Jessika Lagarde

About Jessika Lagarde

Hi there, my name is Jessika and I am a storyteller, adventure seeker and Earth keeper. Originally from Brazil, I have been working in the Netherlands as a psychedelic-assisted medicine facilitator and integration coach for the past two years, with psilocybin-containing truffles, which are legal in the country. I am also an educator in the psychedelic space, having co-founded the platform Women On Psychedelics, a space to empower women through their healing and self-liberation journeys – and also to destigmatize women’s mental health and drug use.

Having lost my father at the age of 9 years old to pneumonia as a consequence of HIV and my mother to her battle with drug addiction, I was raised by my grandparents. I’ve learned from a young age how stigmatization and lack of education can make a difference in saving lives.

By the age of 30 years old, I have dealt with grief and loss from almost all my family members and found myself confronting my fears of abandonment and of being alone. Despite having been through grieving processes more often than anyone I know, I learned that such processes are never linear and have no single formula on how to navigate them. One truth is that there is so much to learn about ourselves through dealing with this type of pain. Nowadays, I find many similarities between this journey and psychedelic ones and I can recognize how much these challenging life experiences have informed me to do this work.

I started to intentionally work with psychedelics on my own healing process at first. I was struggling with depression and anxiety after the end of a toxic relationship that completely distorted the perception I had of the woman I was. Psychedelics were back then a key tool to help me reconnect with a new version of myself. But for that rebirth to take place, an older version of myself had to die first – the Jessika that felt disempowered, who needed constant external validation, and who kept herself small.

Today I make use of my own inner work, my life’s history, and extensive practical and theoretical knowledge of psychedelics to assist people in their journeys back to their true selves.

I have facilitated the process of preparation, journey, and integration of many clients in 2:1 settings. In addition, I have organized women-only ceremonies, co-hosted group retreats (one specifically for war veterans), and assist in the educational training of guides for a private organization in the Netherlands.

In early 2023 I will conclude my Vital Training in Psychedelic Therapy & integration by Psychedelics Today and start two new training courses: a Trauma-Informed Plant Medicine Facilitator Training and Psychedelics & Compassionate Inquiry with Dr Gabor Mate. I believe continuous learning is essential to dive deeper into my own inner work and to responsibly work with these substances.

Jessika Lagarde's approach to integration

I apply nonjudgmental listening and transformational coaching to empower people, helping them let go of narratives, behaviours, limiting beliefs, and thinking patterns that are out of alignment with their true selves. My work invites people to (re)discover their purpose and values.

The integration sessions will vary according to what’s present and needed each time. Give yourself space and time for the process to naturally unfold. Most sessions consist of a combination of:

– Opening of space with a meditation or a check-in to get in touch with your own thoughts and emotions – In this first moment, you can express all your doubts or needs so that the process adapts to those and to your expectations at all times.

– No-mind exercises – The tools can be very varied: they can include bodywork, artistic creation exercises, and meditations.

– Discourse – The psychedelic experience is put into words and set out based on the challenges or learnings that have arisen. This can be done by recalling visions, symbologies, and analysis of thoughts, patterns, or emotions you have noticed during or after the experience.

– Heart Intelligence and Relational Healing – how to talk to family and close ones about your experience, how to bring your new learnings into your community

Trainings

I have a Peer Support & Harm-reduction Basic Training by Psycare. I’ve guided more than 50 clients in 2:1 sessions and several group ceremonies in the past 2 years.

Jessika Lagarde's offerings

• 80€ per session
• Package of 5 sessions: 350€