Up-level your Plant Medicine Facilitation Skills, Cultivate your Confidence, and Lead with Trauma-Awareness and Safety for All.

Working with sacred plant medicines can present enormous psycho-spiritual challenges. Although many seek to heal trauma imprints through plant medicines, few facilitators are equipped with trauma awareness  education, and lack the skills to respond effectively to trauma imprints when they arise in psychedelic sessions.

Our unique and specialised 85-hour trauma-informed plant medicine facilitator online program equips facilitators to skilfully respond to trauma  imprints with attunement, presence, repair and care, thus ensuring a  safe and trauma-sensitive ceremonial space. 

Plant medicines have an enormous power to heal the body, psyche, and spirit,  release psychological defences, and can often reactivate past unresolved trauma. At times, the latter happens in a way that is too fast and intense, and repercussions could be re-traumatising and psychologically harmful. Many trauma survivors may lack the resilience, tips, and tools for navigating such an experience, and it is our sacred responsibility as facilitators to care for such survivors in a way that prioritises their safety and creates repair. 

As facilitators, we uphold an ethical duty to prioritise our participants' health and well-being throughout the entire ceremonial experience, including the screening, preparation and integration process. It is fundamental to understand the essential concepts of trauma recovery, and to learn the best practices of responding effectively to signs of trauma imprints. 

This 85-hour training will provide you with the foundation you need to become trauma-informed as a plant medicine facilitator, expanding your somatic skills, and deepening interpersonal and emotional attunement to hold a healing space for yourself and others.

As a trauma-informed plant medicine facilitator, you will be able to: 

• Reduce the risk of retraumatisation in participants. 
• Recognise  trauma imprints and identify signs of trauma in participants during the  preparation, ceremonial and integration phases of plant medicine work. 
• Create safe spaces and establish environments and facilitator-participant  relationships that foster safety, trust and attunement. 
• Understand trauma awareness based on neuroscience and somatic psychology. 
• Posses knowledge of foundational principles of trauma and the nervous system to inform your facilitation approach. 
• Skilfully navigate psycho-spiritual challenges in non-ordinary states, addressing them with sensitivity and expertise. 
• Communicate in a trauma-informed manner, which is compassionate and empathetic,  ensuring safety in the interpersonal relationship. 
• Provide trauma-sensitive post-ceremony and integration support for trauma resolution. 
• Support trauma survivors to build their inner resilience and “Window of Presence” through somatic resourcing.
• Uphold  your ethical responsibility by prioritising the wellbeing and health of  participants, both physically and psychologically. 
• Respond  resourcefully to various trauma imprints and nervous system patterns, employing somatic resourcing strategies that lead to repair and prevent  re-traumatisation. 
• Provide  participants with psycho-education on trauma awareness, and support  them in preparing for their ceremonial experience with mindfulness,  somatic resources and support.

This newly revised 85-hour training is delivered over 3 modules spanning 3 months from 21st April – 21st July 2023. The program includes a combination of: 

• Online live zoom workshops (40 hours) with Atira Tan and guest teachers
• Experiential practice cohort sessions (5 hours)
• Video lectures (20 hours)
• Q & A sessions (6 hours)
• Bonus Video demonstration sessions (4 hours)
• Trauma-informed masterclasses with Ayahuasca, Bufo and Psilocybin. (5 hours)
• Self-study (5 hours). 

The course is delivered over 13 weeks of online learning, and all students who complete our certificate requirements will receive our certificate of completion.

—————-

This training program is an addendum for current plant medicine facilitators, support workers, and those seeking to understand more  about psychedelics and trauma. It is not intended to teach the art of  plant medicine facilitation. 

Plant medicine facilitation is a path that requires years of dedication to plant spirit work, apprenticing with experienced mentors, and a deep commitment to self-development and healing. We seek to empower and  educate facilitators and those who are dedicated and work in the path of plant medicine with the vital and essential tools of trauma recovery to  ensure the impeccability, the sacred responsibility and safety of plant  spirit work. 

____________

In  this newly revised 4-month, 80 hour Trauma-Informed Plant Medicine  Facilitator Training Program, led by Somatic Trauma  Specialist & #1  Bestselling International author Atira Tan (M.A, SEP, TEDx Speaker  & Ph.D. candidate), and joined by guest teachers, you will learn:

MODULE 1: TRAUMA-INFORMED FACILITATION SKILLS IN CEREMONY

21st April - 6th June 2024

LIVE Online and Self-Paced

$695 USD.

