Tag: psychedelic therapy

New frontiers in psychedelic therapy

As Ketamine becomes more mainstream, and organisations like SIPSA (Society of Interventionist Practitioners South Africa) are forming to potentially guide the use of psychedelic-assisted therapy, one has to realise that we are reaching a new era, where medicines (such as ketamine) that were previously thought to be damaging or innocuous, might in fact have some benefit.1 According to SIPSA’s constitution, one of their aims is:

“To promote the professional and legitimate interests of ketamine and
psychedelic treatments.”2

The growing interest in legal psychedelic treatments can be understood, as few medications offer the immediate relief for suicidal ideation than ketamine can3.

Other psychedelic treatments that are not legal in South Africa may not be on offer at healthcare establishments, but individuals are experimenting with them on their own4 and thus sometimes bringing the psychedelic experience into the therapy space. I have found through consulting the literature5 and my own experience that (without advocating for the use of such substances) creating a safe space where transparency is accessible, insights from psychedelic experiences on psilocybin (“magic mushrooms”) and MDMA can form an important part of the therapeutic process, if the client has chosen to have that experience on their own6.

To find out more, contact Melissa

  1. https://sipsa.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/SIPSA-CONSTITUTION-2024.pdf ↩︎
  2. https://sipsa.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/SIPSA-CONSTITUTION-2024.pdf ↩︎
  3. Ketamine for the acute treatment of severe suicidal ideation: double blind, randomised placebo controlled trial
    BMJ 2022; 376 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2021-067194 (Published 02 February 2022) ↩︎
  4. Pilecki, B., Luoma, J.B., Bathje, G.J. et al. Ethical and legal issues in psychedelic harm reduction and integration therapy. Harm Reduct J 18, 40 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-021-00489-1 ↩︎
  5. Front. Psychol., 15 March 2021 Sec. Psychopathology Volume 12 – 2021 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.645246 ↩︎
  6. Front. Psychol., 15 March 2021 Sec. Psychopathology Volume 12 – 2021 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.645246 ↩︎

Possibilities Beyond Words

I write this post as I make my way back from Israel, having been a guest speaker and part of a facilitation team that offered training in psychedelic-assisted therapy for trauma survivors.

The trainees and trainers have left an in indelible mark on my heart, as the nature of the training was incredibly inclusive, intimate and rich.

My topic was ‘Possibilities Beyond Words: creative and embodied approaches to trauma work with psychedelics.’ I feel privileged to have been given the opportunity to travel to Israel and speak about what I am most passionate about.

When someone survives an event that is truly traumatising, it often leaves them without words, speechless, unable to articulate their traumatic experience or to describe their inner world of emotions and sensations. This is when non-verbal , creative or embodied approaches are so beneficial.

Through working this way, we as therapists can offer our clients opportunities to express themselves without words, to be heard without speaking and to come to understand themselves and their trauma responses better. Ultimately, we can afford our clients hope when previously there was none.

To find out more, please feel free to contact info@melissamcwalter.co.za or to WhatsApp 0834129768.

Make this the year you re-discover yourself

I’m not a big believer in many New Year’s resolutions, but a new year provides us the opportunity to honour ourselves by undertaking the adventure to which we are called.

Staying in the ordinary world – home, comfort, the Known – brings us no closer to coming Home to ourselves.

The journey is not without challenge, excitement, temptation, tolls, trials and love. Indeed, it is venturing into the Unknown, a place ripe for transformation.

This is not a journey that you take alone. A mentor is needed, although you are the traveler, responsible for your life and your choices.

The reward is awesome and the freedom, wisdom and power that you can attain is real.

If you feel a nudge, a sense of an urge to respond to a call that beckons you beyond your ordinary world, I encourage you to listen to it and follow where it takes you.

My personal call is to mentor people just like you, to come alongside you as you bravely venture into the Unknown. I provide direction, encouragement, understanding and wisdom through various different approaches that I have honed over the years.

There are many ways to follow your call. If you are in any way aware of this urge to dive deeper, you have only to contact me to set up an initial meeting, where we can see if my mentorship and your story can find a healing synergy.

Contact Melissa via email (info@melissamcwalter.co.za) or via WhatsApp (0834129768). This may be your first step towards following your call to the path you know you need to follow.

9 Reasons Why People Seek Out Alternative Therapies

“I have been to so many different therapists, psychologists and helpers but I have not found what I need.”

“I haven’t found anyone that I can really connect with.”

“I need to connect with a real person, not a blank face.”

“I don’t feel like I can relate to my therapist.”

“I don’t want to blindly follow a conventional medicine model, but I also don’t want to ignore important medical advice.”

“Traditional therapy is just not working for me.”

“I am desperate for my mental health or my child’s mental health to improve, and nothing seems to be working.”

“I’ve tried everything.”

“Just simply talking isn’t helping me.”

