Psychedelic Safety
A transparent architecture for trauma-informed care, clinical oversight, nervous system awareness, and energetic safety
When deciding to work with psychedelics, you need to know the person guiding your process is experienced, competent, and trustworthy across clinical, ethical, and energetic domains.
In my practice, safety is built into every interaction. This page shows you how.
Who I am and
how I'm positioned
I hold a Bachelor of Applied Social Sciences, specialised in Counselling Psychology. I am deliberately unregistered as a psychologist in South Africa because I work with psychedelics and sexuality, domains that clinical registration doesn't yet accommodate. My credibility doesn't rest on a license that excludes the very work I do.
TRAINING
Counselling Psychology
Bachelor of Applied Social Sciences, specialisation in therapeutic modalities
LEADERSHIP ROLE
Training Director
Running training and certification for the Psychedelic Society
of South Africa
PROFESSIONAL NETWORK
SIPSA-Aligned
Society of Integrative Practitioners South Africa medical practitioners network
EXPERTISE
Trauma + Shamanic Integration
Psychology-grounded,
spirit-informed, neuroscience-coherent
My role as Training Director at PsySocSA means I don't just facilitate, I help set the standards for it. I sit at the intersection of education, ethics, and accountability. I work alongside doctors, psychiatrists, and psychologists in an active clinical network, not in isolation.
How I
hold safety
CLINICAL SCREENING
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Medical history and current medications
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Psychiatric conditions and contraindications
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Trauma history (sexual, relational, developmental)
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Substance use and dependency
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Suicidality and psychosis risk
PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION
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Pre-journey sessions to build safety and intention
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Education about what the medicine does
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Nervous system literacy (what you'll experience in your body)
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Clear boundaries and consent protocols
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Safety planning for integration afterward
SOMATIC ATTUNEMENT
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Real-time observation of your nervous system
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Knowledge of how trauma shows up in the body
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My calm presence to help regulate yours
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Physical safety (space, temperature, comfort)
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Touch only with explicit consent
MEDICAL OVERSIGHT
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Network of doctors and psychiatrists for consultation
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Case co-management when needed
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Clear protocols for medical emergencies
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Ongoing communication with referring practitioners
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Access to crisis support
ETHICAL ACCOUNTABILITY
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Written consent and clear agreements
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No dual relationships or exploitation of power
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Confidentiality and data protection
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Peer consultation on complex cases
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Clear path for complaints and repair
ENERGETIC SAFETY
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Shamanic integrity and lineage-grounded practice
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Preparation of the container before you arrive
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Relational attunement to what wants to emerge
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Integration of shadow, not escape from it
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Grounding in both psychology and spirituality
Integration and aftercare
The journey is one part of the work. What happens in the days and weeks afterward is where much of the change takes hold, and where safety continues to be held.
After a psychedelic session, the brain enters a window of heightened plasticity. Patterns that have felt fixed become more available, and new responses establish themselves more readily. This window is strongest in the first week or two before it begins to close. What you do while it is open shapes what lasts.
This is also why strong feelings can surface in the days after a session. That usually means the process is still moving, and you are supported through it rather than left to manage it alone.
How I hold integration:
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A first integration session agreed before you leave, usually within a few days
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Continued contact between sessions, with clear access to support if something feels destabilising
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A simple, embodied daily practice built for your nervous system and what actually arose for you
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Coordination with your therapist or doctor where there is an existing relationship
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Integration paced to the work, sometimes a session or two, sometimes over several months
How I approach psychedelic integration →
Why I'm not registered
I'm not registered because I chose to expand my offering beyond what registration allows.
I completed my degree in Counselling Psychology and found my academic training invaluable. It gave me foundational understanding of trauma, attachment, nervous system regulation, and clinical assessment. I use that knowledge every day. But registration limits practice scope. It restricts what I can do, who I can work with, and what modalities I can integrate. To register, I would have to exclude the very dimensions that make this work transformative: indigenous shamanic knowledge systems, mystical and spiritual frameworks, energetic understandings. Carl Jung was fascinated by these realms. He understood that the psyche cannot be reduced to Western clinical models alone. In the psychedelic space, these additional skills—relational attunement, energetic literacy, shamanic facilitation—prove far more useful than pure, limited Western psychology. My choice was clear: keep my credential narrow, or expand my capacity to serve. I chose expansion.
A compassionate feminist, decolonial, multicultural approach
We are all affected by power constructs; needing to be a provider, carer, survivor. When we are aware of how power shapes us, we can begin the work of liberation.
Decolonial framework
Colonialism took land, and it took ways of knowing, ways of healing, ways of being in relationship. Western psychology is one knowledge system, not the only one. My practice brings Western psychology into conversation with indigenous wisdom systems, not as an afterthought but as central.
This means:
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Recognising that trauma in South Africa is individual and historical, collective, racial, and intergenerational. I work with that complexity.
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Questioning psychological frameworks that pathologise what might be cultural or spiritual knowledge.
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Honouring indigenous healing practices and the lineages that hold them. Not appropriating them, not centralising them at the expense of Western science, but working with both.
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Understanding shamanic practice as an indigenous knowledge system with its own integrity. Not treating it as a decoration on top of psychology.
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Being aware of my own position in colonial structures. I'm a white-presenting facilitator in a post-colonial country. That matters. I name it.
Feminist approach
A feminist approack means I critique my authority as a facilitator. I don't position myself as the expert who fixes you. You are the expert on your own body and experience. I'm here to create conditions where your wisdom can emerge.
In practice, this looks like:
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Explicit consent at every stage. Not assumed compliance.
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Attention to how gender shapes trauma, sexuality, and power in the room.
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Recognition that women, femme folks, and gender-nonconforming people carry specific histories of violation and objectification. This affects how safety is built.
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Working with desire, pleasure, and sexuality as sites of reclamation and power, not shame.
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Transparent about my own power and limitations. I'm not neutral. I bring my own history and biases into the room. I name them.
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Feminist scholarship about emotion, embodiment, and relational knowledge. Not privileging intellect over body wisdom.
Multicultural approach
South Africa is multicultural and my practice reflects that. I work with people across cultures, languages, and spiritual traditions. I don't assume Western psychological frameworks are universal.
In practice, this means:
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Meeting your cultural understanding of healing, spirituality, family, and community. Not imposing one model.
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Awareness of how colonialism has shaped psychological frameworks and how that shows up in trauma.
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Understanding that healing isn't individual in many cultures. It's relational, familial, communal. I work with that.
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Recognition that relational trauma in South Africa includes racial trauma, historical trauma, and collective trauma. These are real and they matter.
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Bilingual and culturally-responsive work. If language matters to your healing, we work in a language that lands.
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Respect for your own spiritual or religious traditions. I'm not here to convert you to another way. I'm here to support what's true for you.
Indigenous knowledge systems
I'm trained in shamanic practice that comes from indigenous lineages. I take that seriously, and I bring my teachings into the space for added safety.
This means:
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Recognition that indigenous knowledge systems have been systematically suppressed and dismissed. I work to restore them, not exploit them.
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Understanding shamanism as a sophisticated healing technology with its own epistemology. Not mysticism. Not magic. Knowledge.
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Honoring the people and lineages these practices come from. Acknowledging that I work with what I've been taught, not what I invented.
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Integration of indigenous concepts of relationality, reciprocity, and interconnection. These aren't poetic metaphors. They're foundational to how I practice.
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Awareness that in working with plant medicines, I'm working with beings and intelligences that indigenous cultures have known for centuries. Approaching with humility, not dominance.
Further Reading
