Trip Therapy

About me

My passion and mission is to facilitate as many people as possible with trauma-related symptoms from methods that really work. From this deeply felt intention, I have now been able to guide more than 2000 people. Many of them did not even realize that their complaints were trauma related.

In the field of trauma, I am an expert by experience. From childhood traumas I had developed Complex PTSD. And from that, at a young age, I suffered multiple depressions. When I was around 20 years old someone gave me half an MDMA pill. This was such a profound and healing experience for me. I thought, "everyone should experience this!" I immediately came out of my depression. That was the beginning of a happier, more meaningful and adventurous life

At age 26, I had a crisis on a relational level, which triggered my attachment trauma. This put me through, what is also called "the dark night of the soul." I sought happiness outside of me in love with her. When I could do nothing but let go of this and surrender to the pain of feeling abandoned, a very deep religious experience occurred. Carl Jung calls it the numinous experience of the archetype of the Self. Another calls it a spiritual awakening; in Zen they call it a Satori experience.

This experience changed me so profoundly that I began to live my life with more depth and purpose and to follow my intuition. I lived with the question, "What does life, or call it God, want from me? What is there for me to do, what is my calling?" This question led me to the Trappist monastery. I felt very clearly, "I have to be here." I did not know why or for how long. But I left that open. I wanted to explore it for six months. And after three months of living internally as a novice with the monks I knew: "I must become a therapist with all my experience." Through inner guidance and ´coincidence´ I ended up at the Training for Jungian Philosophical Therapist. I started this 4-year training in 1998. This is what Jung himself calls Synchronicity (meaningful coincidence).

I tell this because after much scientific research it has been shown, that through psychedelics you can have an authentic religious or mystical experience that can totally change your life in a positive sense. This I wish for everyone and that one does not, and for this you do not have to, to speak in religious terms, wait for "the grace of God.

The philosopher and neuroscientist Michiel van Elk, who calls himself a skeptical and sober researcher, writes in his book, "A Sober View of Psychedelics," "Give someone a high dose of Psilocybin, LSD, or DMT and you can predict with a probability bordering on certainty that that person will go through an intense life-changing experience.

In the Jung training, in addition to depth psychology, I came into contact with Stanlislav Grof. He is an authority in therapy with psychedelics. And from this he developed Holotropic Breathwork. I also came into contact with Eastern psychology and philosophy. This is where my interest in Buddhist psychology and Mindfulness, among others, originated. In the years that followed, I continued to study and be trained in Eastern and Western (psycho)therapies and methods.

A friend of mine, a regular psychotherapist, pointed me to the book "Expand Your Mind" by Michael Pollan. This sparked my interest in Psychedelic Assisted Therapy (PAT). A little later I delved into Internal Family System (IFS), one of the fastest growing and evidence-based psychotherapeutic method of our time. So I read what an MDMA session can do viewed from the IFS model. That resonated strongly and evoked memories of my own healing experience with MDMA as a 20-year-old.

Shortly thereafter, I met someone who expressed her desire to undergo a PAT session. I felt inside: "I can and want to do that". In order to be able to guide her properly in this, I first wanted to deepen my knowledge of PAT and had further training. Thus it was confirmed that my background in IFS and related methods as well as the trainings I have been giving for over 12 years in Mindfulness and Self-Compassion, among others, fit perfectly and are used as psychotherapeutic modalities with PAT.

So this woman, who approached me, turned out to have severe symptoms from her childhood traumas and severe self-hatred. She had been in psychotherapy for years, which had helped her, but certainly not enough. And she wanted to process her traumas through a PAT session. In a PAT process we entered into this. And to use her words:

"Ronald, this has had an even greater positive impact than I had dreamed, I went from self-hatred to self-love in one PAT session."

Now I knew for sure, this is my new calling, this completes my life journey as an Experiential Therapist, Psychosocial Therapist and Mindfulness and Compassion based trainer. And I can facilitate people with trauma related symptoms even better, so they can live a happier and fulfilled life.

Specialty

Thanks to the following trainings, I have learned a lot to be able to work with people suffering from trauma-related complaints, among other things. This gives me the necessary experience, vision and approach to work carefully in psychedelic assisted therapy.

Jungian Philosophical Therapist. This training in depth psychology has taught me, among other things, to interpret the symbols from the unconscious, which may come up during a trip experience, where necessary, and to integrate them into daily life.

Psychodrama Therapist Psychodrama. In the program Zomergasten (Summer guests) Bessel van der Kolk, an authority in trauma processing, tells that psychodrama, and Mindfulness, which I will come back to later, is one of the methods to work well on trauma processing. To further educate myself in this, I took the in-depth course TSM Therapeutic Spiral Model. This is an integration of classical psychodrama, attachment theory and recent developments in interpersonal neurobiology and trauma theory.

Master Voice Dialogue and Transformational Psychology and Internal Family System (IFS). These two psychotherapy courses provide clear and very helpful models to work with, prior to, during and after the PAT or Trip session. IFS appears to be one of the most helpful and psychotherapeutic modalities to work with in psychedelic assisted therapy.

Mindfulness and Compassion Trainer. These methods are also very helpful in enhancing the power of working with psychedelics. Both mindfulness and self-compassion skills are supportive before, during and after the trip session.

My approach

The Hero's Trip

1. Call to adventure
From within you feel, or from without, comes a message, the call, to do a trip session (to stay in this context). If you ignore it, you will receive an even clearer call. Perhaps by getting more physical or mental symptoms. If you still don't listen, the third call may come in the form of a crisis. The question: do you dare say yes to this call, or do you feel resistance and refuse? Once you say yes, then you enter the next phase.

