Bereaved
Parents
There is Relief for Grief
Loss is part of everyone’s life, but the loss of a child is an extraordinary wound that brings with it extraordinary pain, and just as the relationship between a parent and child is uniquely strong, so too is a bereaved parent’s grief.
We know that the bereavement experience of parents can be severe and long, that it usually brings with it
intense yearning, extreme sadness, and
a sense of isolation from others. But we know as well—because bereaved parents tell us so—that the pain of loss can remit over time, even if it doesn’t ever really go away.
Healing is possible; healing is real
Sometimes, this process unfolds from within without assistance.
More often, bereaved parents describe needing help to connect with themselves and with others to return to a sense of engagement and meaning in their lives.
For some parents, the customary types of assistance like bereavement support groups, grief-oriented psychotherapy, or even medication are not enough. Or sometimes these modes of support simply don’t feel right. Despite engaging with these therapies, parents might describe that they still can’t accept the reality of the loss of their child, or that they cannot fully reinvest in their relationships with the living, or that they cannot find joy in their life again. For these parents, we believe that healing is also possible. We believe this because our work with bereaved parents has shown it to be true.
Medical and psychological research strongly suggests that psychedelic-assisted therapies using medicines like psilocybin are powerfully effective in treating anxiety and depression. In practice, our group has seen that psychedelic-assisted therapies are a supremely powerful tool to facilitate healing for bereaved parents on a mental, emotional, and spiritual level. Parents for whom no other kind of grief therapy or intervention has helped, have found real, durable healing in a lovingly guided psychedelic experience.
Psilocybin helps with depression, anxiety, and addiction. It also helps with grief.
One of our depression volunteers had a child who died shortly after he was born. Almost 10 years later, the pain, guilt and grief were still present. In her first psilocybin session, she experienced being back with her son as he was taking his last breathe, but this time rather than feeling helpless and fearful, she breathed his last breath with him, and with that, let him go. She felt at peace with his death and that stayed with her throughout the study. (Mary Cosimano, Johns Hopkins psychedelic session guide
~Mary Cosimano, Johns Hopkins psychedelic guide
When my 17 year old son died in a car crash modern psychiatry and psychology had nothing to offer me that worked for my grief. Nonordinary states of consciousness were my road back to mental health. They helped me to come to a deeper understanding of life, death,
the meaning of relationship, and love. I have encountered my son in medicine journeys and now have a continuing relationship with him. I
know not everyone will encounter their loved one but I was lucky enough to have seen him and talked with him. He wants me to live my
life to the fullest and to know he is fine. He tells me I will be with him again when I have finished what I came here to experience. These
journeys into non-ordinary states of consciousness have saved my life.
~Sam's Dad
Another volunteer had lost his young daughter decades before he joined our cancer/psilocbyin study. He thought he had healed from the grief of her passing but in his psilocybin session he had an experience that brought him back to that time and he relived her death and his grief. During the session he sobbed and sobbed and felt he finally made peace with her death, and a lightness took over.
~Mary Cosimano, Johns Hopkins psychedelic guide
A six-day retreat in Jamaica,
centered around healing individual and group mushroom experiences, will be combined with extensive one-on-one work with therapists and guides
to prepare for the retreat, and then to integrate the insights, emotional
shifts, and spiritual gains of the retreat into your regular life after it
is done. Safety and support will be prioritized within the context of a
holistic program of activities that emphasizes connection to nature
and incorporates personal and group ritual.
Our group of supportive psychologists, physicians, and highly trained psychedelic guides will offer this treatment in a way that is safe, legal, and based on best-practices.Your guides and therapists will have decades of experience between them, and we will partner with local palliative care physicians to build relationships in the community and add an extra layer of support for safety and oversight.
Facilitators
Chris Adrian, is a pediatric palliative care physician in Los Angeles. He trained as a pediatric oncologist at the University of California San Francisco, and as a hospital chaplain at Columbia University Medical Center and the Jewish Theological Seminary of New York. His research interests include integrating narrative medicine methods into palliative care education and using psychedelic assisted psychotherapy for complicated grief.
