CIIS

“This clinic offers new hope for patients who have exhausted traditional mental health treatments.”-Melissa Whippo, Clinic Director, Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy Clinic Trustees, faculty, students, and staff crowded into a newly renovated space on the CIIS campus for a ribbon cutting that marked the opening of the first-ever university-affiliated ketamine-assisted psychotherapy clinic. The culmination of years of work, research, and belief in the promise of deep and lasting healing, CIIS’ Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy Clinic (KAP) was finally ready to receive those in need of care. Just before the ribbon fell, CIIS President Brock Blomberg took a moment to honor everyone involved for “helping to prepare a new generation of practitioners for work that was once considered marginal but is now increasingly recognized as one of the most important frontiers in mental healthcare.” #DiscoverCIIS #IntegralEducation #KetamineClinic #Psychotherapy #MentalHealthSupport

What if dreams are not simply images that dissolve upon waking, but living communications from the depths of the soul? CIIS professor Willow Pearson Trimbach and co-author Eva Tuschman Leonard explore how dreams reveal emotional truths that transform psychotherapeutic and spiritual practice. The book just launched and has already drawn recognition from leading voices in psychoanalysis and contemplative practice, and now anyone from the community is welcome to experience the conversation. Want to hear from the authors and meet them in person? Pearson Trimbach and Tuschman Leonard will celebrate the release of The Emotional Truth of Dreams at a book launch event hosted by CIIS Public Programs on July 22, 2026. #IntegralEducation #DiscoverCIIS #ClinicalPsychology #EmotionalTruthOfDreams

"How do you know that you are really doing doing something radical? Because you can't see where you're going." -David Whyte, poet and philosopher Find your radical path with us at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). At CIIS, we are a university for radically curious and committed individuals who are seeking meaningful growth, academic rigor, innovative research, and a collaborative community in the service of self, society, and the earth. Our approach to education is holistic and student-centered. CIIS offers degrees in spirituality and religion, psychology and counseling, anthropology, organizational and leadership studies, health, and the arts. (Want to learn more about consciousness, spirituality, healing, and the arts? Come to our Fall Open House on October 11 or 25. RSVP from the link in our bio) #IntegralEducation #GradSchool #GradSchoolJourney #SanFrancisco #CIISJourney #MastersDegree #PhD #DegreeCompletion #OnlineLearning

How do Audre Lorde and James Baldwin illuminate Buddhism's path to liberation? Join Dr. Rima Vesely-Flad, author of "The Fire Inside," as she explores Dharma through Black, queer, radical thought. Discover how liberation depends on inner well-being, authenticity, art, and embodiment alongside organizing. Learn Buddhist principles through Lorde and Baldwin's enduring legacies. Celebrate how creative fire and love ignite revolutionary transformation. Event name: On Black Buddhism and Radical Thought (Livestream and In Person) Date & Time: Jun 04, 2026, 6:00pm - 7:30pm PDT Location: Online and California Institute of Integral Studies - Main building Tickets: $11 - $32 (Members: Free)

“The question isn’t whether we can keep up with AI. It’s whether we can slow down enough to access the depths of human wisdom that no algorithm can replicate.”-Chris Heuer, founder of Team Flow Institute As we navigate this era where AI handles propositional knowledge and task execution at superhuman speeds, our uniquely human capacities – wisdom, embodied knowing, values-based decision-making, and the ability to create psychological safety for others – become not just valuable but essential. “This is about bringing cognitive science and leadership skills and psychology and contemplative awareness and wisdom cultivation skills together into a single container.” -Bruce Alderman, Associate Director of the Blue Sky Leaders program Explore how the Blue Sky Leaders program can deepen your own leadership practice. Visit our website academic programs from the link in our bio. Want to hear more from Bruce Alderman? He will be speaking at Human+Tech Week. RSVP with @humantechweek Presence at the Threshold: Dialogical Leadership in the Age of AI May 14, 5:00–7:00pm

