“Grief and love are sisters, woven together from the beginning. Their kinship reminds us that there is no love that does not contain loss and no loss that is not a reminder of the love we carry for what we once held close.” --Francis Weller, The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief
By the end of this week it will be 14 years since my mom left this realm. And this year my grief has felt different. In December I had my first large dose psilocybin session at a healing center in Eugene Oregon with my beautiful IPI cohort, as a part of our training to be Psychedelic Assisted Therapists. I recall crying from the depths of my being in a room with other therapists and facilitators; my needs particularly attended to by my amazing sitter and fellow EMDR therapist Rich. I will be forever changed and grateful for the experience.
Since then I have noticed a shift. Of course the loss and sorrow is still there but it feels less intense and softer. And I am more easily able to recognize my grief and allow myself to feel it, whether it is related to environmental degradation, other social injustices, a relationship not working out, or life transitions/endings.
And there is more space to recognize the love alongside the grief, despite how complicated it feels at times.
PAT (Psychedelic Assisted Therapy) is not the only way to process your grief and everyone’s grief and needs are different, and there are many rituals and ways to be seen either by another trusted individual or group setting.
However, if you plan to engage in Psilocybin Assisted Therapy there are regulated healing centers in CO and OR with trained facilitators who hold the medicine with reverence, having you partake in a clinical screening to ensure you are a good fit, multiple preparation sessions and post journey integration sessions which are integral to the experience.