BLOG Posts for Integrative Mental Health for You

Adverse Childhood Experiences Quiz

Posted on October 11, 2023 by Emma Bragdon

ACE – Adverse Childhood Experiences There is well-documented and extensively researched predictor for the severity of chronic illnesses called ACE, or Adverse Childhood Experiences. The scoring system consists of 10 questions that explore dysfunction in one’s childhood home: parental separation and death, incidents of domestic violence, substance abuse, mental illness, criminal behavior, and psychological, physical,

Posted in Children, Integrative Mental Health ACE, adverse childhood experiences, child development, child education, chronic illness, human development, mental health, mental illness

Improving Mental Health Outcomes: September, 2023 Report

Posted on October 5, 2023 by Emma Bragdon

Improving Mental Health Outcomes: September, 2023 Report The mental health system’s standard treatments are colossally counterproductive and harmful, often forced on unwilling patients. The overreliance on psychiatric drugs is reducing the recovery rate of people diagnosed with serious mental illness from a possible 80% to 5% and reducing their life spans by 20 years or

Posted in Alternatives to Psych Meds, Integrative Mental Health alternative mental health, children mental health, e-CPR, emotional CPR, hearing voices, integrative mental health, Jim Gottstein, mental health, mental illness, open dialogue, peer respite, soteria, warm lines, youth mental health

Psychedelic Science Update

Posted on September 26, 2023 by Emma Bragdon

Psychedelic Science June 19-23, 2023, the largest psychedelic conference in history on Psychedelic Science, sponsored by Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), was attended by more than 12,000 people in Denver, CO. You can now attend virtually with 10 pre-recorded sessions that highlight some of the key themes of the conference and more videos

Posted in Alternatives to Psych Meds, Psychedelics education, ketamine, mdma, medicine, mental health, mental illness, plant medicine, psilocybin, psychedelics, psychiatry, psychology, psychotherapy, science, training

Meditation Sickness & Spiritual Emergency

Posted on August 29, 2023 by Emma Bragdon 5 Comments

Spiritual Emergency and Meditation Sickness The term, “Meditation Sickness”, was not just made up. It’s a translation from words in ancient Buddhist texts. It refers to psychological and physical problems that may arise during Buddhist meditation. It includes severe problems like extreme states that create an urge to suicide. As a pioneer and counselor

Posted in Meditation, Spiritual Emergency awakening, Buddhism, Buddhist practices, meditation, meditator, mental health, mindfulness, spiritual emergence, spiritual emergency

Indigenous American Psychology: NEW

Posted on August 10, 2023 by Emma Bragdon

A Cherokee Man Indigenous culture has been translated into “A New Psychology Based on Community, Equality, and Care of the Earth” by an award-winning, Amer-Indian psychologist, Arthur W. Blume, PhD. The book was published by Praeger in 2020. Dr. Blume’s conceptualization of this New Psychology is brilliant and much needed at this time. Why?

Posted in Integrative Mental Health, Spirit amer-indian, culture, indians, indigenous, mental health, mental illness, natives, psychiatry, psychology, psychotherapy

A Way to Clear Negative Karma

Posted on July 20, 2023 by Emma Bragdon

Karma and karmic influences from the past can powerfully impact the present. They can attract difficulties or complicate issues between people. Pavamana Suktam is a very powerful chant from the Vedas that invokes the energy or tattva that purifies the space and environment. These mantras remove negative influences, vastu dosha (bad luck or negative

Posted in Alternatives to Psych Meds, Spiritual Healing chant, karma, kirtan, veda, vedic

Addiction: What Causes It?

Posted on July 10, 2023 by Emma Bragdon

Gabor Mate, MD, was trained as a family doctor but later turned his attention to helping heal addictions. The 9 minute video below is the most brilliant, succinct expose I know of concerning the causes of addiction. It also covers how we have in the past perceived the causes of addiction and how

Posted in Alternatives to Psych Meds, Psychedelics addiction, ibogaine, mdma, psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy

Withdrawal from Prescribed Psychotopic Drugs

Posted on July 6, 2023 by Emma Bragdon 1 Comment

Drug withdrawal is an important topic today. This new book is an international collaboration that includes users, psychiatrists, researchers, and academics committed to helping people understand the potential harm that prescribed psychotropic drugs can cause and how to safely reduce or stop taking them. Doctors, including psychiatrists, prescribe antidepressants, neuroleptics (“antipsychotics”), mood stabilizers, tranquilizers and

Posted in Drugs, Mental Illness drugs, mental disorders, mental illness, psychiatric drugs, psychiatric medication, psychiatry, psychology, psychotropic, withdrawal

Precious Time

Posted on June 27, 2023 by Emma Bragdon

Some evenings at our little dinner table for two, my late husband, Bob Lehmberg, a palliative care and hospice physician, would say, “I told the patient and family, they were into Precious Time.” The emphasis is on “Precious.” I can still hear his soft, fatigued voice saying it: Precious Time Precious Time Precious Time

Posted in Anomalous Experience, Spiritually Transformative Experiences care for dying, death, dying, end of life, hospice

Possible Crises with Psychedelic Use

Posted on May 30, 2023 by Emma Bragdon

Challenging psychedelic crises cover a vast area The following manual excerpt is from the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS, 2010), and just touches on challenging experiences. Jules Evans also adds his opinion. For a more in-depth study, see (MAPS) reading list below. — There is no clear manifestation of any substance or mixture of

Posted in Alternatives to Psych Meds, Psychedelics going crazy, losing your mind, MAPS, plant medicines, psychedelics, psychosis, spiritual emergency. traiuma

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