June 4th, 6pm, in-person and online. Use the @anthciis link in bio to sign up! $11 - $32 sliding scale. @ciispubprograms member or happen to be a @ciis_sf prospective student? Get free admission! A co-production of @blackbuddhiststudies and @ciispubprograms with book partner, @marcus.books Join author Dr. Rima Vesely-Flad for a conversation exploring a Dharma of liberation, offering timely lessons to help us meet this moment, using the writings of Audre Lorde and James Baldwin to provide real world examples of this dharma in practice. Dr. Vesely-Flad’s latest book The Fire Inside, examines the writings of Lorde and Baldwin through a Dharmic lens, and discusses how two of America’s greatest literary voices reflect—and expand—Buddhism’s most timeless truths toward justice and liberation. In this conversation with mindfulness teacher Rhonda V. Magee, she will share how the writers’ enduring legacies show that liberation depends not only on organizing and mass movements, but the generative power of inner well-being, authenticity, art, and embodiment. She invites us to examine Baldwin and Lorde through key Buddhist principles such as suffering as teacher, impermanence, karma, anger, and compassion in order to deepen and enhance our own understanding of Buddhism, and liberation. Through her work and writing, Dr. Vesely-Flad centers and celebrates Black, queer, radical thought and invites us to embrace the ways our inner lives, creative fire, sensuality, and expressions of love can ignite and sustain revolutionary liberation. 1. The new book, The Fire Inside: The Dharma of James Baldwin & Audre Lorde on @natlanticbooks 2. Rima Vesely-Flad, PhD 3. Rhonda V. Magee, M.A., J.D.

“My spirit is uplifted. My body is content. My emotions flow. I have grown. I have learned. We are a larger family of healers.”-Integrated Wellness Fellowship participant One of our favorite moments this semester was witnessing a celebration of healing, community, and ancestral wisdom hosted by CIIS' Division of Community Engagement and Belonging and the Healing Clinic Collective. People came together to celebrate the Integrated Wellness Fellowship (IWF), which is a yearlong program designed to train emerging clinicians in cultural and ancestral healing practices while strengthening their clinical skills in community-based settings. The event was hosted at EastSide Arts Alliance (ESAA), which uses arts and culture to build community power and self-determination and is dedicated to building deep connections between and among working class & low-income communities of color, communities whose histories, stories and cultures are actively erased from mainstream narratives. Follow @ciis_belonging to connect with our beloved community and their events with local partnerships around SF. #DiscoverCIIS #IntegralEducation #GradSchool #belovedcommunity #HealingClinicCollective

“Am I living the life my ancestors hoped for? I'm curious about living in alignment with their dreams for me.” -Nick Blanc B.A. 2026, Interdisciplinary Studies What curiosity brought you to CIIS? We posed this question to our community—faculty, students, and alumni—and what emerged was a tapestry of seeking: questions about consciousness and ecology, purpose and connection, the body and the beyond. Want to learn more about our undergraduate studies program? Visit our website for more CIIS news and discover stories of people pursuing their deep interests. #DiscoverCIIS #IntegralEducation #BachelorsDegree #UndergraduatePrograms

Can AI deepen human connection? Kaamna Bhojwani and Dr. Michelle Marzullo explore how we can use AI in ways that expand human flourishing. This hybrid event is part of Human + Tech Week 2026. In a world where technology simulates connection, what do we lose—and what might we become? Sexologist Kaamna Bhojwani and AI leader Dr. Michelle Marzullo explore engaging AI not as a substitute but as a tool for deepening human flourishing. As the personal and systemic mirror each other, discover how to create technology that's pro-social and aligned with our values. A necessary conversation for disconnected times. Event name: AI and Human Connection Date & Time: May 12, 2026, 6:00pm - 7:30pm PDT Location: California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco (In-Person and Online) Tickets: $20 (Members: Free)

Are you ready to discover what academic program is right for you? Our Admissions team and our CIIS faculty are ready to connect with you. Check out our upcoming Admissions events this May! This month we have financial aid workshops and many alumni panels. Sign up and connect with our CIIS community today. Applications for Fall 2026 cohort are open. #DiscoverCIIS #GradSchool #MastersProgram #BachelorsDegree #IntegralEducation

“Being a historically marginalized person myself, just to keep it real, I really wanted to see myself in the curriculum — and I saw myself in the structure of this program. The fact that I have an opportunity to have a distinct voice in academia that I can share with other folks to carry on, to really solidify this field as something that is impactful and integral into our everyday lives — just having an opportunity to further this specific academic field is just kind of amazing.” Courtney Johnson-Benson, Class of 2027, Human Sexuality Department Courtney shares how CIIS' Human Sexuality Studies Ph.D. program transformed her advocacy work and vision for her future career. Read her interview from the CIIS news in our bio. #HumanSexuality #PhDJourney #DiscoverCIIS #IntegralEducation #GradSchool

Want to tackle ecological distress and navigate healing? Our Climate Psychology Certificate is the first of its kind in the U.S., fully online, spread across five weekends, and designed for therapists, as well as healers, and allied professionals who want real tools for working with eco-anxiety, eco-grief, and the existential weight of living through a changing planet. Registration for Fall 2026 will be opening soon. If this is work you've been called toward, now is a good time to take a closer look. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions about the training. #CECredit #IntegralEducation #ContinuedEducation #Certification #ClimateCrisis