MAY 18-27, 2026 | Sacred Valley, Perú
A 10-day retreat for plant medicine facilitators to integrate their own practice, with a focus on ethics, self-care, and long-term sustainability.
Space can hold itself for a moment or two.
Step in, have some Andean tea, exhale like an alpaca that's had enough, jump, sob, snort-laugh, let that gloriously unhinged, trauma-uninformed cackle (or primal scream) fly free. Wigs and megaphones available. No questions asked.
Then anchor yourself among top-tier psychedelic-care experts, fellow spaceholders, embodied storytelling practices, and ancient Peruvian wisdom, all here to help you cultivate a facilitation practice rooted in clear, personal ethics, self-care, and long-term sustainability.
solid like the andes,
grounded like a potato.
WHO IS THIS FOR?
As the professional landscape around plant medicine continues to expand, so does the term ‘plant medicine facilitator’. At WOTH, we use the following definition:
Someone with professional experience in actively responding to participants’ needs, ensuring safety, and guiding the unfolding of the psychedelic experience in real time, within ceremonial settings, where strong psychoactive substances of plant, animal, or fungal origin are consumed for purposes of healing, personal inquiry, or spiritual development.
WHY THIS RETREAT?
"primum non nocere"
First, do no harm.
How sure are you that you've never caused harm whilst supporting?
How sure can you be that you never will?
Truth is no one's immune, we're all human here doing the best we can. So, here's another question:
what happens when harm is caused
to either a participant or yourself?
Meaning, what happens to you?
What to do and not to do?
Who do you reach out to for (informed) advice and support?
How to address a challenging situation whilst holding impeccable space?
What's the reference to fully understand your responsibility and act accordingly?
Embracing this as an inherent reality of plant medicine work, how do you tend to your own care — regularly and sustainably — so you can continue to show up with integrity?
Supporting in and around ceremonial experiences is complex and unpredictable.
Even in the safest setting imaginable, with years of experience behind you and excellent training under your belt, facilitation leaves you perpetually exposed to unforeseen situations, risks, and potential consequences, both with participants and with other practitioners.
Anything can happen, with the annoying tendency of escalating pretty fast, and carrying potential personal, professional, medical, financial or legal repercussions.
We share this concern.
We know this concern,
it is undeniably real to us,
and one of WOTH's main points:
supporters need supporting too.
When things go wrong, or to prevent them from doing so, we need a unique kind of support,
one that will not always
be available in your usual circles,
particularly when the issue
arises from within.
Us facilitators also find ourselves in challenging human circumstances:
-
holding our own boundaries
-
being romantically or sexually attracted to a participant/practitioner
-
neurodivergence and inclusion
-
difficulties expressing concern
-
navigating unhealthy group dynamics
-
gaslighting
-
abuse
-
spiritual bypass
-
a lack of accountability...
...among others.
And we don't always have a space to turn to, outside of our regular circles,
free from familiar emotional ties, status hierarchies, group dynamics, and interpersonal entanglements.
WOTH offers you exactly this: an alternative container, as respectful and sacred as ceremony, where you can source external perspectives, clear references of good practice and action guidelines, from fellow practitioners and leading experts in the global psychedelic care scene.
WOTH is explicitly designed
to support you in
self-assessing your practice,
in actively integrating it.
You'll be doing this by building self-care, ethical know-how and protection informed by collective challenges and experiences, so you don't come across these circumstances feeling unequipped and unsupported.
Having said this
and without further ado:
Thou hast now come upon a parting way;
From hence, but three paths only lie ahead:
one
You chose to ignore everything you just read and continue your spaceholding activity, bypassing unchecked motives and behaviours which make you a safety hazard.
- Help!
- The medicine declareth: thou shalt surrender unto thy process, thou whiny, astral-wandering peasant.
two
You freak out and decide to quit plant medicine all together.
"WAIT, WHAT?!?!? Oh dear... OH DEAR...
(Desperately looks for passport and inhaler)".
three
You take a professional step forward and accept the challenging responsibility of reviewing your practice from a perspective of personal ethics, self-care and integrity, under supportive guidance of experts and fellow practitioners.
"Challenge accepted".
Those of you choosing option number three,
please remain.
the rest can close this window,
immediately forgetting that anything ever happened.
Darkness.
The sound of a match being struck.
She reappears holding an oil lamp,
its glow lending her a ghostly presence.
A stone corridor is revealed ahead.
The air carries the scent of smoke,
dampness, and some natural resin.
Follow me.
In Wisdom Of The Holders we believe that
safeguarding ceremonial space
isn't a hobby or a product.
Uh-uh.
Quite the opposite.
(Mind your head, the ceiling is low here.)
It's a sacred calling to accompany people through moments of profound transformation, in spiritual communion, in an ultra-sensitive, multidimensional space, and to do so with the highest possible levels of ethics, safety, and conscious presence.
You arrive before two small red velvet curtains
hanging from a golden bar upon the wall ahead,
as though concealing a small window.
To one side hangs a short golden rope,
heavy with tassels at its end, like a lion’s tail.
Plant medicine facilitation already is a specialized, professional service, so it follows to have standards of matching professional weight.
And now the golden question:
She pulls the rope.
The curtains are drawn aside to reveal
an engraved plaque upon the wall,
bearing the inscription:
"Who sets these standards?"
.
.
.
.
.
Dripping echoes in the background.
.
.
.
.
.
If you ask us:
you do.
you hold this wisdom,
in your own practice,
in your own body,
right here,
right now.
When you understand the non-negotiable principles that hold you (your wellbeing, your ethics, your capacity) at the centre of your practice,
the quality of your facilitation hits a whole new level,
one proper of the plant medicine future many of us carry in our prayers.
