My curiosity about Psychedelic Assisted Therapy (PAT) was first sparked in September 2021, during my training to become a person-centred psychologist. From the outset, it felt less like abstract fascination and more like a lived curiosity about the mind’s capacity to shift, reorganise, and find meaning through altered states of awareness.
Since then, I have been actively researching and engaging with this re-emerging field. I have been a member of the well-respected Institute of Psychedelic Therapy for several years and now part of their third cohort undertaking the intensive two-year training in Depth Relational Process.
Around the world, countries have been legalising psychedelic-assisted therapy to varying degrees, often within significant grey areas. The UK, meanwhile, is taking a careful, measured approach, waiting to see what the latest research reveals after decades of studies were largely halted during the ‘War on Drugs’ in the 1970s.
Reactions from Others
So how have people reacted to my curiosity? For some I just steer clear of even mentioning it. The polarised rhetoric of the War on Drugs runs so deep that even mentioning PAT can elicit cautious sidesteps or subtle eyerolls, so mostly I don’t even mention it. Others assume I’m revisiting some long-lost teenage rebellious streak. One of my adult children said ‘oh, the irony’. A few sigh knowingly, as if to say, “Yep, there she goes again, following her instincts off the well-trodden path.”
Others are more empathic and supportive and have taken time to understand what this means to me and how it’s integrating into the work I do. When I was at university, my Director of Studies, thankfully, had an optimistic take. She saw this curiosity as a genuine expression of pluralistic values, an openness to whatever the client brings, and a willingness to hold space for the psyche’s messy, beautiful self-actualising tendencies.
I’ve noticed things shifting though – when there was the BBC feature recently Should the NHS use magic mushrooms to treat mental health? – BBC News , for about two days, my WhatsApp lit up with friends asking questions, revising judgements, and trying to understand how it might impact themselves.
Integrating Brain, Body, and Creativity
It’s important to say that PAT did not appear in isolation. It sits alongside a constellation of other trainings that have consistently drawn me toward the deeper parts of the brain, where formal language is absent and experience is more closely tied to the body. Not only did I immerse myself deeply in person-centred training, I also delved into Brainspotting, sand tray work, and, latterly, breathwork. On the surface, these might seem unrelated, but they all share one thing: they are portals, offering a direct line to the deeper, non-verbal parts of the brain.
Alongside this, where it’s in attunement, I lightly integrate Jungian perspectives into my person-centred approach as a means of informing my empathic understanding. Working with universal archetypes offers a kind of map for people’s experiences. Archetypes can help clients see that they are not alone in the patterns, challenges, and transformations they face, and allow them to reach into themes that resonate across all of humanity. This can create a sense of belonging and continuity, supporting integration alongside the somatic and experiential work, whilst remaining fully present in uncertainty and honouring the client’s own frame of reference.
Brainspotting, breathwork, sand tray, Jungian archetypes, and indeed psychedelic-assisted work all invite us to give equal attention to the midbrain and the body, to sensations, images, impulses, and feelings that don’t always make tidy sense. Seen in that light, PAT doesn’t feel like a radical departure. It feels like a natural next chapter on a path I was already walking.
Extending from One-to-One to Group Work
Over time, this integrative approach has shaped not only my one-to-one clinical work but also my growing love of group spaces. In individual sessions, integration often involves slowing down and noticing shifts beneath the surface: changes in sensation, imagery, emotional tone, relational patterns, or a client’s felt sense of themselves. Brainspotting acts like a gentle compass, pointing to what the deeper brain wants to show without imposing direction.
Layer on breathwork, sand tray, and other creative approaches, and suddenly clients can explore in ways that feel playful, symbolic, and deeply personal. Group spaces, meanwhile, offer something entirely different: resonance, witnessing, and the comforting realisation that no one’s inner world is as weird or chaotic as they sometimes fear. Done with care, groups become a quiet powerhouse for reflection, nervous system regulation, and those little “Ah, that actually makes sense” moments.
The Preparation Retreat
From this emerged my preparation retreat. It weaves together Brainspotting, breathwork, and a range of creative and experiential ways of sharing information. It is designed for anyone whose curiosity about psychedelic-assisted therapy has been sparked, therapists wondering whether to point towards working in this field , or individuals wanting to exercise their autonomy and decide if this is a path they wish to explore, or for those who have already carved out this as their journey but are feeling some anxiety or curiosity about what this might entail.
Central to the retreat is a harm reduction framework. Rather than persuading or promoting psychedelic use, the emphasis is on informed choice, preparation, and integration. Participants are supported to understand risks, limits, and ethical considerations, while also developing internal resources like grounding, self-regulation, discernment, and relational support. It is about equipping people to meet whatever they encounter with confidence, curiosity, and care, rather than instructing them how to feel or act.
A Call to Curiosity
If any of this sparks interest, perhaps the invitation is simply to stay curious. Stay curious about how much of our inner world lives beyond words and insight, and about what happens when the thinking mind is asked to take a gentle step back. Stay curious about approaches that honour autonomy, discernment, and informed choice, and about preparation and integration as acts of care rather than chores. Stay curious about learning in ways that are creative, embodied, and relational, and about harm reduction as an ethical stance rooted in respect rather than fear. Stay curious about how group spaces can support reflection, resonance, and self-trust, and about what your own nervous system, imagination, and intuition might want to show you.
There is no requirement to move toward psychedelic work, nor to move away from it. The invitation is simply to engage thoughtfully, listen deeply, and allow space for your own knowing to emerge, at its own pace, in its own unpredictable, fascinating way.
