Andy Johns

Andy Johns

Coach

For much of my life, I was driven by achievement. I built a career in Silicon Valley, helping grow technology companies and later investing in startups as a venture capitalist. On paper, I had everything—success, wealth, and status. But underneath it all, I carried unease, buried trauma, and spiritual pain. I didn’t realize it at the time, but that restlessness was the beginning of a much deeper calling—one that would eventually dismantle the life I had built and lead me in an entirely new direction.

My awakening began in 2021 with what felt like a direct encounter with the Divine—a moment of overwhelming love and unity that came with one clear message: surrender. In the weeks that followed, I experienced what I can only describe as sudden downloads—streams of insight about myself, my conditioning, and the true nature of reality. It felt like my mind had opened to something far beyond what I’d known, and deep truths began to pour in faster than I could process them.

Then came the harder part. My life began to unravel in ways that were both frightening and meaningful. I had intense dreams filled with unresolved memories, emotional pain, and powerful archetypal imagery—symbols of death, rebirth, shadow, and light. I also began noticing synchronicities in everyday life—patterns and messages that mirrored the changes happening inside me. My body went through waves of shaking, sweating, and emotional release. At times, it felt like everything was falling apart. I later came to understand that I was going through a spiritual emergence—a process of deep psychological and spiritual transformation in which the old self breaks down so that something more authentic can take root.

This process forced me to face long-buried pain from my past. My mother’s death from mental illness when I was ten left a wound that I covered for decades with achievement and control. Beneath that was unprocessed childhood sexual trauma that eventually came to the surface to be healed. The breakdown of those defenses was painful and disorienting, but it opened the door to genuine healing and a new sense of purpose.

That journey reshaped my life and my work. Today, I serve as Co-Executive Director of Integrative Mental Health University (IMHU), which trains clinicians and coaches to understand and support spiritually transformative experiences. I also sit on the board of Heroic Hearts Project, which helps veterans and their spouses heal through psychedelic-assisted therapy.

In my current coaching practice with executives, I draw on my own lived experience as well as frameworks from transpersonal psychology, Jungian theory, and neuroscience. I’ve coached many people through the various stages of awakening—especially the early stages of confusion, fear, and loss of identity. I help clients make sense of their experiences, interpret the symbolic messages in their dreams and synchronicities, and stay grounded while their old sense of self reorganizes. My approach combines deep empathy with practical guidance, helping people integrate the psychological, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of transformation.

Having lived through the disorientation of spiritual emergence myself, I know what it feels like to lose control, question your sanity, and wonder who you’re becoming. I also know the peace and clarity that come when you stop fighting the process and allow it to unfold. I’ll be coaching clients 1:1 who are looking for support in spiritual emergence as of Jan 1, 2026.

The people I now serve are often high achievers or seekers whose old life no longer fits them. My role is to help them navigate the uncertain space between what’s ending and what’s beginning—to stay grounded, find meaning in what’s happening, and trust the deeper intelligence that’s guiding their transformation.