Join us for an immersive, hands-on workshop exploring how the creative process can enrich psychedelic preparation and integration. Through playful engagement with art materials and expert guidance from experienced art therapists, you'll discover new ways to process, reflect, and connect with yourself and our local psychedelic community.
Sana co-founder and Art Therapist, Valery Shuman, will facilitate this workshop with visiting art therapists Alyssa Gursky, Emily Segal, and Rebecca Wilkinson as they share their perspectives and expertise in this area.
What to Expect:
Interactive art-making and experiential exercises
Insights from seasoned art therapists
Opportunities to share and connect with others on the psychedelic path
Who Should Attend:
Anyone preparing for or integrating psychedelic experiences
Therapists, coaches, and guides supporting others in their psychedelic journeys
No artistic experience needed—just curiosity! Materials provided, but feel free to bring your favorite supplies or personal artwork to share.
Walk Away With:
Practical tools to enhance your psychedelic preparation and integration
A deeper understanding of how creativity supports personal healing
Hands-on experience with art techniques to carry forward
Note: This event is for educational and harm reduction purposes only. No substances will be provided nor consumed during the event.
Cost: General admission for this event is $25. Please consider including an additional donation for Sana Healing Collective’s Community Care Fund.
Through our Community Care Fund, we aim to bridge the gaps left by the divestment from mental health in our city. We are particularly focused on providing healing and services to those who have been acting in service to our community through community organizing, mutual aid, and radical social justice work.
Through the Sana CCF, we can provide low-cost and sliding-scale KAT (and eventually other psychedelic-assisted therapies when available to us) to people who otherwise would not be able to access such novel mental health treatment due to cost and other systemic barriers.
Presenter Bios:
Emily Segal, LCPC, ATR is an Art Therapist and a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor residing in Michigan. She received her Master’s degree in Art Therapy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2013, and completed a certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Research from the California Institute of Integral Studies in 2021. Emily currently runs her own private practice in Niles, Michigan and offers Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy in her practice by partnering with an organization called Journey Clinical. Emily focuses on using art therapy and the creative process to deepen all aspects of Ketamine work, particularly during the preparation and integration phase of Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy. As the legal landscape of psychedelics changes, Emily hopes to be able to offer additional psychedelic medicine in her practice in the future.
Alyssa Gursky, LPC is a Psychedelic Assisted Art Therapist. They are currently a study therapist & research associate at the Portland VA Social Neuroscience and Psychotherapy Lab working on MDMA Assisted Group Therapy for Transgender and Gender Diverse Veterans. They have trained with Polaris Insight Center and Ketamine Training Institute for Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy. They hold 2 Masters degrees from Naropa University, focusing on Transpersonal Psychology & Transpersonal Art Therapy. They are a Clinical Skills Practice Group Leader at Naropa University. They offer education on Psychedelic Healing & The Creative Process at various training institutions, including Alchemy Community Therapy Center & Tam Integration’s Coaching Program.
Valery Shuman, ATR-BC, LCPC is a licensed clinical professional counselor and board-certified registered art therapist, specializing in working with people who want to examine their relationships with themselves, with others, and with substances. Valery works from a harm reduction framework focused on reducing harms and maximize benefits of behaviors. She believes that relationship is the vehicle for change. Valery also offers harm reduction, preparation and integration for psychedelic healing experiences, helping people to leverage various modes of expression to share and make sense of their experiences of non-ordinary states of consciousness and to walk them meaningfully into their daily lives. Valery is a co-founder and therapist at Sana Healing Collective, a Chicago based non-profit organization committed to individualized, client-led approaches promoting the well-being.
Rebecca Wilkinson, LPC, LCPAT, ATR-BC is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Clinical Art Therapist with over 30 years of experience in mental health care, training and education, and professional development. She is a Certified Psychedelic Assisted Therapist through the Integrative Psychiatric Institute and trained with the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Sciences. She writes on the synthesis of positive art therapy and psychedelics and teaches on the topic at the George Washington University Art Therapy program. She is managing director of Creative Wellbeing Workshops, co-author of Positive Art Therapy in Theory and Practice: Integrating Positive Psychology with Art Therapy,” and author/illustrator of “The Desert Mandalas Coloring Book”.
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