Holotropic Breathwork® Association North America (US-Mexico-Canada)

Holotropic Breathwork® Association North America

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Spiritual Emergency

"One of the most important implications of the research of holotropic states is the realization that many of the conditions, which are currently diagnosed as psychotic and indiscriminately treated by suppressive medication, are actually difficult stages of a radical personality transformation and of spiritual opening. If they are correctly understood and supported, these psychospiritual crises can result in emotional and psychosomatic healing, remarkable psychological transformation, and consciousness evolution." (Grof and Grof: The Stormy Search for the Self)

Where to Look For Support?

Certified HB practitioners learn about Spiritual Emergency as a required topic of their training.  Many of the facilitators you can find in the Network will be able talk with you about the concept of Spiritual Emergency.  Some will be able to look at what you are experience so you can consider the psychospiritual crisis you may be going through and what kind of approaches might be helpful (e.g. psychotherapy, Holotropic Breathwork®, shamanic work, integration methods, etc.).


For information on the Spiritual Emergence Network see their website SEN. In the UK the Spiritual Crisis Network is providing support.



 All the cultures in human history except the Western industrial civilization have held holotropic states of consciousness in great esteem. They induced them whenever they wanted to connect to their deities, other dimensions of reality, and with the forces of nature. They also used them for diagnosing and healing, cultivation of extrasensory perception, and artistic inspiration. They spent much time and energy to develop safe and effective ways of inducing them."

- Stanislav Grof