> Recovering from Ayahuasca and psychedelics

Plant medicine ceremonies such as Ayahuasca and experimenting with psychedelics can result in distressing after-effects as frightening and challenging memories, thoughts or feelings are brought into consciousness. Often these cannot be worked with, processed and integrated without the help of a guide or counsellor.

Ayahuasca, in particular, brings into consciousness that which needs to be worked with in order for the individual to grow as a person. This can be whatever is most feared and has been most strongly repressed. Working with a counsellor who is trained to work with this can help move through the blockages and integrate what has been evoked.

Having a psycho-spiritual context, psychosynthesis counselling is ideally suited to working with this kind of experience. As a psychosynthesis practitioner, I am familiar with working with dreams, the imagination and symbolic language. Drawing or any visual art can be used to work with the imagery that is present or creative visualisations and meditations can help explore the territory that has been discovered.

Sometimes traumatic experiences from childhood can be reactivated in order to be healed and released. This may be conscious, semi-conscious or the individual may be completely at a loss to explain why they are struggling so much and in so much emotional turmoil and pain. When this happens, a counsellor who is experienced with relational and attachment issues is vital in successfully working through this and coming into a better understanding of what happened and how it affected the child and still affects the adult who comes for help.