2025 Global Mental Health Conference Highlights
Building Bridges Toward a Flourishing Future
On August 17, 2025, Sofia University hosted its Global Conference on Intercultural Dialogue: Solutions for a New Age. More than a series of keynotes and panels, this gathering was a lived experience of dialogue, healing, and innovation—an event dedicated to building bridges. Bridges between the inner life of the individual and the vast systems that shape our societies, between generations of leaders and learners, and between cultures whose wisdom traditions, scientific research, and creative practices together form the foundation for a flourishing future.
The Power of Conversations as Bridges
The conference began with a keynote by Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman, who reframed self-actualization not as an individual pursuit but as a communal responsibility. His call to embody “light triad leadership”—to lead with compassion, humility, and a will to uplift others—set the tone for the day. It reminded us that the heart of leadership lies not only in efficiency or achievement, but in building bridges of empathy and trust that support whole communities.
This theme resonated throughout the day. Dr. Abigail Villagrán Mora demonstrated how personal, autoethnographic writing becomes both a mirror and a medicine—healing students while strengthening communities of learning. Dr. Regina U. Hess invited us into The Garden We Carry, where Indigenous wisdom, transpersonal psychology, and ecological kinship blend into a vision of planetary healing. These conversations affirmed that mental health and whole-person education are not optional supports—they are the very foundations of systemic transformation.
Inner Life, Social Life, and the Bridge Between Them
Many contributions touched the deepest layers of the inner life. Dr. Steve Taylor’s exploration of altered states of consciousness showed how meditation, peak experiences, and psychedelic practices expand time and self-awareness. These inner transformations ripple outward, shaping how we relate to others and how we design communities capable of compassion and resilience.
Dr. Marilyn Schlitz and Dr. Cassandra Vieten deepened this insight by demonstrating how creativity and healing practices widen our collective wisdom. Their work revealed that imagination and ritual are not just personal pursuits—they are social bridges, opening the possibility for new forms of dialogue, trust, and innovation.
The conference’s experiential sessions echoed this theme. Music as a Way of Knowing brought participants into healing circles of sound, while Imagination as the Bridge reminded us that creativity itself is a form of knowledge-making. Tami Mensh’s music dedication, Bridge Over Troubled Waters, became a living metaphor: bridges are not only concepts, they are songs, relationships, and acts of care that help us cross from suffering into renewal.
Clear Thinking and the Whole-Person Lens
Even as the conference celebrated creativity and healing, it also insisted on the necessity of clear, critical thinking. Dr. Harris Friedman and Dr. Douglas MacDonald posed a crucial question: Can science measure transcendence? Their reminder was clear: without the diligence of research and the credibility of empirical evidence, our conversations risk becoming marginalized. Science is itself a bridge—a way to ensure that experiences of transcendence, compassion, and healing are woven into healthcare, education, and policy with rigor and accountability.
This balance—between imagination and evidence, intuition and science—is at the heart of whole-person education. It provides the clarity and peace from which right action in the world can flow.
Bridging Technology and Human Spirit
The question of Artificial Intelligence was a vital theme. Our discussions highlighted the promise of AI in supporting healthcare, education, and community resilience. But they also underscored a warning: technology must remain rooted in humanity.
Joe Sabado’s passion for bridging technology with our innermost human spirit was a guiding light here. He reminded us that innovation is most powerful when it amplifies, rather than replaces, our humanity.
Equally profound was Dr. Caifang Zhu’s message. He emphasized that true critical thinking can only be accessed internally—not from external sources, and certainly not from AI. In Chan Buddhist terms, it is by being in resonance with the Tao, by cultivating a clear, empty mind, that we arrive at wisdom. This teaching is vital in our era of rapid technological acceleration: the deepest clarity, and the capacity for right discernment, will always come from within.
Remembering What Connects Us All
Dr. Grieco’s reflections carried us to the heart of this theme: remembering the movement of what connects us all. Whether through culture, science, creativity, or technology, support mechanisms must emerge from our shared humanity. Innovation without connection is hollow; connection without innovation risks stagnation. Only by honoring both can we build systems that sustain life and community.
Intercultural and Intergenerational Bridges
Above all, this was an intergenerational and intercultural gathering. Younger scholars brought urgency, creativity, and fresh vision. Elder voices offered depth, grounding, and wisdom traditions. Together, they created a dialogue across time.
Cultural diversity was equally profound. From Chan Buddhist principles of discernment to Russian transpersonal traditions, from Indigenous ecological wisdom to cutting-edge AI ethics, we saw how cultural perspectives enrich one another and converge into a shared call for transformation.
Participants reflected this beautifully. Neil Helm spoke to the vibrancy of younger generations rising in transpersonal psychology, while Ava Lindberg described the conference as “both scholarly and deeply human”—a rare combination where dialogue transcended boundaries and became a lived experience of intercultural community.
Closing Reflection: A Call to Action for Youth and Beyond
For us, the unifying thread of the 2025 Global Conference was clear: intercultural dialogue is not simply an academic pursuit, but a lived practice. It bridges inner transformation and outer systems, creativity and science, elders and youth, tradition and innovation.
To the next generation—especially those engaged in the UN Youth Initiative—this is your call:
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Protect your inner life as the source of clarity and wisdom.
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Use critical thinking not only to analyze but to discern from a place of inner peace.
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Bridge cultures and generations, holding together the wisdom of the past and the possibilities of the future.
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Build technologies that serve human flourishing, never losing sight of the human spirit.Remember always that mental health, whole-person education, and whole-systems transformation are the foundation for peace and prosperity.
The bridges we built at this conference are not temporary crossings. They are enduring pathways toward a future where mental health, whole-person education, and whole-systems transformation guide us. They are pathways toward peace, flourishing, and a shared humanity.
And so, in the spirit of Tami Mensh’s song, we are learning together to carry each other across troubled waters—toward healing, renewal, and the flourishing of individuals, communities, and the world we share.
Speakers
We were honored to welcome distinguished speakers from around the world who shared their expertise and insights during the 2025 conference.
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Scott Barry Kaufman, PhD
Pierre Morin,
PhD
Abigail Villagrán Mora, PhD
Steven Grieco,
PhD
Cassandra Vieten,
PhD
Regina U. Hess,
PhD
Dina Ziadlou,
PhD
Vitor Jose Rodrigues, PhD
Douglas A. MacDonald, PhD
Steve Taylor,
PhD
Pustoshkin
Eugene
Vladimir Maykov,
PhD
Jerri Lynn Hogg,
PhD
Stewart Sarkozy Banoczy
Marilyn Schlitz,
PhD
Yuliya Shtaltovna,
PhD
2025 Sofia Global Conference Key Themes On Advancing Mental Health
Sofia University Global Mental Health Conference 2025
The one-day, fully virtual event brought together diverse voices from around the world to explore holistic solutions to societal and mental health challenges through intercultural dialogue and global collaboration.
Past Schedule Overview
