Reimagining Mental Health Through Culture, Care, and Community

What we believe

Culture shapes everything.

Connection Through Care

In our everyday experiences, we navigate complex cultural systems that both connect and divide us. Integrative Relational Health (IRH) is based on the understanding that culture is omnipresent in our lives and influences our internal, interpersonal, and social realities. Culture determines the language of "normal" and creates the systems that support these constructs in which human beings exist, identify, and make meaning.

By centering culture in human experience, we recognize that belonging and disconnection emerge as vital dimensions of mental and relational health.

Disconnection may manifest in our lived experiences as:

  • Relational isolation: Discord, avoidance, and withdrawal in our relationships and communities

  • Cultural displacement: Disconnection from cultural roots, traditions, and ways of knowing

  • Identity fragmentation: Dissonance between authentic self and cultural expectations

  • Community exclusion: Lack of belonging or acceptance within social systems

  • Systemic alienation: Feeling powerless within larger cultural and political structures

Care becomes an essential foundation for healing and belonging. Bridging disconnection drives many toward community, cultural reconnection, and practices that foster authentic relationship. We believe there are multiple pathways that manifest our sense of connection and belonging.

What we do

  • We Connect

    We foster a community committed to culturally grounded, relationally centered approaches. We create spaces for dialogue between different traditions and wisdom practices, honoring both interconnection and interdependence. Community members access learning resources, cultural exchange opportunities, peer support circles, collaborative projects, and community events.

  • We Learn

    We create experiential learning opportunities that build bridges across diverse cultural approaches through accessible, culturally responsive entry points. Our programs begin with cultural foundations and community wisdom rather than technical interventions, helping participants embody culturally grounded relational awareness.

  • We Share

    We document and study how cultural and relational approaches affect community well-being and individual flourishing. We publish resources including articles and community stories that articulate our framework, sharing case studies that demonstrate how IRH principles work within diverse cultural contexts and community settings.

  • We Change

    We build networks around shared values of cultural honor and relational practice. Through authentic partnerships, we gather insights and develop sustainable approaches that challenge existing mental health policies while supporting community-driven alternatives. Our collaborations create mutual value, share cultural resources, and foster collective capacity building.

Our Call for Transformation

We invite a new conversation about mental health – one that calls for fundamental shifts in how we understand well-being itself. Our programs and partnerships emerge from community needs and cultural wisdom, reflecting our commitment to mutual exploration and transformation through collective learning and cultural exchange. The Center for Integrative Relational Health’s programs and initiatives serve as critical leverage points for transforming care practices across disciplines—from education and healthcare to social services and community organizing.

By reimagining how we develop our understanding of human flourishing, we can create fundamental shifts toward community-centered, culturally grounded approaches to collective well-being.

Learn more about how we can partner with you on the design and development of IRH learning experiences for your organization, agency, school, healthcare system, or community.

Who we are.

Learn about the founder of the Center for Integrative Relational Health and our diverse community of cultural workers, community practitioners, and professionals passionate about culturally grounded, relationally centered approaches to collective well-being.