WOTH is a place for us all to
turn these prayers into action together.
More specifically,
this place:
HACIENDA PAUCARTIKA
Hacienda Paucartika is a renovated, historic hacienda turn retreat center in the Sacred Valley of Peru, with parts of the property dating back more than 300 years. This treasure sits just below the sacred Incan ruins of Huchuy Qosqo, and has amazing panoramic views of the surrounding mountains, farming chacras and valleys. It also stands as a privileged spot to enjoy the impressive night sky, in the heart of the Andes.
Beyond its breathtaking surroundings, the inner spaces are alive with art and vibrant Andean colours, allowing the spirit of the land to flow through walls, corridors, and rooms. The magic of the outer landscape is mirrored within, creating an environment that gently holds you inside and out, as you cross the threshold from the ordinary world into the journey ahead.
This will be your home for the whole retreat,
And where most of the activity will take place.
honour all that love and care you pour into your practice, from a place of personal ethics, safety, self-care and long-term sustainability, in a supportive community of experts and fellow spaceholders.
MEET YOUR GUIDES
The guides holding this work bring together rare, cross-disciplinary experience spanning psychology, crisis response, integration, ethics, storytelling, ancestral knowledge, and facilitation. Their practice is grounded in years of hands-on practice and ongoing collaboration with leading organisations in psychedelic care and training.
— Intensive Laboratories —
Mijal Schmidt
clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst
MA in Psychoanalysis, MA in Musicology.
9H INTENSIVE LABORATORY
psychology · integration · self-care
The Golden Thread: Weaving a Sustainable Facilitation Practice
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develop a clear, internalized map of the facilitator's psyche and the group dynamic;
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receive concrete, actionable tools for establishing a practice that is profoundly more conscious, ethically sound, and energetically sustainable.
Dr. Sandra Dreisbach
specialist in ethical practices in psychedelic spaces
MA, PhD in Philosophy
9H INTENSIVE LABORATORY
shadow work & personal integrity
The Inmost Weavings: remembering the invisible threads within you and others
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receive practical tools for yourself and your clients
-
undergo an in-depth self-evaluation
-
gain clarity on your own personal code of ethics
Bárbara Espina
psychologist, plant medicine practitioner, and educator
MA in Applied Theatre
12H INTEGRATION & CO-CREATION
embodied storytelling & community sharing
Once Upon A Spaceholder
Unpacking the stories your practice is made of
-
engage the body and free expression in your journey
-
deepen the processing of emerging material
-
discover arts-based integration tools
-
playfully connect with fellow facilitators
— Workshops —
Haramara Sal Sanctuary
Fernanda Baraybar, Cristina Suyai, Daphne Davidson.
Community-rooted initiative offering support in case of harm, confusion, or power imbalance in spiritual contexts.
3H PRACTICAL WORKSHOP
abusive practices in spiritual
and psychedelic contexts
Practical guidelines and checklists for ethical facilitation.
-
References to help recognise subtle forms of emotional and psychological abuse.
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References to help assess risk, evidence, and credibility.
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Clear response protocols for addressing transgressions.
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Trauma-awareness tools without acting as therapists or over-intervening.
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Self-assessment frameworks to reflect on facilitator authority and unconscious boundary drift.
Andean weaving community
DAY VISIT
Andean weaving tradition and cosmovision
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Gain insights on ancient Andean symbolism and cosmovision
-
Enjoy a demostration of how a traditional Peruvian loom works
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Share a meal and friendly interactions with the community
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Have the chance to ask questions and take pictures and videos
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Have the chance to acquire traditional goods directly from the artisans
PROGRAMME OVERVIEW
Throughout the 10 days you will be immersed in a private container, specific to this retreat, primarily at gorgeous Hacienda Paucartika. WOTH has been designed as a multidisciplinary experience, offering insights, materials and practices like threads of alpaca yarn, ready for you to weave them into your unique facilitation tapestry, as it makes sense to you at this time.
Starting early in the morning and going until the evening, the programme includes:
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18 hours of specialist, intensive laboratories, on psychology, ethics, and self-care with Mijal Schmidt and Dr. Sandra Dreisbach
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12 hours of integration, embodied storytelling, and co-creation, with Bárbara Espina
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3 hours practical workshop on abuse in spiritual and psychedelic practices, with Haramara Sal Sanctuary
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One day visit to local traditional weaving community
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One day of arts-based sharing with local plant medicine community
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Final group integration circle
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Final day out for an experience to reward and seal the work done.
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Free time and fire evenings.
WHAT YOU'LL TAKE WITH YOU
You will for sure walk away with more than these highlights below. Take them as the most immediate outcomes we can foresee and guarantee that will make your service stand out and set a high standard of reference wherever you go:
An actual personal code of ethics
— which you will have crafted guided by leading experts, the collective field experience present in the room and your own; and which will keep evolving with you as you grow.
Top-level notes on psychology and safety at the heart of professional, truly trauma-informed psychedelic care
— the very material informing current leading organizations in the global psychedelic care field, ready to be applied before, during and after ceremony.
Improved self-confidence inside and outside the ceremonial space
— when challenges arise and decisive action is needed.
An upgraded capacity to spot safety blindspots
— both to help inform the container's integrity and to protect yourself from others' malpractice.
A stronger internal ethical spine
— with a renewed sense of empowerment to say "no" to unsafe conditions.
A deeper understanding and connection to the art of spaceholding
— informed by other practitioner's stories and experience.
A safe space and community outside of your regular circles
— which you can turn to for informed support, consultations, and living resources.
A kinder, more respectful relationship with yourself and your practice
— rooted in collective wisdom, compassion, validation, and understanding.
JOIN THE MAILING LIST
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