Trauma-informed psilocybin facilitation means working with psilocybin in a way that prioritises safety and trauma sensitivity, with a focus on recognising and responding to trauma imprints that may arise. Psilocybin is the psychoactive compound found in certain species of mushrooms.
When supporting people with a history of trauma, facilitators need to approach psilocybin work through a trauma-informed lens. This includes understanding how trauma affects the nervous system and behaviour, and how to create a safe, well-boundaried and supportive environment for healing.
Your facilitators
Roger Lockshier
ShamanFire, trauma-informed psilocybin facilitator & shamanic practitioner
Atira Tan
Head of Integration, AYA Healing Retreats & trauma-informed plant medicine educator
“This trauma-informed plant medicine facilitation course has put language and science to the most important aspects of my work in ways I never could. This training empowered me to create safer, more integrated, and more compassionate healing containers for myself, the healers I work with, and of course our participants. I now feel that anyone working to facilitate healing of any kind should be trauma-informed as a foundational part of their approach. In fact, as we face the mounting challenges of today’s world, I feel we can’t afford to be.”
– Lara Charlotte, Co-Founder of Garden of Dreams, New Zealand.
THE IMPORTANCE OF TRAUMA-INFORMED PLANT MEDICINE FACILITATION
Being trauma-informed in psilocybin facilitation is essential, and this masterclass will cover the following topics:
- Safety: Trauma survivors may have unique sensitivities and vulnerabilities. Trauma-informed facilitation prioritises safety and minimises the risk of re-traumatisation. By understanding trauma and its effects, facilitators can create a safe environment that promotes healing and reduces potential harm.
- Trust and therapeutic alliance: Building a trusting, therapeutic relationship between facilitator and participant is crucial. Trauma-informed facilitation emphasises trust, respect and rapport, which are essential for trauma survivors to feel comfortable and supported during the psilocybin experience.
- Trauma triggers: Trauma survivors may have triggers—stimuli or situations that evoke intense emotional or physiological reactions linked to past experiences. Trauma-informed facilitation helps identify and mitigate potential triggers during the psilocybin session, supporting a more contained and manageable process for the participant.
- Empowerment and choice: Trauma-informed facilitation recognises the importance of giving people a sense of empowerment and choice. Many trauma survivors have experienced a loss of control. By involving participants in decision-making and respecting their autonomy, facilitators help restore a sense of agency that supports healing.
- Understanding trauma responses: Trauma can manifest in many ways, such as hyperarousal, dissociation or numbing. Trauma-informed facilitators are familiar with these responses and adapt their approach accordingly. They provide appropriate support and interventions to help regulate emotional and physiological responses during the psilocybin experience.
- Integration and aftercare: Trauma-informed facilitation extends beyond the psilocybin session itself. It includes comprehensive integration support and aftercare. Trauma survivors often need ongoing support to integrate and make sense of their experiences, and trauma-informed facilitators offer resources, guidance and referrals to support continued healing.
By integrating trauma-informed principles into psilocybin facilitation, the process becomes more attuned to the specific needs and vulnerabilities of trauma survivors. This approach helps create a safer, more supportive and empowering environment, maximising the therapeutic potential of psilocybin while minimising the risk of re-traumatisation.
DETAILS & INVESTMENT
Our 90-minute Trauma-Informed Plant Medicine Masterclass: Working with Psilocybin can now be purchased as a recording.
Your purchase includes:
- The 90-minute live Zoom workshop recording
- The 90-minute audio recording to download
- Your PDF manual on trauma-informed tips and tools, along with helpful protocols and reflection worksheets for psilocybin facilitation
“Participating in this training gave me profound insight into what I’m doing as a ceremony guide and integration & microdosing coach, illuminating areas where I can grow, and strengthen & expanding my toolbox of resources, practices, processes, protocols, and tools I already have, to be able to support people in their healing journeys even better.
Atira carries a strong and very clear vision of the importance of having a trauma-informed approach and awareness when working in this rapidly growing field of plant medicine & psychedelic-assisted therapies. Being in her presence and receiving her teachings was super inspiring and motivating to keep showing up for this special and very much-needed work.”
