Trip therapy

About me

My passion and mission is to facilitate as many people as possible with trauma-related complaints using methods that really work. Based on this deeply felt intention, I have now been able to guide more than 2,000 people. Many did not even realize that their complaints were trauma related.

I am an expert in the field of trauma. I had developed Complex PTSD from childhood trauma. And as a result, I developed depression several times at a young age. When I was around 20, 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 the age of 26, I had a relationship crisis, which triggered my attachment trauma. Because of this I went through what is also called “the dark night of the soul”. I looked for happiness outside of myself in love with her. When I could do nothing but let go and surrender to the pain of the feeling of abandonment, a very deep religious experience arose. Carl Jung calls it the numinous experience of the archetype of the Self. Another calls it a spiritual awakening, in Zen it is called a Satori experience.

This experience changed me so profoundly that I started living my life with more depth and purpose and started following my intuition. I lived with the question: “What does life, or call it God, want from me? What should I do, what is my calling?” This question led me to the Trappist Monastery. I felt very clearly: “I have to be here”. I didn't know why or for how long. But I left that open. I wanted to research it for six months. And after living with the monks as a novice for three months, I knew: “I have to become a therapist with all my experience.” Through inner guidance and 'coincidence' I ended up at the Training to become a Jungian Philosophical Therapist. I started this 4-year course in 1998. This is what Jung himself calls Synchronicity (meaningful coincidence).

I say this because much scientific research has shown that psychedelics can give you an authentic religious or mystical experience that can completely change your life in a positive way. I wish this for everyone and that one does not, and for this you do not have to wait, to speak in religious terms, for 'the grace of God'.

The philosopher and neuroscientist Michiel van Elk, who calls himself a skeptical and down-to-earth researcher, writes in his book: 'A down-to-earth view of psychedelics': “Give someone a high dose of Psilocybin, LSD, or DMT and you can predict the likelihood that that person will have an intense life-changing experience.”

In addition to depth psychology, I also came into contact with Stanlislav Grof during the Jung training. 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 arose. In the years that followed, I continued to immerse myself in 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 started delving into the Internal Family System (IFS), one of the fastest growing and evidence-based psychotherapeutic methods of our time. For example, I read what an MDMA session can do from the IFS model. That resonated strongly and brought back memories of my own healing experience with MDMA as a 20-year-old.

Shortly afterwards I came across 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, I first wanted to delve deeper into PAT and took additional training. This confirmed that my background in IFS and related methods and the training that I have been giving for more than 12 years in, among other things, Mindfulness and Self-compassion, fit in perfectly and are used as psychotherapeutic modalities at PAT.

This woman, who approached me, turned out to have severe complaints and severe self-loathing due to her childhood traumas. She had already had psychotherapy for years, which did help her, but certainly not enough. And she wanted to process her traumas through a PAT session. We entered into this in a PAT process. And in her words:

“Ronald, this has had an even greater positive impact than I could have dreamed of, I went from self-hate to self-love in one PAT session.”

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

Specialism

Thanks to the following courses, I have learned a lot to be able to work with people who suffer from trauma-related complaints. 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 can arise during a trip experience, where necessary and to integrate them into daily life.

Psychodrama Therapist Psychodrama. In the program Zomergasten, Bessel van der Kolk, an authority in trauma processing, explains that psychodrama, and Mindfulness, which I will come back to later, is one of the methods for working effectively on trauma processing. To train myself even better in this, I took the in-depth training 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 psychotherapeutic courses offer clear and very helpful models to work with, before, during and after the PAT or Trip session. IFS appears to be one of the most helpful and psychotherapeutic modalities to work in psychedelic-assisted therapy.

Mindfulness and Compassion Trainer. These methods are also very helpful in amplifying 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 outside, a message comes, the call, to do a trip session (to stay in this context). If you ignore these you will get an even clearer call. Perhaps by experiencing more physical or mental complaints. If you are not listening yet, the third call may come in the form of a crisis. The question: do you dare to say yes to this call, or do you feel resistance and refuse? Once you say yes, you enter the next phase.

