PSIP Therapy in Oregon | Low-Dose Ketamine for Trauma & Healing at OmTerra

The OmTerra Approach

OmTerra's therapeutic approach is grounded in the understanding that mental health issues often stem from biological responses to repressed or suppressed emotional charges. We believe that the autonomic nervous system (ANS) plays a fundamental role in processing trauma, and our therapy is built upon this foundation.

At OmTerra, we harness the body's innate ability to utilize the Autonomic Nervous System for trauma processing. We employ catalysts such as cannabis or ketamine to reduce executive function temporarily. Executive functioning is the part of the mind used to manage trauma, anxiety, and depression, while trauma and emotional charges reside in the primary consciousness. By temporarily disabling executive functioning, we open access to primary consciousness, making it easier to process trauma.

The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) Map

The ANS is a natural mechanism in all animals, including humans, that helps us process trauma. It operates in five distinct states:

State 0: This is the baseline, a state of calm and relaxation.
State 1: When startled or threatened, we enter a heightened state characterized by anxiety and hyper-vigilance.
State 2: As situations intensify, we might experience terror and panic, triggering the "fight or flight" response.
State 3: If things become overwhelming and escape seems impossible, we enter a state resembling "deer in the headlights," marked by hopelessness, nausea, and even suicidal thoughts. This marks the start of dissociation, a key focus in our therapy.
State 4: In the absence of resolution, we might "check out" or go blank, reaching the deepest level of dissociation.

Dissociation, while protective, can trap trauma and pain beneath its surface, making it difficult to heal.

A Message for Those Dealing with Trauma

It's crucial to understand that there is nothing inherently wrong with individuals facing trauma. What they're primarily experiencing are biological responses to trauma.

Importantly, the body has the capacity to heal itself, as it was the same body that entered these states of trauma in the first place. Our therapy, known as the PSIP model, aims to bring the body back to a state of equilibrium, clearing dissociation, and addressing suppressed memories and emotional charges.

The Off-Gassing Process

We liken trauma to a tightly inflated ball within the body. Every day, the body seeks to release the energy within this ball, a process we call "off-gassing." If not released, this energy manifests as anxiety, which, if left unchecked, can lead to states of dissociation, causing feelings of depression and hopelessness.

During your session we use a therapeutic process called Selective Inhibition (SI) which inhibits our standard coping mechanisms. By utilizing SI in combination with cannabis or ketamine, we activate your innate ANS pathway, allowing the held charge/emotions to arise in order to be processed and released. If there is heavy dissociation, you may experience feeling blank, numb, floaty, heavy and/or cold. Though these layers of dissociation were once needed, moving through them allows waves of held charge and emotions to release.

A Session at OmTerra

During a session, which typically lasts two to three hours, clients sit comfortably, wearing eyeshades and comfortable clothing. Unlike traditional psychedelic therapy, we do not use music. Our therapy is interactional, focusing on the therapeutic relationship. Light touch or holding may occur with permission.

Clients use their own cannabis vape pen or ketamine. A small amount is usually sufficient to activate the Autonomic Nervous System. We induce selective inhibition, which may lead to feelings of discomfort. We encourage clients to explore these uncomfortable sensations, as they often signal the release of held charges and emotions.

At times someone may go into a state where the young child emerges - a child who did not know safety and may have felt terrified and alone. In session, the ability to meet the needs within these early childhood attachment wounds can be profound and very healing.

Number of Sessions

The number of sessions required varies depending on the individual's trauma, dissociation, emotions, and repressed memories. Complex trauma may necessitate more intensive sessions. The metaphor of a trauma ball encased in dissociative "ice" helps illustrate this: thicker "ice" requires more sessions to thaw.

Transference and Selective Inhibition

One aspect that may present itself during a session is something known as transference. Transference, positive or negative, involves transferring feelings originally felt, typically toward a primary caregiver, (attachment, love, hate, rage, etc.), onto the therapist. Positive transference may have the therapist becoming the client's savior. Negative transference may have the therapist becoming the perpetrator or the bystander. Although traditional therapy tries to avoid negative transference - the PSIP model works with negative transference in order to resolve and heal these early wounds and help move you through the emotions that are arising.

FAQs

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Who developed the PSIP model?