These are some of the most common reasons my clients look for alternative therapies, and often why they come to me. I highly value the fields of psychology and psychiatry, which is why I work collaboratively with other professionals. However, traditional therapy approaches are not for everyone.

Sometimes, people need a different approach in order to feel seen and heard. The traditional therapy models tend to allow less transparency, real-ness and openness from the therapist, with the focus remaining exclusively on the client. This works really well for many people.

For others, the core element of safety in therapy can only be found in an imperfect, somewhat irreverent approach that allows relationship and connection to unfold between two real human beings. I bring a valuable expertise to the relationship pertaining to the areas of therapy and skills I offer; however, I am not an expert on life. This is a journey we undertake together. The relationship we form is the vehicle for growth and healing.

The integrative nature of this approach means that we may use talking, music, art, movement, trauma-informed yoga, breathwork, lifestyle modification, creative process, symbol work, nature, writing and/or mindfulness in a way that feels safe and appropriate for you.

I like to take 1 – 3 sessions to get to know you and to allow you to get to know me. From there, we can decide whether we would like to work together and if I could be helpful.

If you are interested in integrative therapy, an alternative approach, please contact Melissa by clicking here

A Brief Rationale for an Integrative Approach

Music therapist integrative therapy Cape Town Melissa Ellse
Integrative Therapy in Cape Town with Melissa Ellse

We are all unique 🌟

An integrative therapeutic approach draws thoughtfully from various theories, methods and techniques based on the individual’s strengths, needs and concerns.


There is no one-size-fits-all. It simply does not exist. Every single encounter we have with one another is both meaningful and unique. This is because we are human and beautifully complex.


I’ve learned this first hand in my own therapeutic processes, which is why I strive to be integrative, intuitive and informed in my approach. And my approach will probably not work for everyone, because we are all unique 🌟 and that is truly wonderful.

To find out more, click here.

Are substance-free psychedelic experiences possible?

psychedelic experience guidance cape town south africa spiritual awakening music therapy

Short answer: yes.

Longer answer: I have encountered surprisingly many people (older, younger and from all walks of life) who want to experience something of the the mind-manifesting nature of psychedelics without taking a substance. Some people are averse to the idea of substance-induced altered states of consciousness from pre-conceived ideas about “drugs”, some cannot explore any mind altering substances because of medications or psychological predispositions. Some don’t want to get entangled in something that is not legal. Some simply don’t like the idea of ingesting anything that affects their consciousness so profoundly. Some prefer to be in control. Some are fearful. These are all valid concerns.

Yet still, such individuals seek a transcendent (possibly spiritual) encounter that is different to everyday, waking life and that offers up something deeper, possibly holding more meaning, truth and authenticity than their ‘ordinary’ reality. In my experience, these individuals are usually on a voyage of self-exploration, igniting creativity, navigating a life transition and/or discovering meaning in life. My hope-filled and honest response is always yes, there certainly are ways to enter altered states of consciousness without any substances or plant medicines.

Psychedelic literally means ‘mind-manifesting’ or ‘mind-expanding’, the Greek root is psyche (mind, soul) dêlos (manifest, visible). Meditation is one avenue to such experiences, yet this usually takes a great deal of practice before potentially experiencing anything of a psychedelic nature. Still, I highly recommend a steady meditation practice for many, many reasons which I won’t address here. To get started with a meditation practice, the following apps are very useful: https://wakingup.com/ or https://www.headspace.com/.

I work with music and deep relaxation into an altered state of consciousness, eliciting imagery in the mind’s eye that allows the ‘traveller’ transcendent, even psychedelic-type experiences. However, the ‘traveller’ also retains complete personal control and is able to effortlessly emerge from the experience at any point. No substances or plant medicines are used and they do not need to be in order for the process to be effective. Guided Imagery and Music is a technique developed by Helen Bonny after working alongside the renown psychedelic researcher Stanislov Grof in LSD trials of the sixties. Bonny developed a “non-drug, psychedelic technique of music-listening for psychotherapeutic ends.”

This music-listening technique takes place in a 1.5 hour session, the traveller comfortably lying on a couch in an undisturbed, safe and comfortable setting (such as a therapist’s room). During the session, the guide will talk with the client/traveller and work toward setting an intention for the journey. A specific music program that relates directly to the traveller’s mental set and intention – a music program designed to elicit imagery, emotions, memories and even sensations – is selected by the guide. The traveller is taken through a deepening relaxation induction and reminded of their intention. When the selected music plays, the traveller journeys with the music in this deepened, relaxed and in fact altered state of consciousness.

Imagery, storylines and emotions may appear, sometimes sensations and memories, all emerging from the unconscious mind and guided by the music. During this process, the traveller is always free to ‘come out’ of the experience, should they want to. This is unlike a substance-based psychedelic experience, such as a psilocybin journey, where one is locked into the journey until the substance/medicine wears off. The guide asks questions and helps to deepen and intensify the experience. Afterward, the traveller makes marks on paper (creates a mandala), which is a creative output that helps to solidify and integrate the journey and is used for verbally processing the experience.

