Laura

About Laura

Personal Introduction:

While I come to the world of psychedelics from a scientific perspective, I am also actively pursuing the spiritual side of the altered states of consciousness. My first career was in business and finance, starting in Toronto, Canada, and then working in Hong Kong. I was also a very athletic person and competed as a professional triathlete, runner and adventure racer in my twenties and early thirties. After 10 years in finance, I decided to switch tracks and took an MSc in Sports Science and began a PhD in Sport Psychology at the University of Hong Kong. And then, against all odds, I had a beautiful baby boy. It was this “altered” experience, only given to me once in my life, that changed my trajectory. I turned all my focus on psychology and counselling, becoming a clinical psychologist, hypnotherapist and EMDR therapist. Now, once again, my trajectory has changed to learning all I can about altered states of consciousness. I am about to begin another PhD, focusing on psychedelics, and I cannot wait to see what is unravelled and how I can share this knowledge with any and all people as eager as me to learn the hidden powers of the altered states of consciousness.

My Philosophy:

The subconscious is the supercomputer of the brain, and this houses all of the stuff working underneath our conscious awareness that’s driving our feelings and thoughts and the decisions we’ve thought through so carefully. It’s only by exploring the subconscious and understanding it a little bit, that can we improve ourselves over time. Jung stated we all have all things inside of us, the dark (aka, the shadow parts) as well as the light. He also believed it’s better to work with them than to not acknowledge their presence and have them come out as addictions and other behaviours that damage us. Thus part of mental health is to bring these parts to the conscious ( Dr. Paul Conti describes 10 cupboards of the mind to look into that one can use to explore the self, the function of self and its relational aspect).

People are looking for deep inner peace. And it’s up to each individual, given who they are with their unique characteristics, to figure out all the contents of the their “mental cupboards”. Psychedelics are one way people have gravitated to for thousands of years, searching inside their mental cupboards for answers. Psychedelics “make you feel”. You can’t hide behind your ego, your defence mechanisms, distractions, substances, anything. You have the weight of the human experience given to you, fear, anger, sadness, shame, and joy, as they are hidden in your subconscious.

As a Psychedelic Preparation and Integration coach, it’s important for me to make sure you’ve truly had practice feeling all these emotions, on a conscious level. Preparation is showing you, you’re able to regain your emotional balance after being in a state of emotional dis-regulation. It’s preparing you to turn and “face the monster under the bed” and realizing you have the emotional strength to see it through. Preparation is asking the right questions so that you’re fully aware of why you are seeking an altered experience. Preparation is getting you prepared to get the most out of your experience, whatever that may be. Without any preparation and/or the ability to process heavy emotions, is the equivalent of never having learned how to swim and then being thrown into the deep end….but rather than “drowning”, you can end up getting stuck in the darkest parts of your subconscious. Preparation is probably the most important piece to this, because knowing what you seek, knowing what your intention is, knowing what your issues are, and having deep self-knowledge, allows you to get the most from your experience.

Laura's approach to integration

Integration is giving the space to create language, meaning, and the insights given to you because of the altered state of consciousness experience. Thus, it’s often necessary to be able to give “alternative” descriptions, whether these are visual, auditory, tactile etc. This is where I come in. Having had personal and professional experience, I am a landing space for you to fully communicate your experience, whether through art, words, journalling, etc. It will all be given the full respect, attention and space required in order for you to process, learn and apply the changes to your everyday life. Integration is the process of renewal. Integration is action. Integration asks “So what does this mean?”, “Now what?”, “How do I respond to the material that came up?”. It’s about looking into the subconscious and all the possibilities that brings. It’s all about finding the deep inner peace we all seek.

For me, the goal is to get out of your way, to create such a safe place without fear of judgement, that would allow you to be fully open to your experience, whatever altered state that may have been.

Credentials

• MSc
• MA Psychology
• MA Counselling
• Phd Candidate

Trainings

• EMDR
• Hypnotherapy
• Augmented Psychotherapy
• Cognitive
• Behaviour
  Therapy

Laura's offerings

• $200 (CAD)/Session 60 minutes online