Between dark and light
For when something opened that you don't know how to close. Or shouldn't close. Or need help understanding before you decide.
Maybe it was ketamine, psilocybin, MDMA, ayahuasca. Maybe it was last week or six months ago.
And now you're carrying something you weren't carrying before.
It might look like:
Memories you didn't know you had — Images, sensations, or fragments from childhood that surfaced without warning. You're not sure if they're real. You're not sure what to do with them. They won't stop replaying.
Grief that doesn't have a name yet — Something broke open and you've been crying for days—or you can't cry at all but the weight is unbearable. You're mourning something you can't explain to anyone.
Your sense of self just shifted — Everything you thought you knew about yourself, your family, your life—it's all rearranged now. You saw something true and you can't unsee it. But you also can't integrate it into ordinary life.
Shame that came roaring back — Maybe queer shame. Religious shame. Body shame. The stuff you thought you'd processed years ago returned with full force and hasn't left.
You can't stop dissociating — The journey ended but you don't feel like you came back. You're foggy, disconnected, watching yourself from a distance. Your body doesn't feel like yours.
You glimpsed something profound and it's slipping away — The insight felt so clear, so important. Now it's fading and you're terrified you'll lose it entirely—or you'll go back to being who you were before.
You're more destabilized than before you started — You went in hoping for healing and came out worse. More anxious. More depressed. More confused. And now you don't know who to talk to because most therapists don't understand.
The experience cracked something open. But opening isn't the same as healing.
You need someone who can help you make sense of what happened—without rushing you toward meaning, without pathologizing the experience, and without letting you spiral alone.
"we are voyagers, discoverers of the not-known, the unrecorded; we have no map."
— H.D., The Trilogy
Integration isn't about declaring what the experience "meant." It's not spiritual bypassing dressed up as therapy. And it's not a clinician who's never sat with psychedelic material treating you like you're fragile or delusional.
What helps is someone who takes the experience seriously and knows how to work with trauma when it surfaces.
That's what I offer.
I'm a trauma therapist with specialized training in psychedelic-assisted therapy. I work with people who've had experiences—legal or otherwise—and need help processing what came up.
If you're still destabilized: We start with grounding and stabilization. You don't need to make meaning of anything yet. First we help your nervous system feel safe enough to land.
If trauma surfaced: We process it using EMDR, Brainspotting, or Flash Technique—the same evidence-based modalities I use with all trauma clients. The psychedelic context doesn't change the clinical approach. Trauma in the body is trauma in the body.
If you're sitting with big questions: Who am I without my defenses? What does my history actually mean? How do I want to live now? This is where my existential-phenomenological training meets the material psychedelics often surface.
If you want to do more journeys: We talk honestly about whether that's actually what you need—or whether integration of what you've already seen is the real work. If you move forward, we discuss harm reduction, preparation, intention, and set/setting.
What I don't do:
For legal ketamine therapy, I offer full KAP services through Journey Clinical—preparation, dosing sessions, and integration.
I'm a trauma therapist with specialized training in psychedelic-assisted therapy and integration. I work with people who've had experiences—legal or otherwise—and need help processing what came up.
Integration therapy with me includes:
Psychedelics can surface trauma. They don't resolve it.
If you're a trauma survivor, psychedelic experiences can be especially intense—and especially risky without skilled support afterward.
What happens without proper integration:
Psychedelics are not inherently therapeutic. What makes them therapeutic is what happens before and after—the preparation, the set, the setting, and most importantly, the integration.
The integration is where I come in. Learn more about my approach to trauma therapy →
Imagine the experience finally settling into place—not as something that happened to you, but as something you've metabolized. It's part of your story now, not a disruption you're still managing.
Imagine the insight that felt so urgent actually becoming concrete. You know what it means. You know what to do with it. And you're living differently because of it—not just remembering that you once saw something important.
Imagine trauma that surfaced getting fully processed. Not just witnessed during the journey, not just talked about afterward—actually resolved in your nervous system. The memory is still there, but the charge is gone.