Core Curriculum and Content: 

• Overview of Trauma and the Nervous System, and Polyvagal Theory
• Different  types of Trauma show up frequently: Physical, emotional  & sexual  abuse and violence, perinatal/ birth trauma, attachment  trauma,  developmental trauma, and medical trauma
• The Shamanic Paradigm vs Western Contemporary Paradigms of Trauma Recovery
• Soul Loss and Disassociation
• Understanding the different categories of trauma.
• Tools on how to respond effectively to each category of trauma
• How the Body is key: How to listen and support the intelligence of the body to resolve trauma in non-ordinary states.
• The importance of Self-Regulation and Co-regulation.
• Safety, Resourcing, and Grounding
• Trauma-Informed Language, tone, and body language
• Using Touch as a resource: Consent and Boundaries, different forms of touch, 3 areas of the body for touch work
• Your role as facilitator: Before, During, and After
• Working with trauma imprints in Ayahuasca ceremonies. 

 * Available for self-paced learners.

MODULE 2: TRAUMA-INFORMED ASSESSMENTS, SCREENING, AND SOMATIC INTENTION SETTING

7th June  - 27th June 2024

LIVE Online and Self-Paced

$495 USD.

Core Curriculum and Content: 

• The Principles of Trauma-Informed Plant Medicine Screening and Assessment.
• The Process of the Trauma-Informed Plant Medicine Preparation Flow Chart.
• Assessing the Participant and their Trauma History.
• Medical Screening Template for Psychedelic Sessions & Retreats
• Choosing the applicant from a Trauma-Informed Lens
• Building the Relationship with trauma sensitivity
• Trauma-informed interpersonal and communication skills.
• Decision Making: Is this person the right fit for plant medicine?
• Trauma-Informed Psychedelic Preparation: Intention Setting for trauma healing.
• The Somatic Plant Medicine Intention Setting model.
• Building resilience and resources to increase the “Window of Presence”.

* Pre-requisite for Mod 2 is the completion of Mod 1.

MODULE 3: TRAUMA-INFORMED POST-CEREMONY & INTEGRATION CARE.

28th June - 21st July 2024

LIVE Online and Self-Paced

$495 USD.

Core Curriculum and Content: 

• An Introduction to Embodied Integration
• The Hero’s Journey: An Application to Trauma-Informed Integration
• The Objectives and Goals of Psychedelic Integration.
• Trauma-Informed Post-Ceremony Tips and Best Practices.
• Aspects of Self for Plant Medicine Integration
• Working with trauma imprints in post-ceremony care and integration.
• An introduction to Somatic Plant Medicine Integration approach.
• Post-Ceremony therapeutic care.
• Psychedelic Integration Document Templates
• Running an integration workshop.
• Working with groups in integration circles.
• Using art, metaphor and symbology in meaning-making in plant medicine integration.
• 3 Psychedelic Integration Categories.

* Pre-requisite for Mod 3 is the completion of Mod 1.

-------

Where: LIVE Online & Self-Paced

Mod 1:  21st April - 6th June 2024

Mod 2:  7th June  - 2nd July 2024

Mod 3:  3rd July - 21st July 2024

Time: 4 pm - 10 pm CEST/ 10 am - 4 pm EST (Times subject to change)

To read our full curriculum, please visit www.atiratan.com

AYA Healing Retreats: 

AYA Healing Retreats offer sacred plant medicine and teacher plan  retreats with Peruvian shamans in the heart of the Amazon jungle. We are  passionate about fusing indigenous wisdom with contemporary approaches  to healing trauma to create safer and more integrated spaces of healing  for each person. For more information, please visit: www.ayahealingretreats.com

Your Facilitator, Atira Tan: 

A TEDx speaker, activist, somatic trauma specialist, #1 Best Selling  Author, and yoga teacher & group facilitator, Atira Tan,  is a  powerful agent of transformation and change. She has touched the lives  of thousands of women, men, and children around the world, supporting  them through her 15 years of experience in various somatic and creative  trauma recovery approaches. Passionate about creating safer spaces for  everybody, and bringing healing and awareness in the “shadowy” areas of  life, Atira has worked as a trauma-informed integration specialist in  retreat centers such as the Temple of the Way of Light and is currently  the head of integration at AYA Healing Retreats. 

Atira has mapped the trauma recovery of hundreds of PM participants  in her private practice as an integration trauma specialist and  co-facilitates Trauma-informed and Somatic Experiencing Plant Medicine  retreats and dietas in Peru with AYA Healing Retreats. 

She possesses an MA in Art Therapy, has a background in Transpersonal  Art Therapy and Holistic Counselling, and is a Somatic Experiencing  Practitioner, amongst decades of training in various other  trauma-informed approaches such as EMDR and NMT.

Atira has also worked for over a decade internationally in community  organizations and international development as a consultant, clinician,  and supervisor, as well as an educator in non-for-profit settings. She  is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the European Graduate School in  Switzerland, researching the effectiveness of somatic and creative  trauma recovery interventions for sex-trafficked survivors in Asia.

