"She could smell smoke and asked if anything was burning in the room. On ketamine, her senses were sharper than mine, so I looked around to check. No, I assured her. Explore that and see where it takes you, I suggested. She was in her 30s and working through severe childhood trauma, and she had the intention to connect to and heal some of the ancestral traumas in the long lineage of women who had suffered in her family."
"Sometime in the second half of the session, she was transported to a forest and saw a fire with a shadow of a woman she couldn't identify. "I smell animal fur. It feels indigenous. My grandmother. I see her. She's rich with life. I can sense her, but not see her. I can sense her life. She's still here if I want her. She's heavy... I can still smell animals, horses, and mammoths. It's a dense fur.""
"Therapeutically, we used this experience as a platform to further connect with her grandmother, whom she eventually met: "She has beautiful brown skin. Gorgeous red hair. She is calling me to sit with her. I can see other women who fought and struggled for survival in my family. They are so beautiful, so strong in their suffering. They are telling me I can get through this.""
Psychedelic therapy offers potential to heal trauma while enabling exploration of psyche and cosmos. Sensory-rich sessions can evoke ancestral presences and primal landscapes, allowing clients to reconnect with lineage and receive support. Such experiences can transform self-understanding, fostering a greater sense of belonging and purpose. Conscious shifts during sessions may inspire renewed care for humanity and the environment. A clinical example showed a woman on ketamine sensing smoke and animal fur, journeying to a forest, meeting ancestral women, and receiving messages of resilience. The process supported her intention to resolve childhood trauma and become a healthier, more loving mother.
Read at Psychology Today
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