Psychedelics & Healing
Table of Contents
The Ecological Self
Shadow Work
Somatic Healing
Ancestral Healing
Energy Healing
Lifelong Integration
Psychedelics have the potential to facilitate holistic healing by helping individuals reconnect to a sense of wholeness. Through intentional preparation and integration, they guide us toward rediscovering symbiosis with nature, gaining the ecospiritual knowledge that reminds us of our interconnectedness, unity, and sacredness.
Across different cultures and throughout history, psychedelics have been revered as sacraments and medicines. Today, the Psygaia Hypothesis and scientific research validate what many traditions have long known—the therapeutic and spiritual efficacy of psychedelics when used with care and intention. By creating a more connected and malleable, brain, psychedelics can help heal and promote wellbeing, facilitating a more harmonious relationship with all that is. These experiences often transcend personal healing, fostering a profound sense of unity with nature and the cosmos. Psychedelics can awaken us to the interconnectedness of all life, encouraging a shift from an isolated sense of self to a more holistic or ecological identity that includes the Earth and all its inhabitants. This expanded awareness can inspire compassionate action and a deeper commitment to environmental stewardship. By bridging Indigenous healing traditions with modern science, psychedelics offer a pathway to heal not only ourselves but also our relationship with all that is, nature. Such transformative experiences align with the principles of the Psygaia Hypothesis, emphasizing the intrinsic link between human consciousness and the planet.
If correctly understood and supported, these psychospiritual crises can result in emotional and psychosomatic healing, remarkable psychological changes, and consciousness evolution.
— Stanislav Grof
Innate Healing Intelligence
The popular concept of your innate healing intelligence is central to psychedelic healing practices, emphasizing the your nature’s innate ability to heal itself when the right conditions are in place. When working with psychedelics, recognizing and trusting this wholeness of nature that you are part of can facilitate healing and transformation.
In many traditions, such as the Shipibo shamanic practice, it is believed that all living beings—from the smallest cells to the largest planets—are guided by a conscious force toward a state of balance, health, and wholeness. This healing intelligence thrives when we are in a safe and supportive environment, free from external pressures and distractions.
Consider what happens when the body is physically injured. When you get a cut or break a bone, your body initiates an incredibly complex healing process without any conscious effort on your part. While you may apply antibiotics or a bandage, the actual healing occurs naturally. In the same way, your consciousness seeks to heal itself, particularly during a psychedelic journey, when the conditions for inner healing are supported.
Suggestions for accessing your inner healing intelligence:
Create a safe set and setting: Ensure a supportive, comfortable environment to allow your healing intelligence to flourish.
Prepare your mindset: Embrace curiosity, openness, compassion, and non-judgement. Be ready to face your whole self with trust in yourself, your nervous system and nature.
Surrender the ego: Let go of control, rationalization, and mental chatter. The healing process goes far beyond the rational mind.
Trust the process: Allow the inner healing intelligence to work without interference. The body and consciousness know how to heal if given the right circumstances.
The key to accessing your inner healing intelligence lies in preparing the set and setting and embracing the journey with openness and trust. Quiet the ego—the part of the mind that is prone to fear and control—and surrender to the experience.
By letting go of the need to control or rationalize what is happening, you create space for deeper healing, transformation, and self-awareness.
It is the deliberate cultivation of new habits of thoughts, attitudes and behaviours, a process requiring sober discipline and sustained effort, that endows psychedelic experiences with true enduring significance.
— Louis Belleau
The ACER Model
The ACER Model was developed by Rosalind Watts, a psychologist at the forefront of researching the therapeutic application of psilocybin. This model provides a structured framework for the healing process during and after a psychedelic journey. The acronym ACER stands for Accept, Connect, Embody, and Restore, each representing a vital stage in processing and integrating the experience.
Accept
The first step, Accept, emphasizes acknowledging and allowing whatever arises during the psychedelic journey. Whether it’s difficult emotions, memories, or thoughts, acceptance means fully facing and embracing these experiences without resistance. This is often the most challenging yet essential step toward healing, as it requires surrendering control and allowing vulnerability. In the context of healing, acceptance allows the individual to confront suppressed or painful aspects of their psyche. Healing begins with acceptance, by embracing the full spectrum of thoughts and feelings, even discomfort.
Connect
In the Connect phase, individuals are encouraged to form connections with themselves, others, and the world around them. This involves reconnecting to emotions, nature, and a sense of purpose or community. By cultivating these connections, individuals can move out of isolation and into a deeper relationship with life. Psychedelics, particularly psilocybin, often foster a sense of interconnectedness, which helps individuals feel more supported and grounded. Connection fosters a sense of belonging, grounding the individual in relationships and nature for sustained healing.
