Schedule

9:30 – 10:00AM // Arrival and Registration 

10:00am – 10:15AM // Opening Remarks and Grounding with Alexander Warnow, LMFT

10:15AM – 11:00AM // Sandra Dreisbach, MA, PhD – “The Ethics of Integration”

Journey within your sense of self and personal values in community. Explore meaning making through engaged workshop exercises and ethics practices to support a deeper grounded experiences of conscious integrity. Including meditation, written reflections, archetype work, community sharing and cocreating ethical energy exchange.

Sandra is an Ethicist and Psychedelic Ethics specialist with a MA, Phd in Philosophy exploring Ethical Decision Making and Moral Psychology. She is an Ethics Advisor active in Psychedelic Integration, Therapy, Education and Advocacy as well as a Psychedelic facilitator and leader of the Santa Cruz Psychedelic Society. Sandra also teaches Bioethics at University of California, Santa Cruz for the Biomolecular Engineering and Philosophy Departments, has worked for many years in the tech industry primarily at Apple, and is a Reiki Master in two lineages.  Sandra focuses on listening and uplifting the voices and values of the Psychedelic Community especially the disenfranchised with the heart space intention of compassion and love.

11AM – Noon // Krisztina Lazar – “Alligator Lizards in the Air: Integration Through Creative Expression”

Creative expression is a way to integrate phenomenon and visions experienced in altered states of consciousness, whether they be meditative or entheogenic in nature. Pencils, crayons, and markers will be available for everyone to use along with paper and canvas. Krisztina Lazar will be your visionary guide in creativity and will help you realize your experience before your eyes. No art background needed. All you need is an open mind and a willingness to explore.

Finding a visual expression through beauty and kitsch, grace and grit, the ridiculous and the sublime, my work draws from the nostalgic perspective of art nouveau and 60’s psychedelica, attempting to navigate the poles between the populace and the elitist conceptions of imagery. The symbology I depict is a language of ideas and interactions that function as a microcosm of images in it of itself within the macrocosm of broader inter-related ideas.

Noon – 12:15PM // Morning Break

12:15PM – 1:00PM // Dr. Manesh Girn – “The Neuroscience of Integration”

Psychedelics are known to induce rapid and often long-lasting changes in our behaviour and mental health. Neuroscience research related to this ability has foregrounded the concept of ‘neuroplasticity’, a buzz word which refers to the ability of the brain to create or re-organize connections between neurons. In scientific contexts, neuroplasticity has begun to usurp mystical experiences as the holy grail of psychedelic effects – to the extent that some researchers have argued that the psychedelic experience itself may be an inconsequential side effect of underlying changes in neuroplasticity. In this presentation, I will provide a guided tour through what exactly neuroplasticity is, the ways in which psychedelics affect it, and how it can be best harnessed for personal transformation and behaviour change in the context of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. The discussion will be framed using concepts from the latest theoretical frameworks in psychology and neuroscience, drawing heavily on the concept of ‘self-directed neuroplasticity’. Expect to leave this presentation with an informed and practical understanding of neuroplasticity that can be applied both in your own life, and in the context of working with others.

I’m a psychedelic neuroscientist with my feet both in academia and industry. I work at the intersection of neuroscience, mental health, and optimal functioning. My passionate interest in psychedelics has led me to develop extensive expertise on the neurobiological, psychological, and clinical research on these drugs and related topics, and I apply this knowledge towards several ends. I regularly act as a scientific consultant to companies with an interest in psychedelics/mental health/wellness, offering my expertise related to to neural and psychological data collection and/or analysis, study/clinical trial design, IP development, and related topics.

1:00PM – 2:00PM // Catered Lunch from Mint Leaf Vientamese Restaurant 

Vegetarian with gluten-free options.

2:00PM – 2:45PM // Dr. Ido Cohen – “The Golden Shadow: Integrating Hidden Gold and the Unimaginable”

Carl Jung’s archetypal ideas of shadow and shadow work are widely used terms in the psychotherapeutic, psychedelic and spiritual worlds, yet used with a narrow and limiting perspective. Usually referring to the traumatic, unwanted, unpleasant aspects of ourselves and the collective, there is also a shadow that is golden. The aspects of our psyche and soul that carry the creative, sexual, authentic aspects we had to repress, as well as psycho-spiritual aspects of us we do not know are in us – the golden shadow. These aspects are extremely challenging to integrate , at times more then our darker shadow. This talk will discuss and engage us in seeing shadow in its fullest expression.

