receiving her BS in Biology from University of Maryland Baltimore County. Deeply longing to immerse herself in the subtle realms, she was drawn to the Bay Area to continue her studies. With her MA in Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness from California Institute of Integral Studies, she continued her own personal journey of healing, and then sharing that path with others through her wellness center and intuitive collective. She has been in states of Spiritual Emergence throughout her life to varying degrees, and entered a state of Spiritual Emergency in 2013. She completed and released her first book, Becoming Sacred Space in 2016. Then, in 2018, Michelle graduated from the Integral Counseling Psychology program at CIIS, and just finished her second book, Holding Sacred Space.

Can Embodiment practices offer healing for transformative experiences?

Abstract

The nature of spiritual resonance found through connecting to the natural world can be a catalyst for Embodied Consciousness. Research now points to the deeper connections and healing created by connecting to the natural world. Mary Francis used a qualitative method in her dissertation, Exploring the Lived Experience of Authentic Movement in Nature as a Catalyst for Transformation (2015). She will share some of her research from her dissertation and research that she is conducting today. Qualitative research offers a plethora of transpersonal elements. Subjective in nature this type of research can present a transrational, (bigger than the rational mind) view. These types of processes extend into the mysterious and often moves beyond the personal. Mary Francis will guide you through the use of the breath to ground you, using movement to deepen the process and add a process called, Embodied Writing. Anderson, R. (2001) Embodied Writing and reflections on embodiment. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 33 (2), 83-98.) Tapping into the body/mind can create a space for personal healing. The use of a self-reflective practice encourages the development of self-awareness.

Presenter Bio

Mary Francis is a Doctor of Psychology with a Transpersonal concentration. Along with this she has a doctoral certificate in Creative Expression. Currently she is teaching two courses at Washington University in Saint Louis Missouri. Entitled, Ecological perspectives through somatic education, and Personal Ecology. Using expressive art practices with the dance movement therapy form, Authentic Movement she was a presenter at two of the Sacred Dance Guilds annual festivals and has facilitated 9 individual workshops for the Guild. She is passionate about exploring the natural connections with Gaia through Authentic Movement and Creative Dance practices. A Registered Somatic Movement Therapist, certified Yoga instructor as well as a creative expressive arts educator and teacher, she just recently taught for two months at the Still and Moving Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. She is interested in research in the area of body-mind connections and wellness.

Transpersonal and transformative potential of anomalous perceptual experiences with the emphasis on out-of-body experiences

Abstract

My presentation aims at describing phenomenology, semiology and the transpersonal potential of autoscopic phenomena such as out-of-body experiences (OBEs) as well as other experiences based on anomalous perception. I will present an anecdotal as well as first and second hand description of OBEs experienced by two experiencers. I will further discuss transformative and transpersonal element of OBEs. My presentation introduces a new approach of researching OBEs based on direct know how, mastery and first hand observation by experiencers themselves. Over the last 20 years I have been compiling characteristics (typology) of OBEs and researching the transformative potential of these extraordinary experiences. I will further present my belief that OBEs in healthy individuals are an essential part of the development of human psyche as well as what could be referred to as extraordinary or transcendental states of consciousness. I strongly believe that OBEs are life’s transformative events that bring a host of potential benefits to their experiencers, especially in the form of spiritual transformation. They have potential to help people on their journey of spiritual emergence leading to transformation and even transcendence. OBEs further hold a high potential to heal both on the psychological as well as physical level. In my presentation I will further argue that OBEs do not require special conditions such as sleep, near death experience, extreme physical effort, or induction (mental, mechanical or chemical) to occur. Rejection of subjective experience is quite strong in mainstream science. Therefore examining the insights of subjective experience will greatly contribute to strengthening of holistic approach both in the OBEs as well as the consciousness study in general. In the second part of my presentation I will introduce The SEA Slovakia/Czechia (Spiritual Emergence Anonymous in Slovakia and Czechia), a grassroots 12-Step program for Spiritual Emergence. The aim of the program is to support spiritual emergers and help individuals who are undergoing psycho-spiritual crisis known as spiritual emergency.

