Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy

How to temporarily relax rigid patterns to enable the possibility of lasting, positive change.

Psychedelic assisted psychotherapy can result in deep and lasting change, sometimes far more rapidly than with the separate use of psychotherapy or psychedelics.

I employ psychedelics as a powerful tool for deep psychotherapy—combining deliberate preparation, a safe and connected psychotherapeutic exploration, focused intention and action, and ongoing integration of what was learned, seen, or experienced during the psychedelic journey into the client’s daily life. This can result in not only new learning, but the opportunity to solidify that learning into new knowledge and wisdom. Deep, psychedelic assisted psychotherapy can help change overwhelming or avoided emotional memories into a perceived past infused with compassion, equanimity, confidence, and hope.

Together, with your expertise in your own experience, the access provided through the mindful use of psychedelic medicines, and my knowledge and expertise in deep, relational psychotherapy and navigating non-ordinary states, we create a healing relationship and space which can help you see your wounds clearly, bring the exiled parts of you home, and allow yourself to heal from your most deeply held wounds and misunderstandings.

“To adapt to our deepest wounds, we develop rigid patterns of defense and perception over the years. Beneath, we feel traumatized, vulnerable, wounded, or alone. Changing these entrenched defenses takes courage and patience.”

“Psychedelic medicines temporarily relax these rigid patterns, enabling flexibility in offering the possibility of lasting, positive change.”

I have practiced in the ayahuasca tradition of the Shipibo tribe in the Peruvian Amazon, completed training in MDMA assisted psychotherapy with the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies), and in Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) with Phil Wolfson and the Ketamine Training Center. In addition to continued training in the above traditions, I presently apprentice in the medicine lineage of Ralph Metzner.

Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)

KAP is a safe and legal form of psychotherapy that enables clients rapid access to unconscious and “stuck” material.

With the assistance of ketamine, clients are often able to experience emotions, beliefs, and associated memories without the constraining habits from a lifetime of painful experiences. These memories, emotions, and beliefs, once opened and activated within the medicine space, become malleable.

I work with clients to engage with and process this often painful material to effect long-lasting, positive change. Intensive, short-term KAP can often work far more quickly than traditional talk-oriented psychotherapies.

If you’re interested in recent research on KAP, below are a few articles in the most respected journals. (Warning: these are quite technical.)

SOURCES

“Changing our entrenched defenses takes courage and patience.”

Psychedelic Preparation and Integration

The intense experiences of any transformative rituals—including psychedelic sessions—can give you a profoundly clear vision into your own inner nature.

But then comes a challenge: How do you carry what you’ve learned into your daily life? This requires deliberate preparation before each session, and intense integration afterward.

A productive psychedelic experience should be approached with reverence and care. The two foundation elements of good preparation are “set and setting.”

“Setting” includes the external conditions that serve as the container for the inner psychedelic journey—the physical space and environment, temperature, and music, as well as whatever guide or companion is there to help the journeyer on their way.

“Set” comprises two aspects: mindset and intentions. “Mindset” refers to a journeyer’s emotional and psychological state. “Intention” is a clear articulation of one’s motivation. By taking the time to clarify and articulate our intention for our journey, we allow our inner-healing wisdom to work with the psychedelic state.

Following the psychedelic journey, through psychotherapy we work to integrate the benefits of that journey into daily life.

Begin your journey to healing.