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Join this FREE WEBINAR presented by Jennifer Tessler and Dr Lauren Macdonald (UK).

TOPIC: Mind Medicine Australia X Alalaho: Netherlands Psilocybin Retreats

In 2024 Mind Medicine Australia is thrilled to be partnering with Alalaho retreats to offer legal psilocybin retreats in the Netherlands for members of our community. The first of these retreats is taking place from July 22-26.

Please join co-lead facilitators of this retreat, Jennifer Tessler (founder of Alalaho) and Dr Lauren Macdonald (trainer in MMA's Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies) to learn about what participants can expect.

About Alalaho

A Values-Led Approach to Transformation

At the heart of Alalaho is a deeply values-led ethos. While our work revolves around psychedelics, our focus extends beyond their use. We aime to support, enhance and sustain their beneficial effects through a synergetic blend of complementary practices. These include elements from the Western clinical model, somatic and transpersonal psychology, as well as from ancient wisdom traditions from around the world. Ultimately, Alalaho is dedicated to catalysing a shift towards greater self-awareness, empowering individuals on their transformative journey of healing and growth.

A Journey of Innovation and Excellence

Our story began in 2016, when our team pioneered the first European programme of its kind. Since then, we have safely guided over 1200 individuals, across more than 80 retreats. What sets us apart is the remarkable cohesiveness of our team – a collective that has grown and evolved together through years of shared experiences. Each facilitator brings deep personal experience of personal transformation, honed through extensive training in both Western therapeutic modalities and authentic spiritual traditions such as Tibetan Buddhism and the Shamanic lineages of the Americas. While we uphold the highest standards of care and professionalism in our work, we equally cherish and maintain an atmosphere of authenticity, joy, and playfulness. This ensures that our retreat spaces are not just transformative but also welcoming and heartwarming.

Navigating the Psychedelic Renaissance with Expertise and Care

In this psychedelic renaissance, the potential for global healing is immense, but so is the need for experienced guidance. Alalaho recognises both the opportunities and the inherent risks involved. We are deeply committed to sharing our expertise with healthcare practitioners, particularly as psilocybin-assisted therapies gain legal acceptance worldwide. Our role in this movement is not just as facilitators, but also as educators and guides dedicated to ensuring safe and effective practices in this emerging field.

Beyond the Psychedelic Experience: Insights from Our Participants

Our impact is best evidenced by our 99.5% five-star rating, with participants often expressing that the retreat experience far surpassed their initial expectations. Many share that while the psychedelic journey is undoubtedly profound, it is the comprehensive nature of the overall retreat programme that stands out as being equally transformative, if not more so. This skilful integration of psychedelics with a range of psycho-spiritual practices lies at the core of Alalaho's mission to facilitate deep, meaningful personal growth.

“Truly nothing short of a transformational experience. What was so impressive was how well the retreat was curated. From the initial application call, I could tell how genuine, kind and supportive the facilitators were. During the retreat, the complementary practices and exercises were equally as meaningful as the psychedelic journey itself! The venue was a very magical location, well kept and clean/tidy. A pleasant surprise was how great the food was as well! All in all an exceptional 5 days in the Netherlands, and I would not hesitate to recommend to friends and I would attend again in the future!!”

Aaron, October 2023

“The retreat was beautiful, nourishing and inspiring. I felt safe, looked after and cared for by the team through the week. Every aspect of the retreat, from the pre-retreat preparation journaling and zoom call through to the psychedelic experience and integration work was so thoughtfully and skilfully planned. The venue, the facilitators and the care for every detail meant that I had the most supportive, meaningful and magical first experience with psychedelics.” Maddy, February 2023

“Alalaho’s retreat was of the most transformative, deep, insightful and healing experiences of my life and overall one of the best experiences of my life. The keys to the experience were the facilitators, who made us all feel safe and open, the group, full of amazing individuals keen to open up and show a vulnerability that takes a great deal of strength to display, and the venue itself, that was inspiring and just perfect for the experience we were living.” Sonia, October 2023

Location

The retreat will be hosted at Land of Yemaya Retreat Centre. Land of Yemaya offers a peaceful, abundant space for anyone ready to experience true nature.

