The journey doesn't end
when the trip is over.
In fact, for many, the real ceremony begins when the psychedelic effects wear off.
The potential of psychedelics to boost your personal healing and spiritual growth is immense. Yet as life-changing as the gained insights may be, they can also become overwhelming and difficult to process
without the right support.
If you already want to connect and learn if and how I can help you with your particular case,
or read on if you'd like to learn about
potential consequences, symptoms and other
challenging realities of plant medicine work.
Multiple factors can impact your plant medicine experience
and subsequent integration process,
The psychedelic session itself can:
· reawaken old wounds and mental health diagnosis
- plants will test you, having to face personal challenges you thought you were done with;
· show you traumatic memories you aren't sure about
- aside from the content itself, "what ifs" tend to become a major source of stress and anxiety;
· bring about intense physical pain or discomfort
- some plants cause certain physical conditions to flare up, enabling you to listen to them anew;
· shed light on the dysfunctional roles you play in your life
- impacting significant relationships, some of which will inevitably shift;
· trigger or intensify problematic defense mechanisms
- as the wound gets triggered, your deeply rooted "protector" Self will step up;
· question foundational aspects of your relationship with reality
- psychedelics indeed offer a veil-dropping experience and integrating certain information can be tricky;
· boost your spiritual connection in a very intense manner,
- a so called "spiritual awakening" can be highly dysregulating long-term (even months and years).
and the list goes on.
Aside from this,
human reality surrounding the plant medicine experience
also plays a role in the safety and quality of it all:
Risks and triggers
include other people, environments and circumstances:
· unequipped facilitators and retreat centers
· abuse (emotional, psychological, physical, financial, energetic, spiritual...)
· pharmacological interactions
· returning to a familiar environment (eg: your workplace) which clashes with your present needs or new sense of self;
· sharing your experience or symptoms with relationships who aren't able to receive or help you, adding confusion to it all;
Any of the above (and many others)
can turn the prospect of a deeply healing experience
- in which you have invested your trust, hopes, integrity, time and money -
into a highly unpleasant and even traumatizing event.
Now,
if you find yourself in this kind of trouble,
as the iconic 80's show Ghostbusters would go,
if there's somethin' weird,
and it don't look good,
.
.
.
who ya gon' call?
(Have I lost you here?)
Seriously,
Ghostbusters hit the integration therapy nail in the head:
...if there's somethin' weird...
impressive visions, strong bodily sensations, heavenly and extraterrestrial beings, plant spirits, astral traveling, cosmic messages, deceased loved ones and ancestors, melting into one with all there is, births, deaths, rebirths, past lives, childhood memories, re-experiencing old trauma...
...and it don't look good...
These are all fairly common examples of what you may need to describe to someone in order to help you.
To help you... Or your friends, partner, relatives, neighbors...
Plant medicine can open up a process for your loved ones too. They might perceive that something's off, maybe even recognize an old, familiar behavior in you, fear for your safety, and don't know how to help.
...who ya gon' call?...
If you - or a loved one - are in distress as a result of these non-ordinary kind of experiences, and would like professional help,
who would you actually call?
🦗🦗🦗
The courage and effort it takes to voluntarily meet your wounds as deep as needed, to acknowledge, honor and really heal them, should be matched by the support received.
Ceremony and retreat leaders' general "integration tips" can only help you that far.
If you're looking for an actual g̶h̶o̶s̶t̶b̶u̶s̶t̶e̶r̶
psychedelic integration specialist
(even if just to double-check if what you're thinking or feeling is "normal")
you're in a very convenient corner of the internet:
Hello and welcome,
My name is Bárbara Espina.
I'm a psychologist and a plant medicine guide, specializing in psychedelic integration and education. I'm also a storyteller and a theatre-based community intervention facilitator (MA).
With a diversity of techniques and a creative approach I help you find your own way from a place of distress and confusion to one of more clarity and order, resulting in a deeper understanding of your plant medicine experience and yourself.
In other words, I help you get from Here:
To Here:
You will know that you have arrived Here
by how you feel:
- a greater sense of balance, control and personal safety
- more emotionally stable
- more aware of your limiting beliefs and behaviors
- more open to social connections
- in greater harmony with your experience
- a better understanding of plant medicine technology
- in better alignment with yourself,
and overall a wiser human being
(it's kind of inevitable and the very point of consciously going deep within).
AND
if life punctually does become overwhelming again,
that's OK,
it's actually expected,
life is life,
it will throw challenges your way,
BUT
because you will already know yourself better,
because you will have undergone a training process
which will have equipped you with quality resources
- real ones, the kind which actually work -
to help you grow through difficulties
in life and relationships,
with more ease and flow
(and joy too),
for all these reasons and more,
then,
you will be FINE.