Complete your training to become a Certified Spiritual Emergence Coach®

The Practicum helps you become more competent and confident in supporting others experiencing phenomena associated with spiritual awakening, aka spiritual emergence. It is the capstone course to become a certified "Spiritual Emergence Coach®" and counts toward 21 Continuing Education (CE) credits for eligible professionals. Peer support people are very welcome!

August 15-19, 2026

4 nights, 3.5 Full Days & 1 Bonus Evening

By popular request from former students, this longer format gives you more time to practice skills, share, network, build community, and have fun together. The Whidbey Institute sits on 106 acres with 4.5 miles of trails, a permaculture garden, and all-organic meals offering both meat and vegetarian options.

What You'll Learn

  • Design and facilitate safe support groups

    for people in Spiritual Emergency and/or their loved ones, using appropriate guidelines to foster containment, community, and mutual aid.

  • Provide effective, person-centered support

    by applying practical techniques, maintaining authentic connection, and upholding clear, healthy boundaries with individuals in Spiritual Emergence/Emergency.

  • Build and work within a collaborative care network

    by identifying colleagues to form a support team and discerning when to use one’s own professional training or healing gifts versus referring or consulting with others.

Our Accommodations

At Whidbey Institute

The two-story Farmhouse is located in the center of the Heartland near Thomas Berry Hall, where we will have our meetings. A kitchen, gathering space/living room (below), and half bath are on the ground floor. The bedrooms (nine standard-length twin beds, one queen bed) and one bathroom with a shower and one bathroom with a tub are upstairs. One queen bed here and another in an independent cabin are reserved for couples.

What's Included

  • Multiple Facilitators

    With three facilitators guiding a small cohort of just 13-20 participants, you’ll receive high-quality training and high-touch, personalized support throughout the retreat.

  • Fresh Organic Meals

    Delicious, freshly prepared organic meals by Whidbey Institute’s kitchen, crafted with seasonal ingredients to nourish and sustain you throughout the retreat.

  • Iconic Location

    Whidbey Institute is an iconic Pacific Northwest retreat center, nestled in old-growth forest and meadows that have hosted transformational learning for decades.

Room and Board Options to Choose From

15% discount for Earlybird: Before Feb 1, 2026


Note: The prerequisite for attending the Practicum is the online webinar courses on supporting someone in a spiritual emergency. Learn more about these requirements to become a Certified Spiritual Emergence Coach.

Submit a deposit to reserve your space. Only 20 total spots available!

How to Attend the Practicum

A few things you'll need to send us to ensure your spot

  • Fill out the Registration Form

    First, fill out this form: https://registration-agreement-f-wealvmo.gamma.site/ Email the form back to [email protected]. Feel free to copy and paste the form into Word or Google Docs. Whichever is most convenient to you.

  • Submit Your $500 Deposit

    A $500 deposit is required to save your spot. A 15% early bird discount on the total cost of the Practicum will be applied to applications received before February 1st, 2026.

  • Provide Full Payment by June 1, 2026

    Once we receive your deposit and registration, we'll need to collect full payment by June 1, 2026 to secure your spot. Note: If you have extenuating circumstances, let us know and we will do our best to accommodate you.

Registration Materials

Please click the button below to review our agreement with participants. When you enroll, we need you to sign the agreement.
Get Registration Form

Practicum Curriculum

Your learning objectives for the retreat

  • Discuss the challenges in accurately diagnosing disturbances related to Spiritual Emergence and explain common problems that arise when individuals in these states are treated in conventional hospital settings.

  • List and describe key parameters that help predict which individuals are most likely to emerge from a Spiritual Emergency relatively quickly and with a positive outcome.

  • Demonstrate how to maintain an authentic, empathic connection with a person experiencing Spiritual Emergence phenomena while simultaneously upholding appropriate therapeutic and interpersonal boundaries.

  • Apply appropriate guidelines for facilitating support groups for individuals in Spiritual Emergency and their loved ones, including the practical use of techniques that foster safety, grounding, and integration.

  • Explain why a team-based, collaborative approach is ideal for supporting someone in Spiritual Emergency and compile a list of potential colleagues and community partners to form an effective care network.

  • Assess when and how to appropriately implement your professional training as a healthcare provider or your own gifts as a healer when supporting someone in a Spiritual Emergence process, staying within your scope of practice.

