A somatic-based, interactional therapy to heal trauma at the root-level of the nervous system.
What Is PSIP?
Many people are searching for something deeper from therapy, something that doesn’t just manage symptoms, but actually helps the nervous system resolve the imprints of trauma. That’s where Psychedelic Somatic Interactional Psychotherapy (PSIP) comes in.
PSIP is not another talk therapy model. It’s an experiential, body-based process rooted in relationship. Healing happens through the therapist’s steady presence, attunement, and guidance as the client’s nervous system accesses and reorganizes old trauma states. Instead of trying to “think” our way through trauma, PSIP works directly with the body and psyche in the present moment, where the trauma lives, and where it can finally shift.
Sessions can include legally prescribed medicines such as ketamine or cannabis, but these medicines are not required, and this model can be effectively utilized with simply the nervous system and relationship. Unlike traditional psychedelic therapy, often with eyes closed listening to music, PSIP is interactive. The therapist provides steady relational support, grounded in psychodynamic and attachment theory, so the nervous system has what it needs to bring forward traumatic material safely.
PSIP draws on three pillars—ANS-based somatic psychotherapy, access to primary consciousness, and psychodynamic/attachment foundations.
Why PSIP Feels Different
Traditional therapy often focuses on insight and coping strategies, which can be helpful but sometimes leave deeper layers untouched. PSIP takes a different path:
The therapist provides relational solution. This means offering just enough safety, pacing, and support for the nervous system to risk bringing forward overwhelming material. Without relational solution, the system stays stuck in looping survival responses. With it, unfinished fight, flight, freeze, or dissociative states can surface, complete, and reorganize.
Preparation sessions include talking. Before experiential sessions, we explore trauma history, coping strategies, and relational dynamics. This builds trust and sets the stage for the deeper somatic work of medicine sessions.
Sessions can be intense. PSIP doesn’t bypass activation; it allows nervous system states to emerge in real time. This can feel uncomfortable, but within the safety of relationship and solution, the system can reorganize.
Integration extends the work. Healing doesn’t stop when the session ends. Integration sessions, both individual and group circles, support meaning-making, stabilization, and the application of new nervous system patterns to daily life. Many find that sharing in a group integration circle brings added connection and resonance to their process.
These shifts can only happen because PSIP works directly with the body’s survival states. The diagram below illustrates how the autonomic nervous system responds to threat and where trauma patterns often get stuck:
Activation can rise into fight/flight or drop into dissociation; in PSIP, these states are met safely so they can complete and reorganize.
Some Pros and Cons of PSIP
Every therapeutic approach has its strengths and its challenges, and PSIP is no exception. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it gives a sense of what people often notice.
Pros:
Works at the root level of trauma, not just surface symptoms
Provides a relational container where the body feels safe enough to release old patterns
Offers lasting change by helping the nervous system complete unfinished survival responses
Can be especially powerful when combined with medicines like cannabis or ketamine
Cons:
Sessions can sometimes feel emotionally or physically intense
Progress isn’t always linear and things may feel stirred up before they settle
Not everyone is ready for the level of activation that can arise
The changes that unfold take time, care, and integration to fully live into
PSIP is not a quick fix. It asks for patience, courage, and commitment, but for many, it brings transformation in places other approaches have not been able to reach. Integration is essential for making those changes sustainable.
Who Is PSIP For?
PSIP can be supportive for people who:
Feel stuck in patterns that haven’t shifted despite other kinds of therapy
Carry symptoms of trauma, such as anxiety, hypervigilance, or shutdown, that doesn’t resolve
Experience relational challenges, such as difficulty with trust, reactivity, or getting stuck in unhealthy dynamics with others
Want an approach that includes the body as well as the mind
Are curious about safe, relational, experiential healing that helps the nervous system complete what was once overwhelming
PSIP is also an approach that draws people who are ready to move beyond surface-level interventions, whether that’s clients seeking lasting change or therapists engaging in their own healing so they can show up more fully with others. It resonates with anyone who senses there’s more possible and who is willing to step into the territory where true transformation happens.
Why work with Illuminate Wellness?
At Illuminate Wellness, we specialize in PSIP because we’ve seen how powerful it can be. Clients often describe it as finally reaching the places inside they’ve always sensed but couldn’t access before. They are able to live lives they never thought possible.
We work with integrity, compassion, and deep respect for the process. Whether you come to PSIP as a client seeking healing or as a therapist engaging in your own personal work, you’ll find a space that honors both safety and depth. Integration is central to that process, not only through one-on-one sessions, but also in our group integration circle, where many find connection, resonance, and support in shared healing.
An Invitation
PSIP is not about bypassing, forcing, or rushing change. It’s about creating the kind of safety where the body and psyche can do what they were always meant to do: reorganize, release, and come back into balance within relationship.
If you’re curious, this may be a doorway into something deeper:
For clients: PSIP can offer a way of working with trauma that goes beyond coping and reaches the roots, opening space for change that feels real and lasting.
For therapists: Experiencing PSIP as your own healing process creates more room inside to meet your clients with steadiness and presence. This work isn’t about techniques alone. It’s about who you become when your own nervous system has more freedom.
Healing happens in connection, in safety, and in presence. PSIP offers a framework for that kind of transformation, and at Illuminate Wellness we are deeply honored to share in your healing journey.
