Report from the Sixth Annual Conference of the Bahá'í Association of Mental Health Professionals, held at Bosch Bahá'í School, November 4-7, 2004

The Bahá'í Association of Mental Health Professionals held its sixth annual conference at Bosch Bahá'í School in Santa Cruz, California, from November 4-7, 2004. In reflecting on the conference, one participant affirmed, "It was far and away the best conference I have ever attended."

The theme of this year’s conference was "The Brain and the Spirit: In Search of the Whole Self." Several exceptional presenters integrated cutting edge science with illumined understandings of Bahá'í scriptures, and each presentation seemed to build on the one before it, culminating in "The Biology of Belief," a lecture given by the renowned biologist and lecturer, Dr. Bruce Lipton (www.brucelipton.com). The presentations are summarized below.

The arts were an integral and exceptional part of the experience for conference participants. John Davey, first tenor with the San Francisco Opera, delighted the ears and hearts with classical, folk and Bahá'í pieces. Eman Isadiar, pianist and executive director of the Fremont Symphony Orchestra, played several exquisite pieces by Debussy, his favorite composer. Saturday evening was devoted to the ensemble production, Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome, a profoundly moving and enlightening exploration of slavery and race relations that seeks to break down destructive victim-perpetrator dynamics and open new channels of communication between people of different races as a means of healing the wounds of slavery. The work was inspired by the research of Dr. Joy DeGruy-Leary, was written by Kamal Sinclair Steele, and was performed by Dawn L. Brown, Ashley Foster, Josh Brown, Badi Azad, Quddus Sinclair, Byete Kenan, Jill Kelly and Kamal Sinclair Steele.

The conference opened on Thursday evening with a panel of seasoned clinicians, James Bartee, Adrienne Ewing-Roush, Heidi Spencer, and Homa Mahmoudi, who shared their viewpoints on integrating spirituality within clinical, counseling and therapeutic environments. Although the panel members placed differing emphases on the role of spirituality in the consultation room, all concurred that a spiritual outlook on healing is an important component in any therapeutic or clinical endeavor. Some felt that establishing a good boundary between religious practice and clinical work was important, others took the view that the client's spiritual values were vital to the successful outcome of an intervention, and still others maintained that integrating spiritual models into clinical and counseling work was necessary and critical to the process.

Friday morning opened with a presentation by Hal Williamson, founder and CEO of Hope Unlimited (www.hopellc.com), on "These Amazing Brains." Hal brought to us his intensive study of the human nervous system and its relevance to growth, change, and successful living. Mr. Williamson's presentation outlined a number of fundamental aspects of neural development, the functions of key cerebral structures, and the brain's ability to take in and analyze the vast array of sensory data that comes to it. He laid great stress on the brain' plasticity and its capacities to adapt to challenges both from the environment and its own internal processes. Among the most interesting of the many ideas that Hal shared with us is the fact that we do not see with our eyes, but with our brains; the impact that each person's thinking style preference has on the way that we see and interact with the world; and the enormous power of the imagination to visualize and produce behaviors below the level of conscious awareness.

Dr. James Bartee is the Director of Clinical Training in the Department of Counseling Psychology at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. Prior to his current position he served for thirteen years as consulting psychologist at the Bahá'í World Centre. In his presentation, “Spirituality and Psychology: An Emerging Partnership,” Dr. Bartee traced the evolution of modern psychology from its roots in ancient Greek philosophy to its modern logical positivist foundations. It was suggested that the role of the human spirit and religious experience have been strongly deemphasized in psychology's quest to establish itself as a legitimate science. The limitations of the positivist model were examined and avenues opened up by some of the principles articulated in the Bahá'í Writings were explored that appear to lead towards a rapprochement between scientific psychology and spirituality.

In a second presentation on Saturday morning, Mind-Body-Soul Relations: A Bahá'í Perspective, Dr. Bartee discussed the nature of the soul as elucidated in various Bahá'í texts. Its mysterious yet vital influence in our daily lives was explored, and its essential connection between our physical and spiritual beings in this world was described. The discussion also touched upon the nature of the soul's evolution following death, and Its powers and capacities in the worlds to come. By defining human reality as a spiritual phenomenon, the Bahá'í Teachings emphasize the need to exercise the unique gift of Free Will to make choices that will lead us into a closer relationship with the Creator and with own true, spiritual nature.

