Victoria Etherington

About Victoria Etherington

My personal search for meaning, and for deeper connection brought me into contact with some amazingly powerful tools and techniques which we have available to us. The beauty of the best ones, they were simple and they reminded me that the power to heal and build a better and more meaningful life is within. This is how I approach my work today.

The tools I use (entheogens, breathwork, coaching, art, music, embodiment), are always in service of reminding us of our own inner capacity to heal and grow. And my role as a coach or guide is to be in service to your journey.

“Heal yourself, with beautiful love and always remember…You are the medicine.” Maria Sabina, Mexico

My personal experience with master plants began with my own search for a deeper meaning, and it coincided with support from coaches, therapists and an incredible community of teachers and friends. At this time I was working in the tech startup space, and having reached a level of security and recognition in my career, I became more and more aware of a lack of alignment in my life.

Taking the Why, What, How analogy from Simon Sinek, I saw that I had been making decisions without being fully clear on my “Why”. And in cases of personal relationships, I had been sweeping the difficult ones under the rug without being fully aware.

Psychedelics were one of the catalysts on this path, offering new perspectives and helping me to shine a torch into the dusty corners of my inner world I hadn’t been looking at. They gave me back agency and responsibility over my life choices, and the way I conduct myself in relation to myself, my close connections and the world at large. And at the same time, I knew this was no magic pill. The insights and clarity I had would sometimes fade, and I began to seek ways to integrate and evoke sustainable change.

This brought me to a deep study of psychedelic integration, what it truly is and how to apply it. Too often “integration” after the ceremony was mentioned as meditation or walks in nature. However, these were examples of a few tools, that belong to a much richer landscape. I began to study different approaches, modern research-backed tools such as breathwork, IFS, NLP, as well as more ancient and traditional teachings around master plants. Weaving a tapestry rich in colour and images from which I draw inspiration in my sessions today.

I feel I have lived many lives, and I love the richness of the experiences I have lived. Each shift brought in new lessons, and with each shift, I felt myself becoming more true to my nature and more clear on the values and choices which feel most aligned. And yet the path of integration hasn’t been linear for me. As I move forward, I also find myself circling back to things which have been important to me in the past, which I let fade along the way. I now see this journey as a life-long homecoming, a life-long rediscovery of oneself and one’s purpose. One I get to share and guide others on. Never imposed my own view, simply exploring together.

In addition to one-on-one preparation and integration coaching, I have a personal coaching practice focused on moments of change and transition. I am also the founder of Entheogenesis, a legal psilocybin retreat based in the Netherlands where we support people through full-dose journeys, as well as micro-dose journeys. Our focus is on providing a container which supports you with thorough preparation and integration guidance, including personal support as well as group sessions.

In all of my work, I see my role as supporting you on your journey back into a better connection with yourself, your community and the world around you. Sharing helpful tools, offering space for reflection and most of all reminding you of your own inner wisdom.

Victoria Etherington's approach to integration

My approach lies at the cross-section of science, indigenous wisdom and respect for ritual and the sacred. Combining coaching tools, philosophy, ritual and embodied practice. Each session is deeply personal and unique to your experience and needs. Based on this, we will together explore and define the integration path best suited to you.

That being said, there is a process to integration. A series of stages we move through before and after a psychedelic or other peak experience which can be defined as:

Preparation Phase: Planting the Seed

Here we explore the purpose behind the journey, ideally done before although this is something we come back to in later stages. For recreational journeys for example, where this stage might be skipped, we may still come back to exploring and understanding the set & setting of the journey. Some areas we may focus on.

• Setting intention
• Meta view of different areas of your life
• Values and bigger vision or purpose
• Safety, dosage, substance and contraindications
• Planning for a supportive environment after your journey

Integration Phase: Nurturing the Seed

This is the moment coming out of the journey during which the focus is on taking time to initially rest, and begin to slowly explore and clarify the experience. Creating a first level of understanding.

• Landing after the experience, rest & recovery
• Creating connections and understanding the experience in relation to the rest of your life
• Building clarity & understanding of the meaning you want to give to the experience

Integration Phase: Watering the Sapling

In this phase we begin to define the path forward, together exploring possible ways of integrating the learnings. Turning towards action and defining the first steps together. Taking even small steps early creates consistency and cements new behaviours and patterns. One example: you uncover a tendency towards people pleasing and feeling guilt when turning down offers. Together we may decide on a small challenge, whenever you say “no” to an offer which isn’t aligned, not to give an excuse or reason. Observe and learn from the new behaviour.

• Incorporate practices and rituals to deepen the neural connection to the experience
• Defining the path forward & aligned action steps

 

Tools and Methodology

The tools I use come from different disciplines and are personalised to each individual. My aim is to meet you where you are, as best I can. And to work with what resonates most with you.

If you are particularly moved by sound or music, we will incorporate this. If on the other hand movement and embodied practice is what is needed, that is what we will explore. Here are some examples of the tools we might explore together:

• Breathwork
• IFS – Internal Family Systems and other internal dynamics
• Guided visualisations, metaphors and images
• NLP
• Shadow work
• Art therapy
• Ritual and creating meaningful moments
• Journalling for reflection
• Dance and intuitive movement
• Connection to nature

Whether you are seeking to prepare for & integrate a profound psychedelic experience, or seeking support on your self-development path, you will be able to gain clarity on the direction you want to go in. As well as building up the courage and trust to take the necessary steps forward.

My approach is rooted in the belief that humans seek deeper meaning in their lives, and we can find this meaning within. It takes consistency, courage, trust and stillness to find.

“Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.” Viktor E. Frankl

Credentials

• CoActive Trained Life Coach (CTI Institute) (104 hrs training)
• Breathwork Masterclass Level 3 Coach (110 hrs training)
• Master Early Modern History, University College London
• Bachelor Comparative Literature, Queen Mary University of London

Trainings

• MIND Foundation Footsteps, Psychedelic Integration

Victoria Etherington's offerings

• 1 Session €110 (incl. tax)
• 3 Sessions €250 (incl. tax)
• 6 Sessions €450 (incl. tax)

Recommended to divide the session to include at least one preparation session before the planned ceremony or experience.