Weaving grief into life through expanded states of awareness
Loss is part of everyone’s life, but the loss of a child is an extraordinary wound that brings with it extraordinary pain, and just as the relationship between a parent and child is uniquely strong, so too is a bereaved parent’s grief.
We know that the bereavement experience of parents can be severe and long, that it usually brings with it intense yearning, extreme sadness, and a sense of isolation from others. But we know as well—because bereaved parents tell us so—that the pain of loss can remit over time, even if it doesn’t ever really go away.
There are so many changes that are continuing to unravel for me on a daily basis. But the biggest shift for me is that I no longer feel this giant hole of my daughter's absence every second of every day, and now it has been replaced with feeling her presence. I had always felt that she was here with me, but the feeling of her absence overshadowed that most of the time. Before our retreat, her death was always present for me, now I can remember her life with joy.
Brittany’s Mom, Participated March 2021
Sometimes, this process unfolds by itself.
But sometimes bereaved parents describe needing help to connect with themselves and with others and to return to a sense of engagement and meaning in their lives. For some parents, the customary types of assistance like bereavement support groups, grief-oriented psychotherapy, or even medication are not enough. Or sometimes these modes of support simply don’t feel right. Despite engaging with these therapies, parents might describe that they still can’t accept the reality of the loss of their child, or that they cannot fully reinvest in their relationships with the living, or that they cannot find joy in their life again. For these parents, we believe that healing is also possible.
This is such a powerful model that really and truly goes deep to the core of a grieving parent. It creates space and lets in air and light to such a deep dark place.
Zach’s Mom, Participated March 2021
Medical and psychological research strongly suggests that psychedelic-assisted therapies using medicines like psilocybin are powerfully effective in treating anxiety and depression.
In practice, our group has seen that psychedelic-assisted therapies are a powerful tool to facilitate healing for bereaved parents on a mental, emotional, and spiritual level.
We are a group of Jamaican, Canadian, and American therapists, physicians, and psychedelic guides who support bereaved parents through a six day retreat in Jamaica centered around two group mushroom experiences.
These are combined with extensive one-on-one work with therapists and guides to prepare for the retreat, and then to integrate the insights, emotional shifts, and spiritual gains of the retreat into your regular life after the retreat is over. Safety and support are prioritized within the context of a holistic program of activities that emphasizes connection to nature and incorporates personal and group ritual.
If I were to talk to a parent, I would say that this experience can be kind of like an off-ramp of your grief onto a new road where you can live with it. It gives you insight into your pain. It allows you to live with the pain because you've seen it, you've given it shape and form. For me, I can't imagine not having done this retreat. I would absolutely not be where I am now without it.
Zach’s Dad, Participated March 2021
