About me
My name is Cécile. I work as a tripsitter/coach for Triptherapie and can guide psychedelic sessions in French, English and Spanish (Not in Dutch).
As a tripsitter/space holder, I offer people like you a safe environment and proper guidance during a psychedelic session.
" By working on reconnecting with our true and deepest selves, learning to see our coping mechanisms for what they are, all in a compassionate way, we increase the chances of reducing the negativity of trauma in our bodies."
When I was in my early forties, I was married, had two children and a career in corporate finance, and was living in Amsterdam. A French citizen, I grew up in West Africa, travelled a lot and told anyone who would listen that I had the perfect childhood and that my life was easy.
One day all hell broke loose - I realised I could not stay in the toxic relationship I was in, I got two diagnoses of autoimmune diseases and my body stopped - to the point where I could no longer work in finance and turned into a coach. I slowly learned what C-PTSD looked like for me, repressed traumatic memories while raising two young children. Understanding two severe depressions from the past and finally exploring my own trauma with determination and patience.
I went to therapy several times, different modalities - while very helpful, the integration of the many insights I gained into lasting changes in my life, if any, was very slow and limited. I wanted more.I also had to find ways not to cope, but to thrive while receiving severe diagnoses. There was no way I could settle for the 'bio' approach that seemed to be the only one available: take the medication, make a few lifestyle changes to address the symptoms, and hope that the effect of the medication will not be fatal.
Everything changed when I was introduced to the work of Gabor Mate and the method he teaches: Compassionate Inquiry. Compassionate Inquiry® is a psychotherapeutic approach that Dr Gabor Maté created over decades while working with both patients and retreat participants. This approach gently uncovers the layers of childhood trauma, constriction and repressed emotions embedded in the body that underlie mental and physical illness and addiction.
It helped me integrate the cognitive trauma work I had been doing at a core level, initiating self-compassion, which I believe is the key to becoming whole again.
It helped me understand illness and what healing means on a whole new level.
Seeing how powerful this was, I dove into the one-year professional training, the 6-month mentorship and then the certification - and stayed involved with the organisation as a facilitator trainee, intern at Compassionate Inquiry Circles, now part of the team working to offer the professional training to a French-speaking audience of professionals
Specialism
Over time, I have also integrated different practices (somatic experience, IFS, breathwork, mindfulness) into my approach by constantly reading, learning from professionals and experiencing as a client.
Once certified, I practised Compassionate Inquiry, working with men and women to uncover their trauma and move towards becoming whole again, as free as possible from past reactivity, addiction and illness.
I started facilitating psychedelic experiences in 2023, at a time when it was clear to me that Compassionate Inquiry was the perfect complementary approach for it. After learning with established professionals in Amsterdam, I decided to undergo specialised training with Atira Tan & Devon Christie to ensure I had the best possible tools.
As a somatic psychedelic facilitator, my priority is to hold your experience in a space of impeccable safety, where I meet you with compassion, presence and resources for recovery. My role is to help you through this process without judgement, respecting your freedom of choice.
My approach
The digital intake form forms the basis of the action plan. In preparation for the session, you will receive personal lifestyle advice that is focused on your intention(s).
As a trip facilitator, I guide clients through each phase of the psychedelic experience (preparation, session and integration) with a focus on holistic well-being. My approach values equality and co-creation and provides a safe, supportive, non-judgemental atmosphere.
The beginning of the trip session is similar to talk therapy. In order to properly surrender to the process, I use relaxation exercises and healing music. After taking it, we will communicate less and less and ultimately leave words alone, after all, it is about the experience.
During the session I will be subtly attentive to you, at a location of your choice, so that you feel at ease. This way you can fully focus on the experience and the valuable insights that bring you closer to your goal or intention. While you sober up, we will carefully start talking again and look together at what your psychedelic experience can mean for you.
My own experience with psychedelics
When I was 18, I visited my family in Mexico. My older cousin introduced me to Peyote - I remember spending a few hours in awe on top of the Solar Pyramid in Teotihuacan, looking at the world around me with the amazing, intimate knowledge that the universe made perfect sense to me. There was no integration of this experience and it remained a one-off plunge into what I saw as a parallel universe.
When I was in my forties, after working on myself for a few years, I turned to Ayahuasca when I hit a wall. I didn't know how to climb or even what it could be made of. It taught me not only about grief, but also about sadness. It gave me so much more pain and grief than I had to deal with through integration in the following months. It showed me how resilient I was and gave me the assurance that I could get through anything.
When I wanted to dive in a bit more a few years later, psilocybin was proof: gentler on the body than Ayahuasca, yet powerful and insightful, allowing me to make lasting changes in my life.
What I have learned from my own experience, sometimes the hard way, is the importance of setting intention, integration, and as a woman, the primary need for a safe environment for the experience itself, when I am most vulnerable.
Reviews about Cécile
Often customer reviews give a better idea about how others experience Cécile as a trip counsellor. So if interested, read a few reviews to use multiple opinions to get your own idea about Cécile.
Contact Cécile
Would you like to get in touch with Cécile? You can send a direct mail to e-mail address cecile@triptherapie.nl or click the button below to email Cécile directly. Via the e-mail, you can also send a call request. See you soon!
Booking a session with Cécile
Before you book a session with me, it is advisable to first complete the intake so that my colleague can see whether you can undergo a psychedelic session. You can find the intake via the button below.
Field
I work on client premises. I can come to your (own) home, Airbnb, hotel or holiday home.
To reduce my workload, I prefer to drive no more than 45 minutes there and back from my home address in the Amsterdam Zuid region (Amstelveen), preferably outside rush hours. I then decide together with you the most suitable starting time for the session.
Broadly speaking, my scope of work is as follows:
Aalsmeer, Almere, Alphen aan den Rijn, Amsterdam, Amstelveen, Beverwijk, Haarlem, Heemskerk, Hoofddorp, IJmuiden, Leiden, Maarssen, Purmerend, Schiphol, Uitgeest, Utrecht and Zaandam.
The travel expenses I charge are 50 cents per km driven to and from postal code 1181CL.
Does your location fall (just) outside this working area? Send me an email and we will discuss the possibilities.
Psilocybin session with Cécile
You can come to me for psilocybin sessions. You can enter into this session individually or together with someone else such as your own partner or someone else you know well. Please use the button below to book a session with me or see my availability. If you want to book a day that is not in my calendar, please contact me at least a month in advance. I will be happy to discuss other possibilities with you.
