Emma Bragdon, PhD
Dr. Bragdon is the Founder and Executive Director of the Foundation for Energy Therapies, Inc (FET), a not for profit, 501c3 company dedicated to education and research. Integrative Mental Health University, IMHU, is a project of FET. Emma is the Chairman of FET’s Board. FET was founded in 2008. IMHU came online in 2013.
Supporters
Emma’s fieldwork, publications and documentary films have been generously supported by grants from forward-thinking individuals and organizations such as Laurance Rockefeller, the Lloyd Symington Foundation, the Rudolf Steiner Foundation, the Marion Institute, and E-Benefactors, the umbrella for Emergent Phenomenology Research Consortium (Bringing together clinical, scientific and spiritual paradigms to improve clinical outcomes)
Recognition
Emma was elected to the “Council of Sages”–a small advisory board of Sophia University (formerly the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology & her alma mater). This is a group of “recognized experts” who are selected based on their contributions to the field of Transpersonal Psychology. She is also recognized by Spiritual Awakenings International as a ground-breaking pioneer in the arena of spiritually-transformative experiences, spiritual emergence and emergency. She was chosen by Dr. Stanislav Grof to be one of four teachers in Grof Legacy Training® for South America. She was also named the ambassador for the Spiritist Hospital Euripedes Barsanulfo in Goiania, Brazil by its President, to enourage the international community to learn about Spiritist Therapies through her. Emma is often called on for interviews on podcasts and has addressed large audiences at conferences around the world including the Parliament of World Religions.
Background of Emma Bragdon
Emma has been a pioneer in body-mind-spirit wellness for 50 years. She has written 7 books and co-produced two documentary films on topics related to mental health and healing. She has been a teacher in experiential learning for adults since 1985. 
Prior to graduate school, Emma trained with some of the best bio-energetic and neo-Reichian therapists in the San Francisco Bay area, e.g. Stanley Keleman, Anne Dreyfuss, Nadine Scott, Phil Cucuruto, Ed Jackson, MD, William Emerson, PhD and others. Her advanced training in breathwork, bodywork and energy work became central in her understanding of how to support personal growth and wellness. Her facilitation of group breathwork in the 1980s was sponsored by her graduate school to benefit the community.
From 1985-1992 Emma also dedicated herself to writing about and forwarding spiritual development. She volunteered at the Spiritual Emergence Network (SEN) for 7 years, editing their journal and newsletter, and coordinating two invited conferences at Esalen Institute for them. Stanislav Grof, MD & Christina Grof, founders of SEN, attended along with other psychologists, spiritual teachers, individuals with life experience, and the psychic, Anne Armstrong. Emma’s PhD dissertation on “How to Support Someone in Spiritual Emergency” was inspired by these gatherings. Stanislav Grof, MD’s pioneering work continues to be a profound source of inspiration for her.
By 1988 Emma was licensed as a Marriage, Family, and Child Therapist, had earned her PhD in Transpersonal Psychology, and specialized in private practice around issues of Spiritual Emergency. She continues to coach individuals online from all continents in the world as well as consulting with organizations regarding identifying and managing spiritual emergency.
From 1990-2001 Emma taught 9-day experiential courses in personal development. From 2001-2012 she traveled widely in her field research and focused on Spiritist Community Centers and Spiritist Psychiatric Hospitals in Brazil because they provide an effective, 120 year old model of integrative healthcare for all economic levels, cooperating with requirements for government funding as needed for inpatient care. The Brazilian Spiritists are very successful in recognizing and managing spiritual emergency–having developed their effective protocols for more than 100 years.
In 2012 the President of the Spiritist Psychiatric Hospital in Goiania, Brazil asked Emma to be their “ambassador” to non-Brazilians. She has since that time been facilitating seminars for health providers to visit the hospital, experience the Spiritist therapies offered, and learn from her and her Brazilian associates-the psychiatrists and spiritual healers who collaborate there and at other Spiritist Community Centers in Goiania. 
In her role as Founder & Executive Director Emma has developed IMHU since its inception in May, 2013. It is currently self-sustaining, aligned with its mission, purpose and values, offering the wisdom of a stellar faculty, and independent of special interests. She is active as a teacher of some of IMHU’s online courses and is available as a coach.
Email: EB@IMHU.org
Landline in Vermont, USA: 802-674-2919
“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 health care is currently conceptualized and delivered. The future lies in the development of capacities which lie latent within all of us, and in technology which is more commensurate with recent scientific developments.”
Jeffrey D. Rediger, M.D., M.Div.
Medical Director, McLean Hospital SE; Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA.
Some endorsements for the book, Spiritism and Mental Health:
“A brilliant explanation of Spiritist practice in Brazil! … a tour de force in introducing consciousness and spirituality to psychiatric treatment. I highly recommend this book for those wishing to practice truly holistic medicine.”
John L. Turner, M.D.,
(Neurosurgeon) author of Medicine, Miracles and Manifestations: A Doctor’s Journey Through the Wolds of Divine Intervention, Near-Death Experiences, and Universal Energy
“Clinicians who are open to exploring transpersonal aspects of mental health and illness will find “Spiritism and Mental Health” absolutely fascinating. This book will also be of interest to anyone who is exploring the deeper processes and meanings of life and the human condition.”
Daniel Benor, M.D.,
(Psychiatrist) author of several texts documenting the research on spiritual healing. Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Healing and Caring.
“Emma Bragdon’s work shows an insightful and integrated understanding of science, spirituality and the world of subtle energies. The foreword by James Lake,MD it is a testimonial of great value. This book brings new light to our understanding of Mental Health and encourages a deeper approach to healing. As a doctor and healer I found it highly informative reading. It is my belief that this type of understanding will become increasingly important in our next stage of evolution, as more of us work consciously with subtle energies to achieve a greater sense of balance and well-being.”
Alice Salazar Almeida, M.D., College of Vibrational Medicine, London