Ketamine-Assisted Compassion Training, Cultivating Compassion for Ourselves and Others 2.0
- Retreat Dates: TBA
- Location: Portland Oregon
Therapists, Clients, and the Psychedelic Curious Welcome
Do you, or your clients, struggle with fear, shame, or self-criticism?
Find yourself in unnecessary conflicts with others?
As a society, we’re moving through significant growing pains. Division is widespread, and our world is in great need of compassion. Gandhi’s reminder—“Be the change you wish to see in the world”—feels especially relevant now.
Both ancient wisdom traditions and modern science affirm that compassion is vital to our well-being. Yet it isn’t always easy. We may offer kindness to others but turn quickly to self-criticism when we stumble or feel rejected. The good news is that compassion is a trainable skill. Through practices drawn from contemplative traditions and psychological science, we can expand our capacity to meet ourselves and others with understanding, care, and kindness. As these qualities deepen, we naturally shift from judgment and defensiveness toward greater love, spaciousness, and open-heartedness.
A promising avenue for deepening compassion arises from the growing field of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. When offered within a warm container, and with clear intention, the legal psychedelic medicine ketamine can relax habitual defenses, help us meet challenging emotions, and expand our felt sense of interconnectedness. Often, the barriers we experience in offering compassion outward mirror our own barriers to self-compassion. Ketamine, used skillfully, can gently soften both.
We invite you to join us for our second experiential workshop in ketamine-assisted compassion practice—a five-day, in-person retreat supported by two online preparation sessions and one online integration session. Throughout the retreat, you will participate in three ketamine-supported experiential journeys.
This program provides a medically supervised, nurturing environment in which to explore ketamine’s compassion-enhancing properties. You’ll learn practices to prepare for the medicine sessions, support the unfolding experience, and integrate insights into daily life—using the medicine to soften blocks to compassion and bring greater kindness to the unresolved places within your own heart.
“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy yourself, practice compassion.”
– H.H. Dalai Lama
Our first ketamine-assisted compassion training was a deeply moving experience, with lasting positive affects.
Here are a few reflections from participants:
I don’t want to sound hyperbolic but the Self-Compassion retreat I attended has been life transforming in the most positive of ways- I have stopped drinking, I started and have committed to a daily yoga practice, and for the first time in a very long time I feel career related inspiration and hope. In fact, I am currently in Hong Kong to attend a mindful self compassion teacher training retreat. All of these are mere side effects of the powerful medicine of self- love and self compassion. The retreat leaders created such a safe and cohesive container that most of the retreat participants are still in touch and have a virtual meet up every few months.
Eternally grateful,
Kylene
The flow between the ketamine and the loving kindness practices was exquisite; the space where the retreat was held unbelievably beautiful. Excellent guidance by highly skilled and compassionate leaders and assistants. Warm and strong sense of community among participants; safe to be open, honest, vulnerable, and supportive of each others’ journeys.
Linda
After the Compassion Retreat there was a real and lasting shift in the how I felt about myself–the fear I had long associated with being alone simply fell away. The container created by Steve, Susie and Ron was exceptional–both deeply safe and genuinely empowering. In the weeks that followed, I felt more renewed, grounded in my body, and more at ease with myself.
Chris
This upcoming training also promises to be a truly transformative retreat of focused, accelerated healing and contemplation designed to reconnect you with your deepest sense of Self and the compassion that is innate to your being. With expert guidance and powerful therapeutic tools, you'll learn to heal from within so that you can "be the change you want to see in the world."
Date:
TBA
Cost with sliding scale:
Benefactor: $2900, Sustainer $2450, Scholarship (by application).
Location:
The Heart of the Rose: 4314 N. Mississippi Ave., Portland, OR.
Apply early as we only have space for 24 participants. Clients will require a medical screening with Dr. Steve ($300) prior to approval to ensure your safety and appropriateness for this retreat. A minimum of 12 participants is required to proceed with the retreat.
To learn more or register, email Regine at Regine@rainfallmedicine.com
If you have interest in an online Mindful Self Compassion Training prior to this retreat taught by Susie please inquire here: https://www.engineeringawareness.com/current-offerings
Leaders
Dr. Ronald D. Siegel
Dr. Ronald D. Siegel is Assistant Professor of Psychology, part time, Harvard Medical School; serves on the Board of Directors and faculty, Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy; is author of The Mindfulness Solution: Everyday Practices for Everyday Problems, coauthor of Back Sense: A Revolutionary Approach to Halting the Cycle of Chronic Back Pain and Sitting Together: Essential Skills for Mindfulness-Based Psychotherapy; coeditor of Mindfulness and Psychotherapy, 2nd Edition, and author of the new book, The Extraordinary Gift of Being Ordinary: Finding Happiness Right Where You Are.
Susie Fairchild, LMHC
Susie Fairchild, LMHC, is a psychotherapist in private practice in the Boston area. She is on the board of the Institute for Meditation & Psychotherapy (IMP), and the Associate Director of the IMP Certificate Program in collaboration with the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. Susie is a certified Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) Teacher through the UCSD Center for Mindfulness. She teaches MSC at the Center for Mindfulness and Compassion at Cambridge Health Alliance, as well as Kripalu Center for Yoga in Lenox, MA. She is particularly passionate about working with veterans, and has taught MSC through the VA and Home Base Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. She is a Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapist and trained with the Ketamine Training Center, Polaris and Fluence. She is also MDMA-Assisted Therapy trained through MAPS. She is a practitioner of meditation in the Theravada tradition and committed to ongoing retreat practice and dharma study.
Dr. Steve Rosonke, MD
Dr. Steve Rosonke, MD, was in the first ever training cohort for ketamine-assisted psychotherapy in 2017 with the Ketamine Training Center (KTC). He was subsequently trained as a trainer in KAP and has become a lecturer and leader in the field. In 2018, he partnered with Polaris Insight Center to launch a cutting edge KAP training program and has led healing retreats across the US. Additionally, he founded Rainfall Medicine, a healing and consciousness center in Portland, OR. After years of this work he has learned to curate and craft conscious containers for optimal healing and believes group work is a massive and necessary accelerant for our healing and consciousness expansion. Dr. Steve also spent the last three years training with communal societies and indigenous healers around the globe. His particular passion lies where psychedelics intersect with spirituality for the common good of all humanity.
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