Integration Services: For Psychedelic Therapies and Beyond

In the past year, I have been in a nine-month training program for ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP). I have previously written on the topic of psychedelic therapy here, and have been offering integration services for clients since early 2020.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with what integration therapy is, here is a brief description: when a person knows ahead of time they will be undergoing ketamine-assisted therapy (the only legal form of medicine-assisted therapy available), it is recommended they connect with a therapist to help prepare them for the sessions. These preparation sessions can help to process the goals of seeking KAP or other forms of plant medicine therapy. While I can help a client to set their intentions and plan for aftercare, I can not recommend clients seek to use illegal substances. Since I practice a harm-reduction model to substance abuse, clients are encouraged to discuss their plans while not expecting me to give direct feedback to use of illegal substances.

There are other indications for potential clients to utilize integration services. I have had several clients who either knowingly or unknowingly injested a psychedelic substance, and had a very challenging experience with ongoing symptoms long after the substance has exited their system. Integration services can help a client process these challenging experiences, much like in trauma therapy. Other instances where integration work can be helpful are: after any type of psychotic episode, prolonged depersonalization or derealization, or deep existential crisis.

Very often, KAP is done in a series of sessions for the most effective, symptom reducing treatment possible. It is recommended that clients have regular integration sessions after their KAP sessions in order to process and make sense of what they have experienced into their every day life. Clients often find these sessions to be very useful, especially when they experience great relief in symptoms, but don’t always remember what to work on. Most types of psychedelic sessions, if done well, provide an opening in a client’s life to make more significant, long-lasting changes in therapy they might have previously struggled to implement.

To demonstrate this point, behavior change is one of the hardest things to consistently implement for clients. After several of my plant medicine experiences, I received clarity in the areas where I wanted and needed to make changes. Most of these changes come in the way of lifestyle medicine, otherwise known as biohacking. The simplest example of implementing lifestyle medicine is with consistent nutrition and exercise that will support my ongoing healing process. One of my main areas of lifestyle medicine is using nature: the sun, water, ground, and fire sources to help balance my body and mind.

This morning I wasn’t feeling well. In order to aide in my bodies immune response, I drove to my nearby freshwater spring. I have made lifestyle changes to live in an area where I can access natural elements year round. Taking a morning plunge in the 68 degree water, swimming around, and then sunning off, was medicine for my body, mind and spirit.

If you are curious about ketamine-assisted therapy—which I don’t provide directly—integration services for previous or upcoming plant medicine journeys, or want to know more about working with me, please fill out my online application here, see my provider listing in psychedelic support here, and read more about my personal experience with plant medicine here. I wish you well in your journeys!

After a morning soak in the freshwater springs.

Psychedelic Therapy & Support

The field of trauma therapy is rapidly changing. Since my trauma specialty began to unfold in 2009, we continue to learn more about how systemic trauma can be to the body and the mind. In my own search for healing, I began to research the use of various native plants to help heal trauma. Growing research by non-profit groups such as MAPS have shown the amazing results of MDMA, ayahuasca and even cannabis on various mental health conditions, including trauma. Ketamine-assisted therapy is already being used to treat depression with amazing results. A link to a more comprehensive list of research can be found here. MAPS is now in it’s third phase of clinical trials for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD, and pending FDA approval, will be expanding their access to the public by 2021.

In December 2017, I embarked on my own journey with Ayahuasca, which you can read more about here. Since that transformative experience, my intention has been to position myself as a therapist who can administer psychedelic-assisted therapy once it is approved for medical use. In that vein, I have received further training through the Zendo Project on how to help individuals integrate their plant medicine experiences. In experiencing healing in such an extraordinary state, being able to process these experiences within a supportive community or with a qualified professional is of the utmost importance.