The CEO and Founder of an Australian charity which supports the  recovery of child sex slaves, Atira has also initiated international  women’s health, art therapy, and trauma-informed programs for women and  girls who have experienced sex slavery and exploitation internationally  for the past 15 years. In 2018, Atira was instrumental in co-creating  and delivering the first and only Somatic Experiencing and Counselling Fundamentals Program for Sex Trafficked Survivors, endorsed by the  Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute (SETI). 

Atira teaches workshops, retreats & teacher trainings in 4  continents around the globe including Australia, Europe, Asia, and South  America. She specializes in supporting women, men, and children,  particularly those who have experienced sexual abuse to recover from  trauma, in groups & individually in her private practice and  international development settings as a trauma specialist through the  embodied somatic psychologies and other holistic approaches. For more  information, please visit www.atiratan.com 

"This Trauma-Informed Plant Medicine Facilitation Program deep dive into the realms of living impeccable service was nothing short of life-changing.

I remembered so much about the nervous system, about my life,  about my purpose, about the bridges between paradigms, and the  collective trauma on the Earth. I was deeply warmed, inspired,  challenged, and excited by the entire experience.

Atira transmits genuine, care, curiosity, understanding, and  expertise. She is devoted to providing safe spaces for people to heal  and her life’s work is testimony to her wisdom and character.

If you’re curious to learn about the nature of trauma and how to  access and support its healing potential, this body of work is well  worth opening your heart and mind to."

– Melanie Gunn

Naturopath and Transpersonal Art Therapist, Australia

------------------------

"Wow!! Thank you so much Atira!!!!! I just want to say thank you  for holding space for such an incredible informational experience in  this Trauma-Informed Plant Medicine Workshop. I feel that I have SO many resources now to draw upon now.

You are filled with experience and hold such beautiful. vibrant energy that is powerful, but also open and level with the people you work within such a way that it is easy to feel safe, and seen in your  presence! True magic!"

– Molly Moon
Grandmother Facilitator, Isreal.

---------------------

"I’m super grateful for this unique program. Atira’s extensive  knowledge on the subject of trauma and working within the plant medicine context has  been immensely beneficial. I’ve gained a deeper sense of how to hold  the container of healing, which in turn, opens doors for journeyers to  be met with more compassion, understanding, and safety to move through  their process.

This program is essential for anyone supporting or facilitating plant medicine ceremonies and the process of preparation and integration."

– Simone McKay
Somah Journeys Founder, Canada

------------------------

"I just came out of the 1st Trauma-informed Plant Medicine  Facilitation online training with Atira Tan from Aya Healing Retreats and wow!!

I cannot recommend this training enough for anyone working in the  PM space – whether you are pouring medicine, a supporter/facilitator, a  pre or post-ceremonial integration specialist, or even a student of the  plants.

In fact, I feel that this should be a basic foundational training (alongside 1st Aid) for all healers and support staff.

As the medicine continues to gain momentum in its spread across  the globe- we are beginning to see and hear more and more stories of  harm from its unskilful use, the lack of quality screening and  preparation beforehand, the lack of integration support afterward,  and/or the limited understanding of trauma activation and  re-traumatization during retreats and ceremonies.

I feel that, in addition to traditional training, this community  would benefit hugely from having facilitators and spaces rooted in a  basic understanding of the nervous system and how to work skillfully  with trauma survivors (and of course, how to work with our own trauma  when it shows up in these spaces).

I personally feel that Atira is an excellent bridge and guide  into the intersectional realms of plant medicine and trauma therapy."

– Skye Cielita Flor
Wilderness Therapist, South Africa

------------------------

"My mind and heart are in deep amazement and gratitude as I apply  all that I learned in the Trauma-Informed Plant Medicine workshop. 

Now more than ever, the world is in need of people who have the  ability to listen and hold open space, as the entire human population is  currently undergoing a traumatic event. This course is filled with gems  of how to meet and support those who are intensely impacted by trauma  at any stage of life. I highly recommend this course/workshop, not only  to those who are interested in the relationship between trauma and plant  medicine but anyone who is curious about understanding human relational  patterns to self and society.

Atira shares in-depth knowledge and expertise of trauma studies  while offering takeaways that are applicable for ceremonies,  friendships, and even for common conversations during the COVID time.  Atira and Elio’s work is much needed in the world.

– Betty Gottwald
Photographer & Kambo Facilitator, USA.

------------------------

"If you are ready to engage in serious trauma healing work, Atira is the practitioner to go for. Her own genuine humanness consistently lived and embodied, and her outstandingly compassionate nature create a strong and safe therapeutic container that cannot be surpassed. 

After a search for decades for the right trauma therapist, all thumbs up for her, as the healing and transformation I’ve been searching for has finally become real!"

– Jessica Bertram
Eco-Tour Guide, Germany.

------------------------

To read more testimonials, please head to: https://atiratan.com/trauma-informed-plant-medicine-facilitator-training/