The PSIP model was initially developed by Eric Wolterstorff, PhD, and refined by Saj Razvi, LPC, through his involvement in the MAPS Phase II Clinical Trial of MDMA. Steve Elfrink, co-founder of OmTerra and the Psychedelic Somatic Institute, contributed to the model's development and research.

What is a typical session like?

A typical session lasts 2-3 hours. I work with clients at my home in Grants Pass, OR, at a local AirBnb for people coming to work with me or in their homes. Unlike traditional psychedelic therapy I do not use music during the sessions. Music tends to distract clients with this model. I prefer clients to sit up vs. lie down. A comfy chair or couch with good neck and head support is best.

An initial session is typically a bit longer 3-4 hours. For a first session I first start with a resourcing exercise to have a place to bring you if things get tough and you want to resource out or to wrap-up a session. After resourcing we will do a non-medicine PSIP session with a non-relational traumatic event - typically a car, bike or skiing accident. This allows you to start to connect with your ANS and it starts to give us an idea of how your system is wired and your defence mechanisms and coping strategies with thing start to get intense.

After the non-medicine session we will dive into a cannabis or ketamine assisted session. The trajectory of these sessions is always unknown until we start the process. We are simply following your bodies responses. I will be with you for this entire experience and gently nudging and guiding you to best activate your ANS. Once ANS is activated this can lead to a myriad of feelings and sensations - everything from "nothing", numbness, floaty, blank to extreme discomfort, nausea, distress, hopelessness to extreme panic and terror. This may sound frightening, but it is all normal and simply your bodies way of releasing trauma. With cannabis a session typically begins to wind down after 1.5 hours. The remaining 1/2 hour to sometimes an hour can be spent integrating the experience.

What is PSIP (Psychedelic Somatic Interactional Psychotherapy)?

PSIP, the model used at OmTerra, was developed by Eric Wolterstorff, PhD based on the work of Peter Levine, PhD and then further refined by Saj Razvi, LPC. Saj is a trauma specialist who has been involved with trauma treatment and training since 2008.

The model is focused on a bottom-up approach to mental health - biology before psychology. Standard therapy models rely on a top down approach - using our cognitive abilities to figure out what is brining about our anxiety and depression. Or standard models focus on symptom management - teaching you ways to cope with your stress, trauma or PTSD.

The goal of PSIP is symptom resolution by focusing on the biological core of trauma. By working at the core level of your trauma we can move out any held charges that are the generator of your symptoms. Another important component of the PSIP model is the interactional component. Trauma does not happen in a vacuum. Typically trauma is relational in nature and it takes a relational component to work through attachment wounds.

Lastly, the power of psychedelics. We work primarily with cannabis which is a true psychedelic when used in this model. Just like MDMA can be a party drug or a therapy drug cannabis works incredibly well with this model to reduce executive functioning and allows us a window of opportunity to activate your ANS.

How am I going to feel after a PSIP session?

This is a common question with no one-size-fits-all answer. There is a spectrum of feelings that can be present after a session. Please see Resolution (Ketamine) to better understand the states we mention here. Some people feel energized, freer, lighter and more clear. Others feel hopeless, nauseous, or tired (State 3) or in working through State 4 (dissociation) they may feel fine post session.

For many, it varies from session to session. If repressed memories of childhood neglect or abuse arise, it may be destabilizing to wake up to this discovery. We call that getting your reality rugged pulled out from under you. The world you have known is now very different, leaving the possibility of experiencing depersonalization or various other dissociative states.

The important thing to know is that these are transitory. If difficult feelings persist over several days, sometimes the best course of action is to do another session to pop through the State 3 feelings. The important thing is to recognize that this is a process. If you experience depression, anxiety or PTSD, that likely took years to create and is what you've been managing and coping with for many more years. We are unraveling the knots of trauma and freeing you up from that tangle - this can take time.

It can be intense. The key components for this work are patience, love, trust and compassion for self - things that many of us with trauma struggle with. These can take time to develop.

What kind of medicine should I use?