2. Overcoming old power
If you say yes to the call to follow your heart, to do what you have to do now, then you enter this second phase. And here the point is that you see through and let go of old beliefs and conditionings and say yes radically. The old power can also arise from outside, that others hold you back due to their prejudices, for example. But mostly and above all it is an inner process.

3. Allies and mentors
Did you say yes wholeheartedly? Then you will encounter allies and mentors on your path. For example, you found this website. Or possibly a book that will help you further. Or someone who has previously undergone a trip session. But this also refers to your inner help vouchers.

In the preparation phase. Before you start the next phase, preparation for the trip session is very important. That is why we create an action plan based on the outcome of the digital intake, in which you have entered your (medical) details. 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.

A preparatory meeting will take place with me via Zoom or telephone. This is to clarify your intention. 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 tough experience
3. But know that it is safe to dive deep inside (into the body).

As additional support, I will provide you with audio files to help you develop mindfulness and self-compassion to help you feel good about yourself Hero's trip to prepare.

4. Descent into the underworld
This is the trip session itself. Many metaphors apply here. Here you can encounter your inner dragons and demons, what Carl Jung calls 'the shadow'. And by 'staying in the eye of the storm' at such a moment, as it were, by mindful and compassionate observation, these will transform. In India this is also called 'Embracing the tiger'. Psychedelics help you in and through this process in a very powerful and loving way. One of my Buddhist teachers Lama Tsultim Allione speaks about 'Feeding your Demons'. Through this process, which you go through during the trip session, your inner demons transform into true allies. Trust that the unconscious and the body, which you take a deep dive into, are infinitely intelligent and will give you what you need now. Remember the ABCs of the mindset from the third phase, and dig in your pearls!

5. Discovery of the Grail
After the fourth phase, at the end or in the trip, you can 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 phase:
“When someone dies for his little self and starts living from spirit, he goes beyond contradictions 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 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 doctor, identifies trauma healing as the most essential way to reconnect with your true Self.

In the sobering phase. We will carefully start talking again and look together at what your psychedelic experience can mean for you. We look at which one, so to speak pearls you have emerged from the depths of the ocean.

6. Stabbing and betrayal
This is the phase after the trip session. It is important here to stay true to what you learned and discovered in your Hero's Trip. Can you stay true to yourself? By not denying yourself and the lessons? How are you going to integrate what you have learned and what you need to do now? I am happy to help you with this using the 4 steps from the ACE model:

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

And to live life more mindfully and compassionately, and to live more Self-guided (instead of from inner patterns and defenses), you will have access to meditations in the form of audio files.

7. Return to the light
And here is the challenge to stand in your strength and resume normal everyday life with the question: “Have you become the embodiment of the lessons you experienced during 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
The challenge here is that you can both be Whole and maintain a connection with your true Self in relation to what you have to put into the world. To live a Self-directed 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?

Do you use 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 been using for years. They reinforce and complement each other. It is an enrichment for myself and for the person I guide and offers the opportunity 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 provide an authentic mystical experience, which completely changed my life in a positive way.

In addition to my experience with MDMA since 1990, I have done several Ayahuasca weekends. I have strongly experienced how important it is to set a clear intention. And how much benefit I had from my mindfulness practice in letting go and surrendering to the process. My insights from Jungian psychology allowed me to go deeper and gain more insights. I then really entered the underworld and my deepest intention came true.

My experiences with psilocybin have 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 all-encompassing. I expected it to be less deep and beneficial than with Ayahuasca, but the opposite is true (for me at least). After the ceremony I also noticed that persistent patterns, which still bothered me in certain situations despite a lot of inner work, have greatly reduced or completely disappeared.

My work area

Book a psychedelic session

I am currently working with MDMA and psilocybin (magic truffles) as a psychedelic tool. You can book a session with me by using the booking form. Click on the button below to make a reservation. If you have not yet completed the intake, it is better to do so first before setting a date. After completing the intake, we will determine whether psilocybin or MDMA therapy is a safe option for you.