The skills to attend to many forms of extraordinary states of consciousness is something I have been interested in for many years. Kylea Taylor explains these states of mind as “entering through a doorway, awakening from the normal trance of daily life in which our awareness is focused in a different way, so that we can navigate beyond the external and material world or though it in a very different way” (Taylor, 2017). Examples of possible extraordinary states are: dreaming, childbirth, intense grief, during somatic work, and using various plants as medicine.

While we are continuing to see the research unfold, hear the testimonials of the research participants who have found relief from years of suffering, therapists and doctors are getting trained now to be able to offer plant medicine as a legitimate treatment option. If you are a licensed professional interested in knowing more, please let me know! We need licensed therapists, doctors, and clinics who are willing to step up and invest in getting the training, and we can’t do it by ourselves. I am currently looking for prescribing doctors and therapists in Illinois, Minnesota and Colorado who are willing to join a treatment team. I am also listed on the Psychedelic Support website as a therapist who can offer integration services. Check it out!

I’ve linked many of the organizations and research topics within this post, but if you have further questions or would like a free consult on if plant medicine is for you, fill out an application here.
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Sources:
Taylor, K. (2017). The Ethics of Caring: Finding Right Relationship with Clients. Hanford Meed.

My Plant Medicine Journey

NOTE: This post was previously released on October 25, 2018 as a part of my writing series: Awake @ Dawn. Previous posts in this series will be released periodically.

I noticed that I was completely without pain. As we began to get out of the car and approach the airport for our trips home, I began to feel the tension return. The paradox was astounding. No pain at all, to the creeping in of old body patterns. I had been transformed. 

48 hours earlier, I was arriving to an undisclosed location where I would be partaking in three separate ayahuasca ceremonies. These would be with a group of strangers I had never met, with a husband and wife team who would facilitate the ceremonies. I had taken many months to pray and consider using this form of plant medicine to help heal aspects of my trauma history that weren’t responding to traditional therapeutic techniques. I was taking the plunge to see if this plant could help heal the blockages in my body and spirit. 

I am not a group person.  I have participated in many group experiences over the years both when I was a practicing Christian, and in graduate school. It’s not my comfort zone. I would much rather be vulnerable with one person than a whole group. We had a good mix of people who were brand new to ayahuasca as well as others who had done it many times before. As the weekend unfolded, our unity and appreciation grew for one another. I feel a closeness to them that is everlasting. We participated in each others deep healing process. 

The ceremonies are performed with many prayers, songs (called Iquaros), and rituals as ayahuasca has a very strong spiritual component passed down from the generations of shamans in South America. I will save you the details of the ceremonies, but only tell you that my life has never been the same since. In taking this plant, I not only entered into the most profound healing experience of my life, but I also have a very different view of my spiritual life and direction as a result. 

I also experienced physical healing and found that my body was able to return to a place of comfort and safety that I have never felt before in my whole life. I was able to feel a deeper sense of gratitude and appreciation for myself and all sentient beings. I was able to feel unconditional love for my husband and son. I was able to believe that it’s possible to live in complete freedom from the wounds of my past. I was able to gain further confidence as a healer for other people’s pain with out taking it on. I was able to fully release other people’s pain I’ve absorbed by being a therapist. I was able to more fully own my role as a leader and change agent for others.

One of the things I read by others who have testified about their ayahuasca experience is they feel a connectivity to themselves and others that allows them to never feel alone again. This is why the research around using various psychedelics for the treatment of mental health issues is so important. I can attest that this deep assurance of self, this connection to the life force of ALL, this profound peace in the midst of pain, has never left me since.

One of the hardest parts about a plant medicine experience is integrating back into day to day life. Even now, ten months later, I feel like I’m still integrating. My spiritual practices have continued and grown deeper. My relationship to my body is much more kind and much more free. My relationships aren’t perfect, but I’m able to find my center with greater ease. My inner center, the life force that we all have inside of us, is stronger each day. Ayahuasca is not a miracle plant. For me, it was a doorway that expanded everything. For me, it was a journey I would gladly take again.