We highly recommend working with cannabis for your initial sessions. It's very effective at clearing dissociation, something most clients need to move through when beginning this work. It can be an indica or sativa, but we find that most people have a better experience with indica (considered 'body' cannabis) than sative (considered 'mind' cannabis). However, everyone's body is different and it is up to each person to decide what type of cannabis to use. We do not need you to be highly altered - just offline. What we are looking for on a scale of 1-10 (10 being very high) is around 5 to 7. A little bit of cannabis can go a long way with this model!

What if I'm a regular cannabis user?

No worries! Regular users may need more cannabis to get offline than newbies - but this model still works. The way we work with cannabis is non-discretionary when it comes to activating your ANS.

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How does this compare to other somatic therapies?

If you have dome EMDR, Somatic Experiencing or Trauma Release you have gotten a small taste of this work. We think of it like these modalities tap into trauma in very small amounts, while PSIP, a much more intense model, moves into held trauma to allow the body to process the charge and release it. Other forms of somatic therapy tend to shy away from working with dissociation. For example, Somatic Experiencing uses pendulation to take someone towards and then away from dissociation. At OmTerra, we firmly believe the core of trauma lives under the cloak of dissociation and our goal is to help facilitate you in working through your dissociation into the rich world of trauma that resides there. The other big difference is that most other forms of somatic work do not utilize psychedelics. In a nutshell, this work is a much deeper, quicker, and, we think, more effective, approach to somatic work and healing trauma.

Why cannabis - isn’t that just a recreational drug?

Cannabis is a psychedelic drug that can be used recreationally or medicinally. When using it within the PSIP model, it is an incredibly powerful tool for working with trauma. The thing we regularly hear when someone finishes their first session is, "What the "#$%&" was that!?" or "That was so WEIRD!" We can assure you - you will experience cannabis in a way that you have never experienced it before. One woman we worked with stated that her experience on cannabis with PSIP was more intense and powerful than using 7 grams of psilocybin mushrooms. What makes it so profound is the level of held charge and emotions that are tapped into once the autonomic nervous system is activated. We know....seriously?!?! Yes, seriously!

Would it impact my process if I've done a lot of medicine work/journeys?

Short answer - maybe.

We have found that people who have done extensive work with classic tryptamines (LSD, peyote, psyilocybin, 5-MEO DMT, ayahuasca, etc.), tend to take more time to be able to access their body/ANS. The medicines that seem to create the most challenge in accessing the body are ayahuasca and 5-MEO DMT. Although, this is not the case for all people and there does seem to be a correlation to frequency of use.

Our main operating theory on why this is so is that people who repeatedly go out into deep transpersonal space are creating more transpersonal/mystical geography to venture to when it comes time to head towards trauma. We also typically see greater levels of dissociation with heavy use of ayahuasca and DMT. So, it can take more sessions to be able to work through the dissociation.

Again, as stated elsewhere, all of these factors fall on a spectrum and not black and white. We know what's in there when we start doing sessions. Sessions are always a discovery process!

How many sessions will I need to do?

Our number one question! The answer is - it depends. It depends on many factors. A primary one being the complexity of one's trauma. The more complex the trauma, typically the more sessions are needed. Some factors to consider when wondering how many sessions are:

How old were you when you first experienced trauma? The younger you are the more sessions you typically will need.
Who was the perpetrator? Family of origin? Stranger?
How long was the abuse happening?
Did you have options for resourcing? A friendly, loving relative that was present for nurturance?
Were there siblings involved in the trauma - were they abusive or supportive?
Your personality type - are you highly sensitive?
Your current ability to access to your emotions? Do you easily sit with feelings or have a difficult time accessing them?

The big thing to know that there is no quick fix for trauma. The longer and more sustained the abuse or trauma was happening equals more time to unravel the dissociation, held charge, and emotions. Also, we have found that as you unravel one layer of trauma frequently there are more layers. It is an ongoing process of peeling the trauma onion. But the beautiful thing to know is that there is a finite amount of charge within your system - there is an endpoint. Many people find through once they have cleared their system, there is benefit to continuing to clear out charge that occurs through experiencing life. The empowering possibility here is that most people can do sessions on their own to clear out ongoing charge.

What are the benefits of this work?

