LOS ANGELES, Jan. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Unlikely Collaborators has awarded a grant to Foundation for Energy Therapies, Inc. in support of their Integrative Mental Health University (IMHU). By bridging scientific inquiry and spiritual wisdom, IMHU supports a future in which mental health providers engage and honor the role of spiritual experiences in human well-being.
IMHU currently provides 46 courses that expand the bio-psycho-social approach to mental health by also attending to the non-ordinary dimensions of human experience. As mainstream mental healthcare continues to evolve, IMHU is helping to lead the shift toward a model that recognizes expanded states of consciousness and spiritual experiences as legitimate, evidence-supported dimensions of being human that can bring us closer to human flourishing.
Since its founding in 2013, IMHU has offered training for mental health professionals and peer specialists to gain insight and practical skills to work with the distress that may come from intense non-ordinary experiences, e.g., near-death experience or ego-death. With appropriate support, what first appears as a disorienting crisis can become the wellspring of deep healing and meaningful transformation.
IMHU’s courses serve two primary communities: individuals undergoing profound psycho-spiritual transformation, and the professionals and paraprofessionals who support them. IMHU trains therapists, physicians, nurses, chaplains, coaches, and spiritual guides to work competently and compassionately with spiritually transformative experiences. IMHU also provides continuing education credits for professionals, certification programs, and community-based learning.
In alignment with Unlikely Collaborators’ core belief that much of human suffering arises from unexamined beliefs and conditioned narratives, IMHU challenges the long-standing limitations of the prevailing bio-psycho-social framework. By advancing a bio-psycho-social-spiritual model, IMHU invites both practitioners and individuals to investigate their assumptions about consciousness, healing, and identity, opening space for greater curiosity, compassion, and connection.
Unlikely Collaborators is a nonprofit organization, founded and chaired by Elizabeth R. Koch, dedicated to fostering transformative storytelling, developing human connection, and resolving internal conflict. Unlikely Collaborators’ perspective is that external conflict arises from unconscious, unresolved internal conflict within each of us. Founded on the belief that the way we perceive the world is highly subjective, Unlikely Collaborators supports projects that challenge assumptions, spark meaningful dialogue, and invite people into deeper self-awareness in community.
Central to this mission is the groundbreaking Perception Box™ framework developed by Koch. More than just a metaphor, it represents the often unseen matrix of biases, beliefs, and personal narratives that influence how we interpret reality. Rooted in cognitive science and psychological research, this framework illustrates how each person’s unique mental model shapes their understanding of the world, often limiting their ability to connect with new perspectives and ideas. By investigating and untangling our Perception Box beliefs, individuals and communities can unlock compassion, creativity, and new ways of thinking.
“IMHU is honored to partner with Unlikely Collaborators in advancing an integrative model of mental health and human flourishing—one that recognizes spirituality as a vital domain of care alongside mind, body, and social connection,” said Emma Bragdon, PhD, President & Co-Executive Director, and Andy Johns, Co-Executive Director, Integrative Mental Health University.
For more information about Integrative Mental Health University, visit www.imhu.org. To learn more about Unlikely Collaborators, visit www.unlikelycollaborators.com.
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SOURCE Unlikely Collaborators