Presenter Bio

Born in Banovce nad Bebravou, in Western Slovakia (former Czechoslovakia), Julia experienced her first out-of-body experience in 1995. Since then, she has devoted all of her time to the study of out-of-body experiences. Julia has degrees in Law, Russian Area & Cultural Studies, Pedagogy, and Divinity. She also briefly studied Journalism, Phytopathology, Political Science, and International Affairs. She studied in the former USSR, USA, Slovakia, and in the Czech Republic. Fluent in four languages, she has dual American and Slovak citizenship. She is a former translator-interpreter, a lecturer in the Russian language, and an English teacher at the first private school in the Slovak Republic focused on the behavioral problems of children with learning disabilities and emotional problems. Executive Manager and head of the international section of the presidential election campaign (Slovakia), she is the foreign relations adviser to the ex-Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, an analyst for the Department of International Relations, deputy manager of the central election campaign, a foreign correspondent accredited to the US Department of State, and a freelance writer and lobbyist. She also worked for the Fund for Constitutional Government based in Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.

The Figure-8 Model of a Complete Transformation: An Empirically-Based Understanding of the Integration of Transformation

Abstract

The Figure-8 Model of a Complete Transformation draws upon and corroborates with literature of 13 disciplines and is the result of over fifteen years of analysis seeded in this presenter’s doctoral research. Using a qualitative method called cooperative inquiry, coresearchers analyzed the lived experience of integrating transformative experiences that occurred during international travel facilitated as sacred play. The intent of the seminal study was to discern through cycles of embodied activities and critical discourse, if there is an underlying archetypal pattern to integrating life-changing, spiritual experience. The result produced a figure-8 pattern, which is illustrated in a book written by this presenter called, The Map to Wholeness: Real-life Stories of Crisis, Change, and Reinvention. Specifically, the research indicates that integration involves nine distinct phases that in total, clarify the necessity of struggle, strife, loss, and emotional anguish during integration. The outcomes further affirm why the majority of people who have had a STE struggle with depression, substance abuse, and other problems. In this session you will learn The Model of a Complete Transformation, it’s two cycles and 13-phases, and the aspects of self that the biopsychospiritual system integrates.

Presenter Bio

Susan Ross is an Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Recreation Therapy in the Department of Health Science and Recreation at San José State University. Her primary research examines psychospiritual transformation from transdisciplinary perspectives and is the subject of her book, The Map to Wholeness: Real-Life Stories of Crisis, Change, and Reinvention. Her research on the subject of transformation and integration is fundamentally informed by personal experience of transcendent realms that transpired while leading backpacking trips for youth in the mountain-tops of Colorado. Her current research investigates experience of swimming with humpback whales. In partnership with indigenous elders, she co-leads study abroad designed as transformative travel where students learn traditional energy healing practices called pujillay, or sacred play. As a consultant and speaker, Suzy helps agencies, groups, and individuals to recognize their location in the process of transformation so they can normalize their present circumstances as an integral part of transformation (i.e., of their own becoming) and be informed about how to take control with their circumstances and grow consciously.

Family Therapy Best Practices: The Near-Death Experience and Spiritual Emergency’s – How to Listen and Support intact Crucial Conversations

Abstract

As clinicians there is often a struggle as to how to help family members understand the needs of someone who has had a near death experience or a spiritual emergency. Learn the four elements to help you navigate this unknown territory with your clients. The four elements will enable you to listen with clarity, help them curate and identify their narratives, clarify how their perspectives have changed and how they presently interact and respond to the here and now. The triangle of Grief, Fear and Joy interacts with the triangle of family, friends and professional relationships. From isolation to secrets learn 3 specific interactive tasks to help break through the misunderstandings that lead to isolation, and the sense that secrets are the only way to be safe.

Presenter Bio

Edy Nathan MA, LCSWR is an author, keynote speaker, workshop leader, and ACISTE Board Member. She combines her works as a therapist with her work within the spiritual realm. As a licensed therapist, AASECT certified sex therapist, hypnotherapist, regressionist and certified EMDR practitioner with more than 20 years of experience. She has degrees from New York University and Fordham University, with post-graduate training at the Ackerman Institute for Family Therapy. She practices in New York City. She was the therapist on A&E tv’s Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal. She specializes in grief, loss and trauma throughout the life cycle and spiritual awakenings.

Mitigating the Catastrophic Effects of Psycho-Spiritual Transformation upon Self and Family

Abstract

Every family has someone who undergoes a psycho-spiritual transformation, something that can act as a catalyst for the lineage and unshift the level of healing, communion and integrity of the individuals involved. However without understanding the nuances and psychological requirements of the phenomenon the child going through the process will often become the "black sheep" of the family, the "scapegoat", the "sin eater" and in the worst of scenarios "the leper" - because their transformation has been misunderstood, marginalized, and even banished altogether by the tribe, which will only repeat the cycle of family trauma and give rise to illness, often times chronic. In this presentation you will hear the most common trends of undergoing this transition upon self and family following fifteen years of hand on support and research in the field and how best to realign the child's transformation back to its most generative archetype.

