It may seem farfetched to suggest that ayahuasca can work like a somatically based trauma therapist, but I’ve noted intriguing parallels between ayahuasca experiences and the process I’ve witnessed with trauma healing methods like EMDR and Somatic Experiencing. In this article, I’ll offer some empirical observations on how ayahuasca works with trauma, drawing on my background as a psychotherapist trained in EMDR and SE. Some of these I’ve seen in my work as an integration therapist; others I’ve noted in my own experiences.
This article was first published on chacruna.net. To read the full version, click here.
Realizations pursued for years in psychotherapy sometimes emerge spontaneously in a single ceremony, with the bone-deep understanding that, “Yes, there were bad circumstances in my life, but that doesn’t mean that I’m bad.” Knowing that what happened to you is simply what happened, and is not you, lies at the very heart of trauma healing.