Dingle Spence, MD, FRCR, is a Jamaican physician with training in both Clinical Oncology and Palliative Medicine. She is the Senior Medical Officer of the Hope Institute Hospital, Jamaica’s only dedicated Oncology and Palliative Care unit, and is an Associate Lecturer at the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica. She is a cofounder of the Jamaica Cancer Care and Research Institute (JACCRI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of cancer care and palliative care in Jamaica and the Caribbean, and is also a Board Member of the International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care (IAHPC). Dr Spence has trained in Shamanic Energy Medicine and has also studied acupuncture, homeopathy, and Reiki. She is currently being trained as a psychedelic guide. Dr Spence has research interests in mind body medicine and in the use of plant-based medicines including cannabis and psychedelics for people with palliative care needs.
Neil Hanon, MD, FRCPC, is a psychiatrist in Kelowna, British Columbia and is Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He is the Year 3 Director (the clinical year) of the Southern Medical Program of UBC in Kelowna. Dr. Hanon also does inpatient work at Kelowna General Hospital, and outpatient work at Outreach Urban Health (an Interior Health operated, primary care clinic where he works with homeless, street entrenched people struggling with addictions and other mental health challenges), and at his private practice. Dr. Hanon has a research interest in legally sanctioned trials with ketamine, MDMA, and psilocybin for the treatment of complicated grief, treatment resistant depression, and severe addictions. Dr. Hanon got involved in Holotropic Breathwork first as a participant to help with his grief after the death of his 17 year old son, then continued on to become certified as a Holotropic Breathwork facilitator in 2015. He is faculty for Grof Legacy Training Canada, and is training Faculty for TheraPsil Canada, an organization to help people with end of life anxiety access legal psilocybin treatment. Dr. Hanon was fortunate to have Dr. Ralph Metzner as his teacher and mentor from 2015 until Ralph’s death in 2019.
What
We ask participants to connect with a counselor or therapist for at least 3 months before attending a retreat.
When
We are writing to let you know that we will be deferring our next parent retreat to some time beyond May 2022. While we don't have a date for the next retreat, we'll be working to get one organized as soon as possible. We'll stay in touch with updates by email as we work to put the next retreat together.
Please sign up for the mailing list to be notified of future offerings
Why
We know that the bereavement experience of parents can be severe and long, that it can bring with it intense yearning, extreme sadness, and a sense of isolation from others. We also know from experience that work with mushrooms can assist bereaved parents who feel stuck or incomplete in their mourning process to move forward toward a place of wholeness and engagement in their lives.
Where
Good Hope Great House, Falmouth, Trelawny, Jamaica
(45 minutes away from Montego Bay airport)
Cost
Cost will be based on a sliding scale fee system with individual needs taken into consideration.
For more information please contact info@reliefforgrief.org
What's Included
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Accommodations and amenities
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Transportation to and from airport
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3 Delicious meals daily
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Two sessions with a psychedelic guide over video link before and after retreat to support preparation and integration as well as two group video sessions after the retreat
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Supportive group talk sessions
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Two guided psychedelic group experiences
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Nature-based rituals; walking, swimming, and more
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Therapeutic activities balanced with activities that are restful, grounding and restorative.
Sponsorship
If you feel called to support accessibility to this work, please consider sponsoring a parent in need. Donations are being accepted to help subsidize retreat costs and ensure that this healing work continues to be readily available for bereaved parents. For sponsorship opportunities, please contact info@reliefforgrief.org
Contact
For further questions regarding the retreat and/or registration,
please fill out this form.
Considerations
A note about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic: we feel confident that we will be able to offer the retreat in a way that sufficiently minimizes risks of COVID-19 transmission. Each participant will be required to test before and after arrival. We will essentially quarantine together at Good Hope, and the physical plan of the property is such that we will be outdoors and distanced for meals and for our group conversations and experiences.