Guided Imagery and Music sessions are usually conducted once a week over a period of time, as personal narratives, archetypal material and images from the unconscious are developed and worked with.

If you are interested in exploring your consciousness through an alternative, experiential and substance-free way, click here. Offered in Cape Town, South Africa.

Note: BMGIM guides require extensive and rigorous training. I am currently in advanced training in the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music.

Hallmarks of a Mystical Experience

William James, in The Varieties of Religious Experience, delineated four major hallmarks of what might be described as a mystical experience.

  1. Ineffability: the individual just can’t put words to the experience, verbal description does not – cannot – do it justice or even begin to portray the authority, significance or nature of the event.
  2. Noetic Quality: the experience appears extremely significant and important for to the individual and it carries a kind of deep authority, inner knowing and personal truth.
  3. Transiency: the mystical state is not sustained as in it’s peak, but fragments, traces, parts, a felt sense and innate knowing – these do persist and are subject to ongoing development, meaning that the insights/wisdom/truths can deepen in richness and significance over time.
  4. Passivity: it is not by the individual’s active will or direction that the mystical experience occurs. Rather, the individual will is suspended for a time and it is as if the individual is ‘moved’ by something larger than him or herself (such as a higher power).

Clearly, this describes an experience that is quite enormous, powerful and outside of ordinary life experience. This is something that is remembered, owned, held tightly and nurtured. Something that becomes precious, guiding and indeed transformative in one’s life. A deep truth, knowing, reality or beauty may be revealed that is intrinsic to something ordinary, everyday and obvious. The experience of such states can be immensely powerful and transformative in one’s personal journey as well as for collective wellbeing. Does such a state have to have anything to do with religion?

It is possible but uncommon to enter such an altered state of consciousness without intention in everyday life, perhaps but not necessarily while listening to music or being in a sacred or natural space. However, there are various ways to prime for such an experience. For example, one way is through a meditation practice, another through Guided Imagery and Music, and another is through facilitated breathwork. Another increasingly acceptable and accessible way is through the use of sacred plant medicine, such as magic mushrooms (psilocybin) and ayahuasca which through their psychedelic (that is ‘mind-manifesting’) properties may occasion such mystical experiences. While mystical states and religion can seem confusingly intermingled, they are not the same thing. There are many religious people who have never had a mystical experience of this nature, while there are stalwart atheists who have. It is a human experience, not owned by any denomination, school of thought, medical practice or form of therapy. It is true that such experiences may absorb a kind of religious quality, depending on many factors such as the individual’s life experience, the place the experience occurs and even the music playing during the event.

Have you ever experienced an altered state, a mystical state or a spiritual state that relates to James’ conception?

For more information about altered states of consciousness, psychedelic integration, guided imagery and music, mind expansion, transformation and mystical states, please contact me to find out more.

References:

Griffiths, Roland & Richards, William & Mccann, Una & Jesse, Robert. (2006). Psilocybin Can Occasion Mystical-Type Experiences Having Substantial and Sustained Personal Meaning and Spiritual Significance. Psychopharmacology. 187. 268-283. 10.1007/s00213-006-0457-5.

James, W. (1902), The varieties of religious experience. New York: Longmans, Green & Co.

Pollan, M. (2018). How to change your mind: What the new science of psychedelics teaches us about consciousness, dying, addiction, depression, and transcendence. New York: Penguin Press.

How Guided Imagery and Music can transform your life

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Book a transformative session in the leafy Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa. Be kind to yourself, or offer the gift of self -compassion, creative exploration and self-discovery to a loved one. The Bonny Guided Imagery of Music (BMGIM) is a form of music and image based psychotherapy that requires extensive training in mythical, pathological, archetypal, practical and other modules over three years. The qualification has it’s roots in the psychedelic experimentation and training that took pace in the 50s and 60s in labs in the United States, effective therapeutic modalities which are being resurrected now. BMGIM (The Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music), emerging out of this field and growing exponentially, borrows language such as ‘Guide’ and ‘Traveller’ and even ‘Journey’. Travellers are likely to experience altered states of consciousness, unlike a drug-induces state (far more controlled than a drug-induced state) yet still reap the benefits of accessing deeply unconscious, sometimes mythological and archetypal material. Currently, I am in advanced training in BMGIM and find that my client’s BMGIM encounters are potent and hold tranformative potential, as well as the potential for deep rest, growth and healing. This topic is certain to be discussed at the upcoming World Congress of Music Therapy in Pretoria at The University of Pretoria in 2020.
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Guided imagery is for adults and most teens, men and women. If you are unsure whether it is for you or are interested in finding out more about this transformative and creative way of working, contact me: https://melissaellse.co.za/contact/
Please note, no previous ‘creative endeavours’ are necessary, such as art or music etc. Come as you are.