Psychedelic Integration: Insights from Our First Psychedelic Integration Group
“Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion.” - Bell Hooks
Psychedelic integration has become a buzz word in the field of psychedelic therapy these days - but what does it mean exactly? And why is it so important? It can mean many things to different people. In this blog I share some of the insights learned from a psychedelic integration group that was offered at New Pathways, led by Lalita Misha. Over the course of six weeks he guided us through practices that tap into the healing wisdom that is offered to us in non ordinary states.
Integration is the process of weaving together different elements of experience so they become a coherent whole. This is the definition of healing - to bring together the fragmented parts of ourselves, even those that we have discarded, to come to a place of self acceptance and wholeness. As Bell Hooks states, we rarely, if ever, heal in isolation. Integration, whether it takes place within integration circles, friendship, the privacy of a therapy session, or group is the act of communion that allows healing to happen.
Integration Speaks the Language of Poetry
One of the first things we learned in the group was to step out of our comfort zone with the linear, left brain, discursive mind and step into the language of poetry. The participants would offer words to the group and with these offerings we would weave together poems that tapped into the intuitive capacity that we all have, and that becomes more available in non ordinary states. It was a challenge for myself to learn to trust this capacity and to share these words to be witnessed by others. We learned that our expression can be unique and universal at the same time.
As the group unfolded, we began to more fully explore and appreciate how our very private and unique experiences and challenges are mirrored in the group collective. Playing with poetic words and imagery, body based practices and ritual, at the intersection of personal and collective, we find ourselves enriched, hopefully with more awareness of the bigger and wider cloth to which our individual threads belong.
Trust in Movement/Play
Another way of tapping into our right brain wisdom was by connecting to the body in stillness and movement. Lalita led us through somatic practices that helped us connect to flow, play, joy, and integration of opposites - left/right, light/dark, small/big, masculine/feminine. The body is the source of so much wisdom if we allow ourselves to get out of the way. Conventional talk therapy has prioritized our left brain, analytical sensibilities and a puritan work ethic at the expense of play, creativity and intuition - which is where deep healing happens. By exploring movement and play, we learned how this part of ourselves is accessible if we are willing to let go of self consciousness and explore.
Compassionate Witnessing
One of the most powerful aspects of group healing is the potential to witness and be witnessed with a full and open heart. It takes great risk to even show up to individual therapy and be witnessed. In integration groups we are asked to share as much or as little as we feel comfortable sharing with the understanding that even being present in the circle is an act of courage and contribution when the group is held in honor of each other’s healing. By sharing our truth we learn to trust in relationships. We learn to witness each other’s truth by offering reflections through our own words or simply sitting and receiving with respect, non judgment and an open heart.
In witnessing another, we practiced witnessing ourselves, recognizing that while completely unique in their expression, others are also mirrors of important aspects of ourselves we may be ready to embrace. By bringing attention to what touched us or stirred in us in the presence of another, we are able to step a bit closer to our own truth, our souls.
Celebration of Paradox
Psychedelic Integration Therapy opens us up to the power of paradox. We come to therapy to find answers to big questions in our lives and find support to move through great difficulties. Many of us come to psychedelic therapy when the old problem solving strategies no longer work or have not brought us the relief we have been seeking. The irony of psychedelic therapy is that it reveals the limitations of our habitual ways - and when we let go of them, we find answers in paradox. When we allow the space of exploration to be playful and non-linear, prepare to be surprised by what comes out through writing, movement or speech, we are potentially opening ourselves up to a vaster and more complex life that refuses to be squeezed into a box of rational and logical. By creating such space we are expanding our consciousness without the use of psychedelic medicines, thus creating conditions for receiving insights from psychedelic journeys and deepening these insights, eventually making our day to day life more expansive, more authentic, more profound.
Honouring Ritual
Healing happens when we honor rituals, a practice we have distanced ourselves from in therapy because of the religious associations. Each group started with the creation of an altar where we lit a candle and each participant offered an object or some words that were meaningful to them. Making an offering sets a tone and the intention of each person to give something of themselves for the greater whole. In this way we learn to move away from a transactional stance towards therapy to an understanding that healing is a co created act of reciprocity. Even the simple act of lighting a candle and creating a sacred space for therapy or healing signals this shift in intention. Psychedelic therapy emphasizes the importance of set and setting as essential for healing and ritual is a way to manifest our intentions for healing in non ordinary states.
The practice of personal and collective ritual teaches us to honor our capacity for sacredness, for “ordinary” expansion of consciousness that is available to us daily. When we are sitting together in a sacred circle, our deepest humanity may be revealed, we can experience a deeper wholeness together rarely available to us in isolation.
Interested in Psychedelic Integration?
This was our first offering of a psychedelic integration group and we plan to offer a second group this fall. If you are interested in participating in the group or exploring integration individually, please reach out to our clinic.