Learn more about Alalaho on their website: www.alalaho.org

EVENT DETAILS

DATE: 25th January 2024
TIME: 6:55pm (AEDT) for 7:00pm start, finishing at 8:15pm
DURATION: 75 minutes (incl Q&A)
LOCATION: Online - a link will be emailed to you with the viewing details

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Jennifer Tessler (FR)

Founder, CEO and Lead Facilitator at Alalaho

Jennifer began her in-depth inquiry into the nature of reality and the inner workings of the human mind(heart) after a life-changing backpacking journey to Asia in her late teens where she discovered both Tibetan Buddhism and the sacred use of psychedelic medicines. Over the last 15 years, she has spent close to one thousand days in meditation retreat – studying and training under the close guidance of her Tibetan Buddhist teacher. She has also trained as an integrative transpersonal psychotherapist. In 2017, she began facilitating psilocybin-assisted retreats and co-directing the Psychedelic Society's Experience Retreats programme, eventually leading to the founding of Alalaho. For her, this precious work is all about supporting the unfolding of the infinite vitality, wisdom and potential that lies at the core of our being… just like the blossoming of a lotus.

Dr Lauren Macdonald (UK)

Psychedelic Clinical Trial Doctor, Retreat Facilitator and co-founder of Essence Medicine

Lauren Macdonald is a psychiatry doctor, psychedelic therapy guide and group facilitator. For the last few years she has been a clinical trial doctor at The Centre for Psychedelic Research (Imperial College London) investigating psilocybin-assisted therapy for anorexia-nervosa, chronic pain, and treatment-resistant depression.

Alongside her clinical roles Lauren regularly facilitates psilocybin retreats in The Netherlands, and is co-founder of Essence Medicine, an organisation providing psycho-spiritual group support to people facing life threatening illness. Lauren is also passionate about educating future psychedelic facilitators and delivers integrative, experiential and heart-centred training for Mind Medicine (Australia) and PsyEdu (UK).

Lauren has trained in medicine, psychology, MDMA-assisted therapy, and yoga, and continues to be a student of earth-based, indigenous wisdom traditions. She is driven to help people come home to themselves, unfold more of who they truly are, and deepen into the beauty and mystery of life.

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MEDICINAL PSYCHEDELIC TREATMENTS

Psychedelic-assisted treatments offer enormous potential in providing a meaningful alternative to current treatments for mental illness. PTSD is a debilitating condition that affects tens of millions of people worldwide, with many more trauma victims diagnosed with comorbid conditions such as depression, anxiety and eating disorders. In recent clinical trials, MDMA has been shown to produce reliable clinical improvements, restoring patient safety and self-agency even for individuals who have suffered with PTSD for many years, and for whom many treatments have failed.

The wave of clinical psychedelic research and regulatory support is rapidly building, with experts forecasting the availability of psychedelic-assisted treatments in the US and EU within the next 2 to 5 years, subject to positive clinical outcomes in large trials that are currently underway.

SUPPORT PSYCHEDELIC RESEARCH AND THERAPY DEVELOPMENT

Your donation to Mind Medicine Australia will help us accelerate the availability and best practice of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy in Australia. We are a small organisation doing big things – we need your support. Please click here to make a tax-deductible donation.

DISCLAIMER

Mind Medicine Australia does not encourage or facilitate illegal use of psychedelics or plant medicines. MMA focus is focused on clinical and legal use only supported by the emerging science and legislative processes. Mind Medicine Australia reserves the right to record and publish webinars on various social media platforms. You agree that you will not discuss any names, locations or specific details of illegal use of psychedelics both verbally or via any written forms of communication via Mind Medicine Australia social media platforms i.e. Facebook, Instagram or zoom private and public chat forms during the webinar. Breaches of these guidelines may result in not being able to participate in the event. We thank you for support and cooperation on these matters. Mind Medicine Australia is focused specifically on the clinical application of medicinal psilocybin and medicinal MDMA for certain mental illnesses.