Presenter Bio

Zachary is an expert in the field of psychological and spiritual development, specifically in the context of chronic illness. Zachary works remotely in conjunction with a team of seasoned therapists at Opening to Life in Portland Oregon as well as with a specialized network of doctors, body workers and shamans at Sophia Health Institute in Woodinville Washington. Zachary uses a wide variety of modalities including developmental psychology, trans-personal hypnotherapy, family constellation, energy medicine, Jungian and Archetypal analysis and Autonomic Response Testing.

Drawing Strength from Spiritually Transformative Experiences in Times of Crisis

Abstract

Dr. Devi Prem will present a practical approach to working with clients in times of personal or collective crisis. When sudden changes happen in a person’s life, may it be due to an injury or outer force, inner balance tends to be disrupted. Dr. Prem will outline the importance of bringing the mind and body in alignment with the soul. Her approach is soul-oriented. Once the client has access to the soul, balance in the mind can be re-established. She will utilize meditation and creative expression to access prior spiritually transformative experiences to draw strength from. You will receive a toolset of short meditation practices and an approach for creative expression. Further Dr. Prem will speak to the power of gratitude drawing from her research.

Presenter Bio

Dr. Devi Prem has a Ph.D. in Psychology from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology at Sofia University. She additionally holds certifications in Transformational and Somatic Coaching, Meditation, Movement, and Creativity. The core of her spiritual training was a residential academic program (Gurukulam) in Meditation and Interfaith, including Sanskrit, in an ashram in India. She has been teaching, coaching, and mentoring seekers on the spiritual path across cultures and religions internationally since 2002. She enjoys counseling peers in an integral psychological approach to mental health. She is the founder of CFIT Center for Integrating Transcendence with a focus on supporting individuals to manifest their professional life mission in order to make a difference in this world. She is a coach of coaches, enhancing leadership skills and personal alignment. She is a member of the Association of Transpersonal Psychology (ATP) and the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association (IEATA) as well as Strozzi Institute of Embodied Leadership. She presented at the SANDS Nondual and the IEATA conferences. Devi currently resides in Ashland, OR while enjoying international connections.

Fostering Public Engagement with After-Death Communication Experiences Through Art and Technology

Abstract

After-death communication experiences (ADCs) have been categorized as spontaneous, facilitated, assisted, and more recently, as requested. ADCs are common and can be helpful in the grieving process and the reduction of death anxiety. Research also suggests that the potential positive benefits of ADCs are not limited only to the experiencer, but may extend to others who learn about the ADC experiences of others. The normalization of those experiences may aid in removing the social stigma, and the resulting stress that may follow ADCs. Currently, collections of ADC experiences exist, but those accounts are mostly captured as text or video interviews. While helpful, those formats may not be appealing or accessible to all audiences. The Audrey Project, at the Windbridge Research Center, is forming collaborations between ADC experiencers, researchers, mental health professionals, artists, and technologists. Together, these multidisciplinary teams are transforming submitted, written reports of ADCs into rich, multimedia (video, images, sound, music, and interactivity) exhibitions. The goal is to create a library of these enhanced experiences that help foster in-depth public engagement with ADCs, promote healing, and further normalize ADC experiences. In line with the mission of the Center, the compiled library will be offered online to clinicians, researchers, and the general public as a free, open-access resource.

Presenter Bio

Mark Boccuzzi is a research scientist and innovator working at the intersection of science, technology, education, and interactive visual arts. He currently serves as the executive director of the Windbridge Research Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to the study of dying, death, and what comes next. He is also managing editor of the open access, free, peer-reviewed journal Threshold: Journal of Interdisciplinary Consciousness Studies. Since 2008, Boccuzzi has been researching modern American, secular, mental mediums. He has co-authored over a dozen peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, and presentations that cover aspects of mediumship, including accuracy, physiology, and the potential therapeutic applications of mediumship readings for the grieving. He resides in Tucson, Arizona with his wife and research partner, Julie Beischel, PhD, and their two rescue dogs, Ada Grace and Toggle.