Embody
The Embody stage focuses on turning insights and newfound perspectives from the psychedelic experience into tangible action. This involves incorporating what was learned during the journey into daily life through behaviors, habits, and attitudes. Embodying insights helps create lasting change by aligning the body, mind, and spirit with the truths revealed in the psychedelic state. Embodiment is the practice of transforming insight into action, aligning behaviours with inner wisdom so that we live from a place of truth and authenticity.
Restore
The final phase, Restore, is about long-term healing and balance. In this stage, individuals focus on restoring their physical, emotional, and mental health through ongoing self-care and integration practices. The goal is to maintain the balance and clarity achieved during the journey and continue nurturing the body and mind over time. This step emphasizes the importance of self-care, rest, and reflection as part of the healing process. Restoration is an ongoing practice of self-care and reflection, helping maintain balance and well-being.
The ACER Model offers a comprehensive approach to psychedelic journeying and integration for healing, focusing on the key stages of accepting the experience, connecting with others and nature, embodying new insights, and restoring health and balance through long-term practices. This model is particularly valuable for those navigating the complex emotional terrain of depression or other mental health challenges with the aid of psychedelics.
The wound is the place where the Light enters you.
— Rumi
Spiritual Emergence
Spiritual emergence is process of profound personal transformation, often triggered by deep, transcendent experiences. Psychedelics, especially when used intentionally in proper settings, can catalyze such experiences, leading to an awakening of deeper spiritual understanding and heightened self-awareness.
During a psychedelic journey, individuals may experience a sense of connection to the universe, nature, or higher consciousness. These insights can reveal a new perspective on life, purpose, and existence, sparking a shift in one’s identity and worldview. This process of spiritual awakening can be exhilarating but also overwhelming, as it often challenges old beliefs, identities, and ways of being.
Signs of spiritual emergence:
Deepened connection to nature and the cosmos: Feeling a profound sense of unity with the natural world and the interconnectedness of all things.
Transcendence of ego: A sense of moving beyond the ego and its limitations, allowing for a broader, more compassionate perspective on life.
Reevaluation of life purpose: A shift in priorities, values, or career, often involving a desire to live a more authentic and meaningful life.
Heightened intuition and sensitivity: A sharpened sense of intuition and heightened awareness of subtle energies or emotions.
Navigating Spiritual Emergence
While spiritual emergence can be transformative, it may also feel disorienting or confusing. It’s common to encounter feelings of fear, anxiety, or a sense of "losing oneself" as old ways of thinking or behaving dissolve. The key to navigating spiritual emergence is trusting the process and embracing the journey with openness, compassion and mindfulness.
Seek support: Having a guide, therapist, or community to help integrate these experiences is vital, especially during moments of emotional or psychological overwhelm.
Practice grounding techniques: Grounding practices such as meditation, mindfulness, and breathwork can help stabilize your energy and bring clarity to the unfolding spiritual process.
Balance reflection with action: While reflection on new insights is essential, it’s equally important to integrate them into daily life through actionable steps, such as changing habits, embracing new values, or engaging in creative expression.
When Spiritual Emergence Becomes Spiritual Emergency
In some cases, the powerful experiences triggered during a psychedelic journey can lead to what is known as a spiritual emergency. This occurs when the intensity of the spiritual emergence overwhelms an individual's psychological or emotional capacities, leading to a crisis rather than transformation. Signs of spiritual emergency might include extreme emotional turmoil, confusion about reality, anxiety, fear, or a sense of profound disconnection from everyday life.
A spiritual emergency can feel frightening, disorienting, and isolating. Individuals may feel they are losing touch with reality or struggling to integrate their spiritual insights into their day-to-day lives. This can lead to heightened states of fear, depression, or even psychotic-like episodes if not properly managed.
In such situations, what initially seemed like a positive transformation can become a challenging and chaotic process. It is important to navigate a spiritual emergency with care.
Suggestions for navigating a spiritual emergency:
Seek immediate support: If you or someone you know is going through a spiritual emergency, it’s crucial to seek professional help from someone experienced in integration or transpersonal psychology. A guide or therapist can offer practical and grounded advice, tools and practices.
Slow down the process: Sometimes, individuals need to pause their spiritual or psychedelic exploration to give their mind and body time to catch up. This might involve taking a break from further psychedelic use or other intense spiritual practices while focusing on stabilizing everyday life.
Grounding Practices: Grounding is essential when navigating spiritual emergency. Practices like yoga, breathwork, meditation, and even physical exercise can help bring your focus back to the body and present reality, reducing feelings of overwhelm.
Community and connection: Reaching out to others who have experienced similar spiritual emergencies or participating in integration circles can provide reassurance and perspective. Isolation can worsen spiritual crises, while psychedelic-friendly community can offer support.
A spiritual emergency is a call for integration, not rejection.
It requires patience, understanding, and the right support to move through the intensity and ultimately emerge more grounded and transformed. While these crises can be challenging, they often lead to profound breakthroughs and deeper personal growth when handled with care.