You Are Invited to Judi’s Room
Event Details
Topic: Spiritual vs. Emotional Crisis through a Human Rights Lens
Date: Wed June 3, 2026
Time: 6 PM Eastern Time, 5 PM Central, 4 PM Mountain, 3 PM Pacific
Meeting link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82375518189
About the Conversation
Spiritual vs. Emotional Crisis through a Human Rights Lens
When an individual experiences a profound disruption in their mental or emotional well-being, the words we use to define that experience change everything. Is it a psychiatric emergency, an emotional breakdown, or a spiritual awakening?
In this session of Judi’s Room, we will explore the nuanced, often overlapping boundaries between a “spiritual crisis” and an “emotional crisis. “Determining the difference is deeply subjective. While the conventional medical model often pathologizes these intense states, many individuals—and the core advocacy work of MindFreedom International—view these experiences through spiritual, existential, or human rights frameworks.
Key Themes We Will Explore:
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The Power of Self-Definition: How defining our own experiences (rather than accepting a forced medical label) impacts our healing and autonomy.
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Spiritual Emergency vs. Emotional Distress: Understanding how deep existential shifts or spiritual awakenings are often misidentified as clinical crises.
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Knowing Your Rights: Navigating personal sovereignty, the right to choose your own path to wellness, and how human rights documentation protects individuals in distress.
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The Social Model of Support: Moving away from forced interventions and toward peer-led support, community organizing, and holistic care.
Whether you identify as a survivor, an activist, a mental health professional, family member, or someone navigating your own profound journey, your voice belongs in this room. Let’s come together to dismantle rigid paradigms and rebuild a community rooted in mutual support and self-determination.
About the Presenters
Dr. Calvin Chatlos
Dr. Calvin Chatlos is an addiction and child & adolescent psychiatrist , Professor at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and practicing in NJ since 1985.His work with addiction introduced him to the spiritual side of recovery. For over 40 years he has been exploring the nature of spiritual experience, including it in his clinical care, and developed a method to intentionally promote spiritual awakening with research validation. His recently opened Center for Spiritual Awakening in New Jersey is hoped to serve as a statewide resource for promoting spiritual awareness and transformation.
Janet Werner
Janet Werner is the President of U Have My Word LLC, a consulting firm established in 1988 dedicated to guiding corporate leaders and organizations through profound change, transition, and paradigm shifts. Driven by her lived experience with spiritual emergencies and the mental health system, Janet focuses heavily on systemic advocacy and media production:
Film & Advocacy: As President of Calling God to the Witness Stand LLC (est. 2019), she produces film projects highlighting the spiritual side of mental health, including Truth on Trial™, which addresses the realities of misdiagnosis and involuntary hospitalization.
Coalition Building: She is the Co-founder of A.W.A.R.E. (NJ, USA, and Global), a coalition of behavioral healthcare professionals, first responders, faith leaders, and peers working to prevent the wrongful hospitalization of individuals undergoing spiritual experiences by integrating chaplains, clergy, and peer support into care systems.
Creative Resources: Janet is a published author (N.O. Spells No. Y.E.S. Spells Yes. Maybe So? It’s Gotta Go™) and the creator of community-focused tools like Table Talk Placemats™ and Postcards From Home™.Janet holds a BS and an M.Ed. from The College of New Jersey.
About Judi’s Room
Named after celebrated human rights activist Judi Chamberlin, Judi’s Room is a free event presented jointly by MindFreedom International (MFI) and I Love You, Lead On to facilitate opportunities for ongoing cross-disability dialogue. It typically begins with a presentation by one or more expert panelists, followed by an open public discussion.If you require accommodation for this event, such as sign language interpretation, please email office@mindfreedom.org at least three business days prior to the presentation date.If you would like to support Judi’s Room, please consider donating to MFI and I Love You, Lead On. If you are not yet subscribed to our mailing list for Judi’s Room and would like to sign up to receive notifications about upcoming events in the future, please send an email to office@mindfreedom.org with “Add me to Judi’s Room” in the subject heading.A recording of this event will later be posted on MFI’s official YouTube channel.