Imagine the dissociation lifting. Your body feeling like yours again. The world coming back into focus.
Imagine being able to talk about what happened with someone who gets it. Who won't minimize it, spiritualize it away, or treat you like you're fragile. Just steady, grounded clinical support for an experience that deserves to be taken seriously.
Imagine the gap closing between who you were in that expanded state and who you are in daily life. Not chasing the next journey. Actually changed.
If you're still destabilized: We start with grounding and stabilization. You don't need to make meaning of anything yet. First we help your nervous system feel safe again.
If trauma surfaced: We process it using the same evidence-based modalities I use with all trauma clients—EMDR, Brainspotting, Flash Technique. The psychedelic context doesn't change the clinical approach. Trauma in the body is trauma in the body.
If you're sitting with big questions: We explore them together. Who am I without my defenses? What does my history actually mean? How do I want to live now? This is where my existential-phenomenological training meets the material psychedelics often surface.
If you want to do more journeys: We talk honestly about harm reduction, preparation, intention-setting, and whether more experiences are actually what you need—or whether integration of what you've already seen is the real work.
We go at your pace. Some people need 2-3 sessions to land the experience. Others stay for months processing what came up. There's no protocol. Just what you actually need.
The experience stops feeling like something you're managing and starts feeling like something you've absorbed.
The first time you realize you haven't dissociated in days. The moment you can think about what you saw without your chest tightening. The afternoon you notice you're just... here. Present. In your body. Not monitoring for the next wave.
Insights that felt urgent but vague become concrete—you know what they mean for how you want to live. Trauma that surfaced gets processed, not just witnessed. The shame that came roaring back loses its grip.
The gap between "journey self" and "everyday self" closes. You're not two people anymore.
You've had an experience—planned or unexpected, profound or terrifying—and you're carrying something you need help with.
Maybe you did ketamine therapy and the integration sessions weren't enough. Maybe you took psilocybin hoping it would help your depression and trauma came flooding up instead. Maybe you're months out from an ayahuasca ceremony and still don't know what to make of what you saw. Maybe you microdosed and something shifted that you didn't expect.
Maybe you're LGBTQ+ and queer shame surfaced—the stuff you thought you'd worked through years ago. Maybe you're a man and emotions broke through that you've never let yourself feel. Maybe religious trauma came up. Maybe you saw your family patterns with devastating clarity and don't know what to do with that knowledge.
Whatever happened, you don't have to figure it out alone.
Yes. Integration therapy is completely legal—we're processing your experience after the fact, not facilitating substance use. I work with people who've had experiences with any substance, legal or otherwise, and need help making sense of what came up.
That's exactly what integration is for. We start with stabilization and grounding—helping your nervous system feel safe again. Then we process what came up using trauma-informed approaches like EMDR, Brainspotting, or Flash Technique. A difficult experience doesn't have to stay destabilizing.
I can discuss harm reduction, intention-setting, set and setting, and what to expect—but I don't facilitate or attend illegal psychedelic experiences, help you access substances, or act as a ceremony guide. For legal ketamine therapy, I offer full preparation, dosing support, and integration through my KAP practice.
Friends can offer support and shared understanding, but they usually can't help you process trauma that surfaced, work with dissociation or destabilization, or integrate insights into lasting change. I'm a trauma therapist with specialized training in psychedelic-assisted therapy—I know how to work with the specific material psychedelics bring up.
It can be helpful for understanding your experience, but it's not required. What matters most is what came up for you and what you need support with now. You won't be judged regardless of what you share.
It varies widely. Some people need 2–3 sessions to land an experience and feel settled. Others stay for months processing trauma that surfaced or working through identity questions that emerged. There's no set protocol—we go at the pace you actually need.
If you are experiencing a difficult psychedelic experience and need immediate support, contact the Fireside Project at 623-473-7433 (62-FIRESIDE). For all crisis resources, see our FAQ page.