I began coaching at Soul Quest Ayahuasca Center in 2019, studying with Dr. Scott Irwin, a pioneer in the art of Integration Coaching, which is helping one understand their psychedelic experiences to transform trauma and heal to become their whole selves. To integrate. 

We’d meet with groups of 10 to 15 before their ayahuasca journeys to discuss their intentions for drinking the magical psychedelic jungle tea that tastes like dirt and afterwards share insights discovered during the 6 hour journey into their trauma and fears to finally feel what needed to be felt and find the perspective to forgive and release – their mothers and fathers, brothers, sisters, children, and most importantly, themselves.

It’s a gift to support people doing such deep, courageous work. The world needs courage today more than ever, the ability to hear one’s heart and become our authentic selves, and it radiated like the sun in those small groups.

I’ve coached youth sports since I was 15, and integration coaching is the same.  I study many philosophies, teachers, religions, histories, psychologies, mythologies, logic and more to apply different styles and perspectives depending on a person’s situation. Before journeys I would talk strategy with groups about how to sit in their Ayahusaca journeys and really go deep to find breakthroughs to heal. After their journeys we’d share triumphs and express deep pains we’d kept hidden from ourselves and the world forever but were now ready to let go of. Sometimes we’d win, sometimes we’d lose, but what mattered most was showing up. 

Whether using psychedelics or not, I think the work is the same – to bring the unconscious to consciousness and rediscover our true selves. Our suffering, whether it is depression, anxiety, addiction, self loathing, judgment, grief, apathy, etc, are not symptoms to be suppressed but messages from the soul that we’re not being our authentic selves. Plant teachers help by loosing the grip of our ego, by helping us remember and process deep feelings, by showing us connection and immense love. But they don’t do the work for us.  

In his autobiography, Jung writes: “The decisive question for man is: Is he related to something infinite or not? That is the telling question of his life. . . . If we understand and feel that here in this life we already have a link with the infinite, desire and attitudes change. In the final analysis, we count for something only because of the essential we embody, and if we do not embody that, life is wasted.” 

My goal as an integration coach is to help people rediscover the innate part of themselves that heals, expands, creates and loves.  So you realize once again that not only is life an adventure to be discovered – so are you.