About Shannon

 As a mental health folk healer and nurse, I believe in utilizing a creative and holistic approach to care.  I was trained, programmed by and worked for the psychiatric industrial complex for 20 years and never witnessed a person healed. So I have taken what can be useful from that system and have sought out modalities of care that do support healing--not simply "symptom-management". I think of this collection of knowledge, experience and resources as my medicine bag.

Having someone hold space and bear witness to our experience is potent medicine. Talk therapy is also a powerful tool to gain insight into our circumstances and explore ways of coping, making meaning out of our experiences and clearing the way for new narratives.  I am a certified Transpersonal therapist and have a deep interest in intergenerational and ancestral trauma.

I have specialized in pschedelic-assisted psychotherapy using ketamine since 2017, offering treatment with both sublingual and intramuscular ketamine. A series of 4-6 ketamine sessions with supplemental integration can often lead to a powerful transformative experience and override of the default mode network that keeps us “stuck.”  Ketamine is a powerful anti-suicidal and anti-depressant medication and used in conjunction with psychotherapy is a truly amazing tool for healing trauma. Psychedelic medicines are a tool for entering non-ordinary states of consciousness, allowing the unconscious to explore new perspectives from which we can derive healing.

Entering non-ordinary states of consciousness does not require the use of plant medicine. Throughout history, indigenous cultures around the world have utilised tools such as the rattle, drum, breathwork, trance-dance, fasting and other techniques to access the innate healing capacity within us. For the indigenous Irish, the drum is the tool for such work. The modality of Shamanic counselling involves a unique 2-hour session wherein a client and therapist work together with setting intention, journeying with a drum into a non-ordinary state, accessing information needed for healing, and integrating it upon returning from the non-ordinary state. It is both simple and yet profoundly transformative.

There are times when medications can be a beneficial ally offer support with symptom management. Small dashes and splashes of pharmaceuticals are often more effective than the “recommended” doses that often  come with a hefty portion of side effects. For some, being on medication for a time can aid the work of therapy. Medications can also be important and even medically necessary for detox from substances. And, for many who have been victims of the psychiatric system, assistance getting off psycho-pharmaceuticals can require time and care.

Natural supplements can also lend invaluable support to the nervous system, aid with sleep and settle the mind.