Dr. Ido Cohen, Psy.D – serves individuals, couples and groups in San Francisco. He received his Psy.D from the California Institute of integral studies and trained at the Jung Institute In San Francisco. He works with a diverse range of challenges childhood trauma, inner critic, relationship and intimacy challenges, lack of fulfillment, psychospiritual growth as well as psychedelic integration and preparation sessions with individuals and groups. His doctoral study researched the integration process of Ayahuasca ceremonies, while applying Jungian psychology to better understand how to support individuals in their process of change and transformation. He is currently finishing a study on the use of psychedelics in couples. He is the founder of “The Integration Circle” and facilitates workshops on the different dimensions of integration and the intersection of mental health, spiritual health and the entheogenic experience. Ido is passionate in supporting individuals to create long term, sustainable change leading to intimate, authentic, expressive and love filled lives. In his free time he likes to find new paths in nature with his dog Luna, marvel at art, write, create and connect with his community.

2:45PM – 3:30PM // Isabel Santis, PhD(C), MA – “Adapting Dreamwork Techniques for Meaning Making in Psychedelic Journeys”

It is generally agreed that meaning-making is an essential component of psychedelic integration. In this experiential workshop, we will explore a variety of techniques adapted from dreamwork and depth psychology to support client’s exploration and understanding of their experience. Much of the content of psychedelic experiences, like in dreams, is communicated largely through symbols, archetypes and metaphors. Participants will get an opportunity to experience different techniques that can be used for exploring multiple layers of meaning of psychedelic journeys.

Isabel Santis is the Director of Integration for Beckley Retreats and the Creator of Spiral Journey Integration®. She is an Integrated Somatic Trauma Therapy practitioner, EcoTuner, Shamanic Practitioner, and Trauma-Informed Positive Psychology Coach. She has a MA in Transformative Leadership and is currently finishing her PhD in East-West Psychology. Since 2005, she has been offering education, harm reduction, preparation, and integration support to individuals engaging in intentional work with psychedelics. Isabel is passionate about supporting her clients in finding their Self-leadership and engaging fully with life. Central to her methodology is the facilitation of profound explorations within the realms of our internal landscapes. Drawing from her expertise in dreamwork, shamanic practices, eco-psychology, somatic practices, depth psychology, and expressive art therapy, she guides individuals through a transformative journey. Her goal is to enable people to translate insights gained from expanded states of consciousness into tangible life changes, fostering positive narratives that sustain ongoing personal growth.

3:30PM – 3:45PM // Afternoon Break

3:45PM – 4:30PM // Isaac Meadow – “Integrating Adverse Experiences “

We’ll crowd-source types of adverse experiences people encounter. We’ll discuss some of the shadow forces at play when adverse experiences happen (money, legal fears, reputation, license, etc) as well as counter-transference issues like wishing to rescue, problem solve, etc. We’ll break into dyads for a mini role-play of integration session with disappointed client. We’ll discuss resources for clients AND guides: consultation, additional follow-up, and more. 

I am currently a psychotherapist in private practice and program director at Medicine Earth. Since I was a teenager I’ve been in professional roles of supporting people to live happier, healthier, and more connected lives. In the past decade as a therapist, I’ve centered my work on supporting people through altered states, and integrating the insights gained in our sessions. Most recently, I’m newly inspired to help couples find a sustained and embodied felt experience of healthy relationships: with each other and also with self, with body, with the Earth, with spirit, and with those close in our hearts. Having healthy relationships takes work and takes consistent practice. I’m constantly humbled, and learning too.

4:30PM – 5:30PM // Florie St. Aime, LCSW – “Integration of the Relational Field”

Integration within the Western medical frame is characterized as “client led” and accepted in other cultures as practitioner led. Here we will dive into the third and most profound leader of integration, cultural norms. In this workshop we will feel into the cultural norms and beliefs that influence practitioner and journeyer. They dictate what is attended to, and how experiences are interpreted and what matters. Cultural influences often exist assumed and unchallenged between and around the practitioner and client, in their relational field. We will aim to bring those influences from invisible to visible creating more choice, possibility and liberation in the integration experience.

Florie St. Aime is a LCSW born, raised, working and living in Brooklyn NY, describes herself as an anti-oppression based clinician. This label roots her work in naming and blaming social constructs instead of individuals; encouraging healing and self-care as resistance; and reintroducing human connection and acts of love as radical action. Florie does this through a variety of mediums including organizing/activism, group facilitation/workshops and individual counseling.

5:30PM – 6:30PM // Roundtable Discussion and Integration of the Summit with Presenters, facilitated by Alexander Warnow, LMFT

6:30PM – 9:30PM // Ecstatic Dance with DJ Neptune