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  • ABOUT
    • Somatic Trauma Specialist
    • Speaker, Author, Educator
    • Women’s Rights Activist
  • WORK WITH ME
    • Somatic Trauma Resolution
    • Plant Medicine Integration
    • Coaching and Supervision
  • LEARN WITH ME
    • Somatic Psychedelic Facilitator Mentorship
    • Somatic Foundations for Psychedelic Practice
    • Trauma-Informed Plant Medicine Facilitation Program
    • Somatic Plant Medicine Integration Practitioner Training
    • Masterclasses
  • CONTACT
  • STUDENT LOGIN
Trauma Informed Plant Medicine Facilitation Programatiratan2020-12-26T10:00:53+00:00
No one should become too respected to be questione No one should become too respected to be questioned. In psychedelic and plant medicine spaces, reverence can easily become part of the relational field. A facilitator may be experienced, charismatic, deeply loved by a community, connected to a lineage, or seen as someone with unusual insight. But ethical maturity is not measured by how much authority we hold. It is measured by how we relate to that authority. Can we be questioned without becoming defensive? Can we recognise when admiration is becoming idealisation? Can we stay accountable when someone names discomfort, rupture or harm? Can we remain open to supervision, reflection and repair? Because the deeper the trust, the greater the responsibility. This is part of the work we explore inside Somatic Foundations for Safe Psychedelic Practice — how power, nervous system states, trauma adaptations, boundaries, consent and relational dynamics shape psychedelic care. The course is available on demand. Comment SOMATIC and I’ll send you the link. 🌿 #PsychedelicTherapy #TraumaInformedCare #SomaticTherapy #PsychedelicFacilitation #EthicalPractice
When the person we trusted to help us heal becomes When the person we trusted to help us heal becomes the person who causes the harm, the nervous system is left holding an impossible contradiction. The same person may represent safety, meaning, belonging, spiritual authority and deep attachment — while also becoming the source of fear, violation or betrayal. Psychologically, this can create profound confusion. A survivor may ask: Did I misunderstand what happened? Was this part of the process? Why do I still feel attached to them? Why didn’t I leave? Why do I still want their approval? And we also need to name something clearly: the sheer amount of abuse that has been disclosed and documented across spiritual, religious and healing communities cannot simply be dismissed as a few isolated “bad apples”. Where there is reverence, hierarchy, secrecy, idealisation and unequal power, there is also potential for exploitation. And when the community protects the healer, minimises what happened, reframes it as “healing”, or says “that’s just how they are”, the injury deepens. This is why the psychology of harm in psychedelic and spiritual spaces cannot be reduced to: “Why didn’t they just say no?” For me, this is exactly why safeguarding has to be relational, trauma-informed and structural. Inside Somatic Foundations for Safe Psychedelic Practice, we explore the foundations of trauma-informed, somatic and relationship-centred psychedelic care — including nervous system literacy, dissociation, activation, agency, boundaries, parts work, preparation, ceremony and integration. The course is now available on demand. Comment SOMATIC and I’ll send you the link. 🌿 #PsychedelicTherapy #TraumaInformedCare #PsychedelicFacilitation #SomaticTherapy #EthicalPractice
I feel deeply grateful to have had Ben Garfield as I feel deeply grateful to have had Ben Garfield as part of my Mentorship Program and to have witnessed his unique journey throughout our time together. Thank you, Ben, for your trust, your openness, and the heartfelt words you have shared about your experience. It has been such a joy and an honour to walk alongside you on this path. 🌸 💚 Would you like to hear more about Ben’s journey and his experience in the Mentorship Program? 🎥 Watch his full testimonial on my YouTube channel and discover his personal reflections, insights, and experiences. Comment YOUTUBE for the Link 🌿 or find the full video through the link in my bio! With love and gratitude, Atira #AtiraTan #SomaticMentorship #TraumaInformedPractice #PsychedelicIntegration #SomaticHealing #PsychedelicFacilitation #MentorshipJourney
Sexual harm in psychedelic spaces is not a margina Sexual harm in psychedelic spaces is not a marginal issue. Around 8% of 307 ayahuasca users reported at least one sexual boundary violation (Brown, 2020). In another study, 7.9% of 1,221 psychedelic users reported knowing someone, including themselves, who had experienced inappropriate sexual contact by a sitter, guide or practitioner (Kruger et al., 2025). And in a 2026 US study, 7.2% of 1,964 participants reported sexual assault while under the influence of psychedelics (Chwyl et al., 2026). These numbers ask something of us as practitioners. ⚖️ How are we addressing power before someone enters an altered state? 🫱 How do we protect consent when someone freezes, fawns or becomes highly suggestible? 🚪 And if harm happens, does the person know exactly where they can turn? Safety needs clear boundaries, accountability, trauma-informed consent and systems that do not depend on the authority of one facilitator. ⸻ Sources Brown, J. (2020). Ethical transgressions and boundary violations in ayahuasca healing contexts: A mixed methods study. Kruger, D. J., et al. (2025). Psychedelic therapist sexual misconduct and other adverse experiences among a sample of naturalistic psychedelic users. Psychedelic Medicine, 3(1), 41–47. Chwyl, C., et al. (2026). Prevalence and predictors of sexual and physical violence during psychedelic use in a US population-based study. World Psychiatry. Peluso, D. M. (2023). Chacruna survey results on the awareness of sexual abuse in ayahuasca settings. Chacruna Institute. #PsychedelicSafety #TraumaInformed #PsychedelicFacilitation #ConsentMatters #SexualViolencePrevention
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