Instructor(s)

Senior Instructor

Emma Bragdon is the Founder and Executive Director of Integrative Mental Health University, IMHU.org. She earned her PhD in Transpersonal Psychology in 1987 and was licensed in California as a Marriage, Family, Child Therapist in 1988. As a pioneer who has helped define the field of spiritual emergency, Emma has published 7 books and co-produced 2 documentary films. Within IMHU Emma has trained over 110 Spiritual Emergence Coaches• who are available to support individuals disoriented or in distress as they open spiritually. She also leads a small group of healthcare providers to Brazil once a year to learn about the Spiritist paradigm of mental healthcare from Spiritist practitioners. Emma maintains a private practice, consulting internationally via zoom. See imhu.org/store for more info. on books/films. See EmmaBragdon.com for personal consultations.

Instructor

Andy joined IMHU in 2025 after a 17-year run in Silicon Valley, where he built a reputation as an operator, advisor, and investor with ten multi-billion-dollar startups. After years of high performance, he stepped away from the tech world to pursue a deeper mission: helping people transform their inner lives and discover a higher purpose. Over the last five years, Andy has undergone an intense and wide-ranging spiritual emergence—at times an emergency—marked by powerful non-ordinary states of consciousness that became central to his healing and personal evolution. That experience now informs his work with others. He writes about mental health, spirituality, and personal transformation, and he coaches people who are navigating spiritual awakenings of their own. Andy serves on the board of Heroic Hearts Project, which provides psychedelic-assisted therapy to military veterans and their spouses. He is also a certified Spiritual Emergence Coach® and holds a diploma in Jungian Dream Analysis from the Jung Centre of Ireland.

Instructor

Lorna Busch, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and clinical supervisor with a private practice in the Finger Lakes region of New York. She offers ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, psychedelic integration, and provides specialized support for individuals and families at end of life. She is also a certified Spiritual Emergence Coach® and is currently completing Level II training in Quantum Healing Hypnosis Technique (QHHT). Rooted in a holistic framework, Lorna works within integrative health centers that honor the connection between mind, body, and spirit. Her own profound spiritual openings and emergence journey inform her commitment to bringing spirituality into mental health care in a grounded and ethical way. In 2024, she traveled with IMHU to Brazil to observe spiritist hospitals and community centers, where she witnessed firsthand how these communities are pioneering models of integrative, spiritually-informed psychiatry.

Getting to Whidbey Island

The Airporter Shuttle serves Seatac, and can bring you onto the Island and to within 3 miles of the Whidbey Institute. Reservations are required. Select the Clinton/Langley stop at Ken’s Korner.

The Institute recommends All Island Express Taxi (360-341-8294) to transport you from Kens Korner or the ferry dock to the campus. You may wish to call the taxi service when you board the ferry, as they don’t have vehicles standing by. Uber and Lyft do not consistently serve Whidbey Island, though we have heard there is one Uber driver in the community. 

The recommended bike route from the ferry is about 3.5 miles. You may also travel by train to Mukilteo and by bus on Whidbey. Island Transit is a free public bus system on Whidbey Island, providing service Monday through Friday, plus limited Saturday services. Buses do not visit our location, but the nearest route passes within one mile of our main campus.

Go here for more details on getting to Whidbey Island https://whidbeyinstitute.org/visit/#air-bike-transit

FAQ

  • What kind of rooming situations are there?

    After you send in your deposit, we will send you a registration form in which you will specify the rooming situation you prefer from what is available. We will then send you an invoice.

  • Can I ask for meals that follow my dietary needs (allergies, no pork or beef, etc)

    Yes, when you register, we will ask you to specify what you need in terms of your diet.

  • Can I come to the Institute just for the events, bring my own food, but stay elsewhere?

    Yes, you would be a "commuter". You would pay the Whidbey Institute facility fee plus the course fee.

  • What should I wear?

    Wear comfortable clothing and bring shoes for walking in the woods, if that's something you want to do. We will send you notes on what to bring for your comfort.

  • How many students are coming?

    Under 20 students. We have 3 facilitators on our staff for the training.

  • I have other questions....

    Please see the welcome letter created by Whidbey Institute: https://whidbeyinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2025-Welcome-Packet.pdf

Submit a deposit to reserve your space. Only 20 total spots available!

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