– JUAN MANUEL BURGOS, Microdosing & Integration Coach, Argentina.
“This program’s deep dive into the realms of living impeccable service has been nothing short of life-changing.
I remembered so much about the nervous system, about my life, about my purpose, about the bridges between paradigms and the collective trauma on the Earth. I was deeply warmed, inspired, challenged, and excited by the entire experience.
Atira transmits genuine, care, curiosity, understanding, and expertise. She is devoted to providing safe spaces for people to heal and her life’s work is a testimony to her wisdom. This body of work is a must for all.”
– MELE MAI, Art Therapist & Facilitator, Australia.
YOUR TEACHERS
Passionate about creating safer spaces and bringing healing and awareness to the “shadow” areas of life, Atira has worked as a trauma-informed integration specialist at centres including Temple of the Way of Light, and is currently Head of Integration at AYA Healing Retreats.
Atira has mapped the trauma-recovery journeys of hundreds of plant-medicine participants in her private practice as an integration trauma specialist. She co-facilitates trauma-informed and somatic plant-medicine retreats and dietas in Peru with AYA Healing Retreats, and is the pioneer and founder of the Trauma-Informed Plant Medicine Facilitator Program, which has graduated more than 150 students in two years.
She holds an MA in Art Therapy, has a background in Transpersonal Art Therapy and Holistic Counselling, and is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, alongside decades of training in other trauma-informed modalities.
For over a decade, Atira has also worked internationally in community organisations and international development as a consultant, clinician, supervisor and educator in not-for-profit settings. She is currently a PhD candidate at the European Graduate School in Switzerland, researching the effectiveness of somatic and creative trauma-recovery interventions for sex-trafficked survivors in Asia. She has presented at numerous conferences alongside Dr Peter Levine, Dr Stephen Porges, Dr Pat Ogden and Dr Gabor Maté.
As CEO and Founder of Art to Healing, an Australian charity supporting the recovery of women and girls who have experienced sex slavery and exploitation, Atira has initiated trauma-informed, arts-based programmes across the Asia–Pacific region for more than 15 years.
Before COVID-19, Atira taught workshops, retreats and teacher trainings on four continents, including Australia, Europe, Asia and South America. She specialises in supporting women, men and children — particularly those who have experienced sexual abuse — to recover from trauma in both group settings and one-to-one work, drawing on embodied somatic psychologies and other holistic approaches.
He is a certified Trauma-Informed Plant Medicine Facilitator and Reiki Master. Roger and his wife Allison are co-founders and core facilitators of Spirit of Earth Entheogenic Church, and he is an elected board member of the Association of Entheogenic Practitioners, a religious professional organisation and mutual-aid society that unites practitioners from many traditions who share a sincere belief in the religious nature of the entheogenic experience and work to expand safe access to such experiences.
Roger and Allison currently offer sacred ceremony retreats throughout the United States.
“What a life-changing experience. This training is a true treasure of knowledge and wisdom and shared with a caring and loving presence.
The depth of insights into a variety of tools to create safer spaces is the most I have ever experienced in any training. However, besides the theoretical teachings, what touched me the most was how the space was held in such safety and care and naturally became the soil for our personal softening into the journey.
And with that, we were able to truly experience the effect of a teacher who fully embodies what she teaches. And that is a priceless gift I will benefit from for the rest of my life.”
– FLORIANNE WOLFHART, Trauma-Informed Coach & Breathwork Facilitator, The Netherlands
“My mind and heart are in deep amazement and gratitude as I apply all that I learned in the Trauma-Informed Plant Medicine workshop.
I highly recommend this course/workshop, not only to those who are interested in the relationship between trauma and plant medicine but anyone who is curious about understanding human relational patterns to self and society. Atira shares in-depth knowledge and expertise of trauma studies and this work is much needed in the world.”
– ELIZABETH GOTTWALD, Kambo Facilitator & Photographer, USA
