What is PSYCHEDELIC INTEGRATION SUPPORT?
Psychedelic integration support practices include a range of therapeutic interventions which specialize in cases directly derived from experiences with Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness (NOSC), mostly via the intake of psychoactive substances.
Variopinto de la Chacruna, visionary art by Pablo Amaringo.
1. First things first: what is the so-called "integration"?
Within the psychedelic framework, integration can be understood as the organic, human process of making sustainable, long-term and practical sense of an experience. It involves all dimensions of your life. It is not psychotherapy. As a psychotherapist, I support you in your integration process, but it is yours to actively undergo and take responsibility for.
2. How does integration support differ from regular psychotherapy?
An integration specialist holds specific training, understanding and extensive personal experience in navigating these realms of the human consciousness, as well as a mature relationship with the psychedelic substance or plant medicine in question. This enables me to accompany you in unpacking the insights of your experience - strong visions and symbolisms, overwhelming emotional states, difficult memories, confusing messages, among others - into meaningful life changes.
Regular psychotherapy tends to lack awareness and the appropriate frameworks to hold and navigate the kind of psychotomymetic, mystical, spiritual, symbolical (or not) narratives in the sacred space they require. This could result in rushed conclusions, misdiagnosis (e.g.: labeling a spiritual crisis as psychosis), unnecessary medication, and general risk of hindering your healing process.
3. How is integration support essential after a plant medicine experience?
It isn't. Many people are regularly able to process and integrate their plant medicine journey on their own. I step in when the consequences of one or several experiences (including interpersonal difficulties with facilitators) become confusing or overwhelming, open up personal challenges or conditions, interfere with your daily life and - if left unattended - trigger an escalating spiral of distress. This can happen to anyone, regardless of their experience. As an integration specialist I support you in finding your own way back to your center, in the new normal after your experience.
4. What are probable consequences of bypassing integration?
On the one hand, plant medicine is not recreational. It is considered medicine for a reason. Simply sitting with it for the colorful visions and strong sensations (if you get them), discarding any meaningful material which arose during the session, is a shallow - may I go ahead and say disrespectful, and even abusive - way of approaching these ancient, sacred healing practices. It's also risky, as you would be going in without understanding the power of plant technology to crack you wide open and possibly freaking out if you happen to be in for a treat.
On the other hand, if significant, life-altering material is activated as a result of a plant medicine experience, clearly interfering with your daily life yet left unattended, old defense mechanisms and trauma-driven behaviours can build up to a point where life can get quite rough.
But then again,
different people work in different ways.
This is how I do it:
MY APPROACH
Different schools of thought and practice have different approaches. Here follow some key aspects of how I work:
SPECIFIC
ACTIVE
I typically start by observing what's at play and how it manifests in your daily life. This will help us both gain clarity about your symptoms and corresponding dysfunctional mechanisms and behaviours.
Changes happen by you taking action in between our sessions. Our encounters are not where the sustainable changes are implemented, but a supportive space to check in, readjust pace and direction if needed, and explore next steps and possibilities.
creative
My practice includes encouraging you to express yourself through arts, crafts and storytelling. This can help you access hidden layers of the psyche, and unpack what's really at play for you in this process.
rooted
My practice bridges ancestral indigenous wisdom with Western scientific research and cultural references of life, understanding that both play a significant role in a successful integration processes.
FINITE
SOMATIC
Integration happens on many levels, and the body is a fundamental one. In different ways, we'll be following your body's guidance to unpack your experience in ways that feel safe, yet still challenge the blockages and old programming ready to be rewired.
I follow Palo Alto school brief therapy guidelines by keeping our time together to a maximum number of sessions, typically ten. Once you've trascended the psychedelic-related difficulties, the therapeutic process will naturally come to an end.
If you're considering STARTING A PROCESS WITH ME, please check the following possible scenarios.
Your experience is personal and unique, this is just A LITTLE EXERCISE to help us find the MOST CONVENIENT starting point.
common challenging scenarios in psychedelic experiences:
(Aixalà, M., 2022)
Little or no preparation for the experience.
You wish you had known certain things before this experience, it would've probable gone better. You're now feeling confused about how you 'should' be feeling and if you can consider yourself to be OK.
Pausing FOR INTEGRATION after many experiences.
You've participated in many psychedelic sessions over a period of time, it has started interfering with your life, and you could benefit from some integration support.
Personal material is feeling overwhelming.
Some old, personal material has unexpectedly come to the surface during or after your psychedelic session and you're now experiencing unmanageable anxiety, insomnia, anguish, and a need to isolate yourself.
Previous mental health condition has reappeared.
As a result of a psychedelic session, some old diagnosis or disorder is again present and interfering with your life.
Is this real?
Some distressful, previously unknown, traumatic memory has emerged during or after the session and you're wondering if this story is real or not.
No.
Abuse by SHAMANS OR facilitators.
The leading or supporting facilitator(s) of the session(s) have severely overstepped their boundaries, making you feel unsafe and unsupported.
Among many other related circumstances with different degrees of complexity and intensity.
If you're still feeling unsure about reaching out, I trust that something significant has guided you here.