Dr. Patricia Romano McGraw, author of “It’s Not Your Fault: How Healing Relationships Change Your Brain and Can Help You Overcome a Painful Past” then presented a lecture entitled, “Creating Your Own Reality: The Power of Belief, Intention, Attention and Action.” Drawing upon the most recent findings in such far-flung fields as Quantum Field Theory, Abstract Mathematics and Neuroanatomy, Dr. McGraw was able to demonstrate that older positivist theoretical formulations about causality, empiricism and rationality do not adequately describe the nature of human experience. She outlined an emerging model of human growth and development that centers on the power of relationships to alter the ways we understand, interpret and act on internal and external reality. Combining humor and topical references, Dr. McGraw gave the audience a first-hand look at a paradigm of human interactivity that opens up an ocean of new possibilities to create our lives in ways that are more and more in tune with God.

Dr. Azin Nasseri, a Canadian clinical psychologist specializing in family therapy, explored what he called “The Pathways of Love”, which is a work in progress that attempts to address an integrative theory of love that would simultaneously unify and differentiate the various kinds of love on the one hand, and on the other, explain the different dimensions of love in relation to human cognition, emotions, and behavior. The method employed in Nasseri’s work is also integrative, combining as it does the wisdom/enlightenment tradition of the East with the academic/scholastic tradition of the West.

Michelle Thulen-Steele and Tuli Rode, the founders of the counseling group "Native Intelligence" presented an approach to exploring personal process using a Bahá'í text entitled "The Seven Valleys". This profoundly mystical work by Bahá'u'lláh explores the journey of the soul towards the Creator. The presenters described their use of this text and its rich spiritual imagery to stimulate meditative and reflective exploration in their workshops. Plans for further development of this model were discussed and potential collaborators were sought in this regard.

Adrienne Stengel, a psychotherapist in private practice and member of the BAMHP Board, spoke on “Mind-Body Medicine: A Taste of Theory and Practice.” She briefly reviewed the curriculum of the Professional Training Program offered by the Center for Mind Body Medicine (www.cmbm.org), which places self-care at the heart of all health care. Ms. Stengel then led the audience through a particular mind-body technique called "shaking and dancing", an exhilarating experience that was repeatedly referred to by participants throughout the weekend.

Dr. Heidi Spencer, a psychotherapist in private practice for the past 25 years in the Washington, D.C. area, took conference attendees on a personal journey of understanding regarding the power of family relationships to shape and define its members. Examining both painful, and at times funny, events taken from growing up with a Bahá'í mother and her brilliant, intellectual and atheist father, Dr. Spencer showed how the spirit can be influenced by parental models in complex and unpredictable ways. With considerable insight and pathos she lead us to see how both positive and negative experience can ultimately serve to bring us to a better understanding of ourselves and our relationships with others, and with God.

The climax of the conference was the final presentation by Dr. Bruce Lipton on The Biology of Belief. Dr. Lipton was Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin's School of Medicine where his research on cloned human stem cells provided a radically new understanding of the mechanisms controlling life. His breakthrough studies on the cell membrance, the "skin" of the cell, showed that the behavior and health of our cells are controlled by the environment, findings that were in direct contrast with prevailing dogma that life is controlled by genes. In his energetic and riveting presentation, Dr. Lipton demonstrated that our beliefs, true or false, positive or negative, affect genetic activity and actually alter our genetic code, suggesting that we can retrain ourselves to generate healthy beliefs that create a profoundly positive effect on our bodies and our lives.

At the annual meeting of the BAMHP membership, which was held on Saturday afternoon, its two main purposes were accomplished: There was general consultation on the future conferences and activities of the organization, and two Board members were nominated to replace the two positions that annually become available. The current Board members are James Bartee, Lawrence McCullough, Michael Penn, Mary K. Radpour, Adrienne Stengel and Heidi Wood. Jane Faily was lovingly remembered for her three years of excellent service on the Board.

Next year's conference will be held at Green Acre Bahá'í School, October 20-23, 2005. Details will be published on the website as they become available.