Sënën para mayonkin / The path of balance and harmony
Para mayonkin shamankin / Balancing and harmonizing deeply
Hello and Welcome!
With the unfolding of the so-called “psychedelic renaissance,” the psychedelic innovations potentially available to your clients of therapy are expanding rapidly.
Ayahuasca is a psychedelic plant-based tea that has been used for many purposes for generations among Indigenous communities in the Amazon basin and adjacent areas.
It has been estimated by researchers that 4 million people in North America, South America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand have drunk ayahuasca at some point in their lives (International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research and Service [ICEERS], 2023), and ceremonial ayahuasca use continues to spread rapidly worldwide.
As a therapist, you will encounter clients who are considering drinking ayahuasca, or who are already engaging in ceremonial ayahuasca contexts.
As examples, a client may:
- Express interest in drinking ayahuasca but have no idea what they are getting into, and you are similarly not familiar with ayahuasca.
- Ask you, “What is a safe ayahuasca ceremony setting? Should I go to Peru?”
- Request that you support them in undertaking the pre-ceremony dietary and behavioural restrictions required before attending a retreat
- Arrive at a session saying unexpectedly that they’ve drunk ayahuasca, and it was the worst (or best) experience of their life and that they’ve since “crashed”
- Be attending a lot of ayahuasca ceremonies and you’re not quite sure what to make of that
- Say, “I had a bad spirit taken out of me at the ayahuasca ceremony” when they had previously stated to you that they are an atheist
- Talk about in-ceremony vomiting as having been a very positive experience for them
- Be grappling to figure out how to be in right relations with ayahuasca, given its source in Indigenous and Mestizo communities in the Global South
How might you navigate scenarios like this, and help your clients integrate the often intensely emotional, transformative, and sometimes very challenging ceremony experiences offered by this powerful plant medicine? You may have questions about ayahuasca itself, the ceremonies, the ceremony leaders, preparing for ceremonies, or helping clients integrate their ceremony experiences.
I am here for you, to provide information and consultation to help orient you to the complexity of ayahuasca and ayahuasca contexts, so that you can feel more resourced in helping your clients who are drinking (or thinking about drinking) ayahuasca. I view this as taking a harm reduction approach.
About Me
I am a Registered Psychologist in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. I worked in institutional and private practice settings for 20 years, with a focus on eating disorders and trauma. In the latter 15 years of my practice, I used Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP™) as my central modality. I have now shifted my focus to providing consultation and conducting research, and am a published researcher, including recent qualitative studies investigating the therapeutic potential of ceremonial ayahuasca use. I have personally experienced drinking ayahuasca in jurisdictions where it is legal to do so. My past research interests have included eating disorders and professional ethics. I locate myself further as a white, Western, well-resourced, able-bodied, cis-het woman with English-Irish ancestry, who lives, works, and plays on the traditional, unceded, ancestral homelands of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples.
Disclaimer
The ayahuasca brew contains ingredients (N,N-Dimethyltryptamine [DMT], and harmaline) currently designated as Schedule III Controlled Substances in Canada. Therefore, ayahuasca is illegal to seek, obtain, or possess in Canada. Talking about ayahuasca experiences is not illegal, and can be seen to be part of a harm reduction approach that promotes a mature stance on drug policy, education, and safety.
I do not encourage or condone the use of illicit substances outside of legally sanctioned and ethically responsible research studies or cultural ceremonies. My opinion is that integrating any transformative experience benefits from guidance, understanding, skill, and support. In my consulting services, I DO NOT provide recommendations or illicit substances. I do not conduct or promote psychedelic psychotherapy or provide referrals to psychedelic services.
Fees
My fee is $200.00 per 60-minute consultation. Payment is due at the time of service through e-transfer, credit card, or PayPal. I will email a receipt upon payment. The full fee will be charged for cancellations occurring less than 24 hours before the appointment, and for no-shows.
Contact Me
Limits of Confidentiality
As a Registered Psychologist in BC, I must document any psychological services I provide, including consultation. Information disclosed to a psychologist is confidential and cannot be disclosed without the client or consultee’s consent, except under certain specific conditions. Under the Code of Conduct of the College of Psychologists of BC, if a psychologist suspects that the person who is receiving their psychological services is going to harm themselves or someone else, or hears of any possible abuse or neglect of a child, or that another health care practitioner has sexually abused someone, then the psychologist has an obligation to report this information to the appropriate authority (the police or Ministry for Children and Families, as examples). The courts also have the power to subpoena a psychologist’s files.