Contents
Substance-assisted therapy has regained a prominent position in scientific research and discussion in recent years. In the public debate, it is mostly researchers from the academic field who comment on it. The focus is and remains on research.
For understandable reasons, practitioners still largely remain underground and thus unheard. Their wealth of experience has therefore not yet found its way into public discourse or research, and thus, paradoxically, not into the public discussion about the design of therapy settings. Exceptions are the few who are or were permitted to practice this form of therapy with special permits.
The conference aims to focus on practical aspects of therapy with psychedelics. It is dedicated to a central theme in the practice of substance-assisted therapy. Very different approaches are represented with regard to the role of support. Some who feel more committed to therapeutic distance have developed from more psychoanalytic roots and are favored by those who view research settings, where few interventions are permitted, as therapy settings. Others come from the background of Holotropic Breathwork®, developed by Stanislav Grof, which limits the role of the support to that of the “facilitator.” Still others consider therapeutic work with therapeutic interventions helpful not only in the preparation and follow-up, but also during substance use sessions. They view the role of the facilitator as that of a more or less active therapist. Those who pursue this approach have a clear understanding of the specific nature of therapeutic interventions in substance use sessions and where and how they differ from interventions in other therapies. These specific characteristics have often developed from practice and represent a significant body of knowledge, which the conference aims to make accessible. One but not the only focus is on bodywork.
Program
The conference will see presentations by experienced practitioners including partly demonstrations of their work. In addition to the presentations, an intensive exchange between the speakers and the participants is planned. This will provide concrete answers to specific questions and potentially even lead to controversial discussions. The conference is intended as a complement to training programs that primarily impart academic knowledge. A total of more than 100 years of practical experience of the practitioners enriches and complements the theory and academic research, opening up their practical application.
Speakers
Manuel Aicher, President of the Institute for Substance Assisted Therapy; Various trainings (e.g., with Ralph Metzner) in supporting people in non-ordinary states of consciousness, shamanic initiation in West Africa, development of Holistic Healing Breathwork based on Stanislav Grof: How do interventions in substance-assisted therapy differ from those in other forms of therapy? Many understand the qualification in substance-assisted therapy as an add-on to medical or psychotherapeutic training. These trainings teach a way of working with clients that, in some respects, is not appropriate for non-ordinary states of consciousness. At best, this prevents the potential of substance-assisted therapy from being fully realized; at worst, it causes harm. This presentation addresses possible differences in the therapeutic relationship and in the interventions, and how these differences manifest in practice.
Alessio Faggioli, Psychologist, Psychotherapist and IT Engineer: Presentation of the Attuned Relational Integrative Model (ARIM). Psychedelic-assisted therapy is reshaping mental health treatment by promoting neuroplastic states that support deep learning and emotional reorganisation. This presentation introduces an integrative framework combining Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) theory, research on the reopening of critical periods, and a somatic perspective. From this synthesis emerges the Attuned Relational Integrative Model (ARIM), developed by Friederike Meckel Fischer and carried forward by Alessio Faggioli. ARIM is based on the understanding that psychedelics facilitate access to previously unprocessed experiences. Through a non-directive, relationally attuned therapeutic stance, the model supports adaptive reprocessing, affective co-regulation, and integration. The therapist functions not as an interpreter, but as a responsive, attuned presence, enabling corrective relational experiences that can be naturally transferred into everyday life.
Sonia Gomes, PhD in Clinical Psychology, Somatic Experiencing Senior Faculty, Founder of SOMA Embodiment – Emotional Regulation in Trauma Therapy: Trauma and clinical implications. How Somatic Experiencing adding SOMA approach, can increase the self regulation for traumatized ones. Basically, we include breathing exercises, touch & Movement in our clinical interventions. There is a possibility to demonstrate the work.
Joel Miguez, Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner, Soma Embodiment® Practitioner, Ayahuasquero since 40 years: How to use Soma Embodiment® and Somatic Experiencing® in Ayahuasca sessions. My way to support people in Ayahuasca sessions.
Manuela Mischke-Reeds, Somatic Trauma Psychotherapist, Hakomi Therapist, Founder of Embodywise, author of Embodied Psychedelic Therapy (published October 2025): How to use trauma-informed touch in Psychedelic assisted therapy. This presentation explores ethically attuned touch as a clinical intervention in psychedelic-assisted therapy, supporting nervous system regulation, safety, and integration in non-ordinary states of consciousness. A brief experiential component and demo will be included.
Liliana Vasquez Mock, Psychologist, with more than two decades of experience leading different non-ordinary states of consciousness settings, trained directly by Stanislav Grof. Faculty member of the Augmented Psychotherapy Training in Berlin a psychotherapy training for medical doctors, psychotherapists to become a psychedelic therapist. Co-Founder of a GMP facility of Medical Cannabis in Colombia: The Body as Co-Therapist: supporting Somatic Processes in Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness. This presentation explores the body not as an object of intervention, but as an active co-therapist in non-ordinary states of consciousness (NOSCs). Grounded in an integrative clinical approach informed by somatic psychotherapy and holotropic breathwork, today consolidated as Grof Breathwork, as well as extensive clinical experience in substance-assisted and shamanic-informed settings, it examines how bodily processes that regulate, organize, and resolve therapeutic experiences can be supported. The contribution critically reflects on facilitator presence and support roles beyond models of therapeutic distance or directive intervention, proposing somatic attunement as a central clinical competence in non-ordinary state work.
Organizational Details
The conference will be held in English.
Conference fee: €220, €170 for registration by January 28, 2026, €140 for supporting members of the Institute for Substance Assisted Therapy, and €120 for students.
The fee includes both lunchs and break snacks.
Registration by April 25, 2026.
Further details will follow.
Register here