2. Overcoming old power
If you say yes to the call, to follow your heart, to do what you are now called to do, then you enter this second phase. And here it's about seeing through and letting go of old beliefs, conditioning, and saying yes radically. The old power can also present itself from outside, that others are holding you back by their prejudices, for example. But mostly and most of all it is about an inner process.

3. Allies and mentors
Have you said yes wholeheartedly? Then you will meet allies and mentors on your path. For example, you may have found this website. Or possibly a book that helps you further. Or someone who has undergone a trip session themselves before. But this also refers to your inner helpers.

In the phase of preparation. Before you start the next phase, the preparation for the trip session is very important. Therefore we make a plan of action, based on the outcome of the digital intake, in which you have filled in your (medical) data. Based on this we will determine whether you are missing certain substances and if necessary you will receive advice on lifestyle factors (nutrition, sleep and biorhythm, stress and relaxation, exercise, mindfulness, behavior and habit) and additional supplements.

There is a preliminary conversation with me via Zoom or phone. This is to get your intention clear. And to ensure the right mindset:

1. Choose to let go and take a deep dive and descent
2. Accept that it can be a very beautiful and beneficial but also a spicy experience
3. But know that it is safe to dive deep inside (into the body)

As additional support for this, you will receive audio files from me to develop mindfulness and self-compassion to prepare you well for your Hero's Journey.

4. Descent into the Underworld
This is the trip session itself. Many metaphors apply here. Here you may encounter your inner dragons and demons, what Carl Jung calls "the shadow. And by staying in such a moment, as it were, "in the eye of the storm," by observing mindfully and compassionately, these will transform. In India this is also called 'Embracing the tiger'. In a very powerful and loving way, psychedelics help you in and through this process. One of my Buddhist teachers Lama Tsultim Allione talks about "Feeding your Demons. Through this process, which you go through in the trip session, your inner demons transform into true allies. Trust that the unconscious mind and body, which you are taking a deep dive into, are infinitely intelligent and will give you what you need right now. Recall the ABCs of mindset from the third stage, and dive into your pearls!

5. Discovery of the grail
After the fourth stage, at the end or in the trip, you may experience the feeling of Wholeness, radical self-acceptance and love. A glimpse of your true nature, the Buddha nature or Self. In the famous words of the Hopi Indians, "You Are the One You've Been Waiting For."

Joseph Campbell writes the following about this stage:
"When a person dies to his little self and begins to live from spirit, he moves beyond opposites to a state of divine knowledge, love, compassion and transcendental happiness. All previous steps in the adventure are aimed at purifying and preparing the hero(s) for this step, because the treasure in myths is almost always something transcendent. It is in the deep darkness that we discover the treasure of life".

Gabor Maté, an authority in trauma healing and former addiction specialist, names as most essential in trauma healing to reconnect with your true Self.

In the phase during sobriety. We gently come back into conversation and together we look at what your psychedelic experience can do for you. We look at what pearls you have unearthed from the depths of the ocean, so to speak .

6. Dagger Sting and Betrayal
This is the phase after the trip session. Here it is important to stay true to what you learned and discovered in your Hero trip. Can you stay true to yourself? By not denying yourself and the lessons? How will you integrate what you have learned and what you have to do now? I would like to help you with this using the 4 steps from the ACE model:

1. Identify and name the pearls in your experience
2. See, explore how the pearls are connected to different aspects of your life
3. Set short, medium and long term goals linked to the pearls
4. Embody the beauty of experience in your life. Think of it as the dance between the Mystic and the Pragmatist in you!

And to be more mindful and compassionate in life, and to live more Self-guided (rather than from inner patterns and defenses), you will be given access to meditations in the form of audio files.

7. Return to the Light
And here the challenge of standing in your power and returning to ordinary everyday life with the question, "Have you become the embodiment of the lessons you experienced on your hero's journey? Are you beginning to recognize your own greatness and are you ready to return to the light?"

8. Master of 2 worlds
Here the challenge is that you can both be Whole, keep connection with your true Self in relation to what you have to put into the world. To live a Self-guided life. What does life, or call it Source, God, Spirit, want from me? Can I give myself permission to be Whole, Self-guided? Do I dare to live from freedom and wholeness, instead of making myself small by the "just act normal" conditioning?

Are you using the love and wisdom of Source in your daily life?

My own experience with psychedelics

For me, working with psychedelics is a powerful and beneficial addition and deepening of the methods I have used for many years. They reinforce and complement each other. It is an enrichment for myself and for those I may guide and offers the possibility to transform your life into a meaningful and happier life. As already described in 'About Me', research has shown that a high dose of Psychedelics can and very likely will give an authentic mystical experience, which totally changed my life in a positive way.

In addition to my experience with MDMA starting in 1990, I have done several Ayahuasca weekends. I experienced strongly how important it is to set a clear intention. And how great an advantage I had thanks to my mindfulness practice in letting go and surrendering to the process. Because of my insights from Jungian psychology, I was actually able to go deeper and gain more insights. I then truly entered the underworld and my deepest intention came true.

My experience with psilocybin has been in the form of truffle ceremonies under the guidance of Marcel, the founder of trip therapy. And honestly, I wouldn't know what to write about this because the experience was so intense and comprehensive. I expected it to be less deep and beneficial than Ayahuasca, but the opposite is true (for me at least). After the ceremony I also noticed that stubborn patterns, which still bothered me in certain situations despite a lot of inner work, are greatly reduced or completely gone.

My work area

Booking MDMA session

At the moment, I work only with MDMA as a psychedelic aid. You can book an MDMA session with me by using the booking form. Click the button below to make a reservation. If you have not yet filled out the intake please do so before setting a date. After completing the intake we will determine if MDMA therapy is a safe option for you.