The biggest benefit of this work is the overall reduction of reactivity to life. Reactivity comes from held charge - reduce the charge and you reduce the reactivity. It is important to realize the your anxiety, depression and overall PTSD symptoms are all the result of these held emotions/events and their inherent charge. When you are experiencing anxiety or depression you are going through a slow release of your trauma. You can continue to let this slowly leak out - or you can choose to dive in and let go of large portions of this charge through doing PSIP sessions. What you find on the other side is a "you" that is not trying to manage the anxiety, the voices, the depression, the self loathing, the disconnection from your life. Once we start reducing the level of charge there is just more of you available to experience the richness of life. Classic psychedelic experiences expand one's awareness of the mystical connectedness of the universe. The PSIP model helps bring you back onto planet Earth. The bottom line is we are animals and biological creatures who are meant to be "of this Earth". This works helps you rediscover your basic nature as a human being, just being.

What medicines do you work with?

We work with psilocybin through Omnia Group in Ashland, OR. PSIP / somatic sessions use ketamine or cannabis which is sourced by the client. The model used is a legal self administration protocol. For ketamine the online ketamine company, Joyous is recommended. (www.joyous.team)

Can I do this without medicine?

Yes, absolutely! The beauty of the model is that it does work without medicine. Bringing cannabis onboard accelerates and deepens the process - but, non medicine sessions are an option.

How is this different from other forms of psychedelics therapy?

The biggest difference is the somatic/bottom-up approach combined with an interactional / directive approach. We are not trying to get you to an insight based mystical experience - we are working towards getting you into your body and activating your autonomic nervous system. Our approach is purely biological - we work with your trauma where it resides - in your ANS. Insight does not heal trauma - moving out and clearing dissociation and held charge does.

Who is not suited for this work?

This people is not recommended for schizophrenics, people experiencing psychosis, active substance abuse, pregnant women and people who are not able to afford the possible cost of doing multiple sessions.

What if I pull up repressed memories?

This is something everyone has to be prepared for. It is common for us to uncover repressed memories of abuse with this work. Unfortunately this is typically with women. One thing that is extremely important to understand that repressed memories are real. There is controversy in the field of psychiatry that they are don't exist and are typically false. Having witnessed people pop through to a repressed memory would convince any person that they are real. When a repressed memory is activated the person is transported back to the event. The sensations, feelings and pain of the event happen in real time as if the event was happening. It can be harrowing - and it will bring you a reconnection to a lost part of your self. Repressed memories are one of the more destabilizing aspects of this work. The majority of the destabilization comes from waking up to the fact that there was abuse that happened. The destabilization can be more pronounced if it involves a parent or close relative.

There are certain traumatic experiences that I do not feel ready to go straight into. Is it possible to avoid certain memories (at first), or do you find that the cannabis “decides” for people?"

Great question - short answer, your body decides... with cannabis or any other medicine where you go - is where you go, we can't control it. We can a bit with non-medicine sessions and targeting an event that is non-relational. But even those at times will crosslink to another similar feeling state event. This is a huge "trust your body" moment. What I've seen in myself and others is your body has its own pathway and timing on what it wants to process and what order. For a lot of people without preverbal trauma it will start with the youngest trauma first. With pre-verbal trauma it seems to be a bit more scattered on the timeline of events - it may pick off some low hanging fruit prior to going deeper. I have also seen it where someone dives right into the Big Stuff. I've seen people approach "Big Stuff" and then back away from it. Kind of a sneak preview of something and then, "not yet." Bottom line - cannabis is just the key to open us to the ANS. How, what and when the body wants to process something fits into that innate knowing on how, what and and when. The biggest thing with this work is "trust your body." It knows what to do - mind, not so much. We "think" we know – we rarely do.

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Will I feel worse before I feel better?

Typically it does get worse before it gets better - the important thing to remember is we are not creating anything new during your sessions - just bringing up what has always been there. Also, we are not amplifying through the medicines what is in there - again allowing what has been stored to be released. Our own experience and what we have seen in others as long as you keep going in and clearing stuff out you will make it through. And, if you are stuck in a worse place, that is typically state 3 - best thing to do is continue to feel and if it is at that "i'm done with this, please help" the best option is a session to pop you through to state 2/1/0. It is intense work - and again, the most important thing to remember is "trust your body", your body will get you through this. With this being said, there can also be a challenging time once you hit Ter 2 - your fabric of reality. And, with all of this it really depends on your level of trauma... the more complex, the more complex the unravelling is.

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