Psychedelic Integration Therapist: Bruce Sanguin

Frshminds sat down with North Saanich, British Columbia based psychedelic integration therapist Bruce Sanguin, to learn about his perspective on psychedelic integration. Previously a United Church of Canada minister and author of seven books, he now works as a psychedelic integration counsellor in BC. His latest book, Dismantled: How Love and Psychedelics Broke a Clergyman Apart and Put Him Back Together, describes my healing journey with the aid of psychedelics and psychotherapy.

What got you interested in providing psychedelic integration to your patients?

My own healing journey. I was a “success”, author of seven books, respected church leader. But then I found the love of my life and discovered that I was emotionally and psychologically unfit for the depth of intimacy that was on offer. I decided to go to some ayahuasca ceremonies and then do some MDMA and LSD therapy. As the title of the book says I was “dismantled”, in a good way. I discovered what a great aid these medicines are. But they are a means to an end, not an end in itself.

Relationship heals. Psychedelics reveal.

What makes your practice special?

My practice isn’t special. I care about my clients and don’t try to change them. I create a space for them to drop into their true self and relinquish the false self that has served their survival needs.

How do you see psychedelic therapy evolving in the future?

Not sure that it needs to evolve. Big corporations are making their way into the psychedelic space which means it’s going to be driven by big Pharma and the profit motive. I’m not sure that’s an evolution. We’re going to see an amping up of the existing materialistic medical worldview that treat symptoms not causes and reduces every problem to the grey matter of the brain. I’d rather see it “devolve” so that it resembles more how these medicines were used by indigenous peoples. That is, to connect with the sacred, clean up trauma and increase our capacity for gratitude, reverence for life and humility – and increase our capacity for love of self, other and planet.

What’s the one piece of advice you would offer to patients considering psychedelic integration to help them manage their mental health?

All mental and emotional did-ease stems from self-loathing. It’s unconscious but it’s there. Most of us were set up early to believe that we’re bad, we’re hopeless, that we don’t belong and that we’re unworthy of love. When you’re feeling like this call bullshit on the set up. The single best indicator of healing is when self-hatred is transformed into self-compassion. We’re all too hard on ourselves.

What are the most remarkable changes you have seen in patients who have leveraged psychedelic integration to manage their mental wellness?
I’m not much into dramatic stories of transformation. It happens for sure and psychedelics can help. But most often therapy, with or without psychedelics, is the slow and patient process of bringing the unconscious into conscious awareness, and learning – through the caring love of a therapist – that we’re eminently loveable, contrary to what we learned in our family.

What challenges do you see for further integration of psychedelic based therapies into more mainstream health care?

As mentioned above if the dominant medical model of scientific materialism prevails the truly subversive power of these sacred medicines will be appropriated by the capitalist agenda. Potentially they are subversive the dominant worldview, of human as consumer, of grandiose egoic notions of success. They can dismantle all of this and effect a death and rebirth of what it means to be human. I’m holding out for the radical (“down to the root”) deconstruction of all the false ideas about what it means to be human. They can help us to discover the potential of love. Love, in the end, is the only healer.

You can learn more about Bruce at his website.  If you want to find other Bruce or psychedelic integration counsellors in BC, check out the listings on Frshminds.

To explore how psychedelics and integration therapy can improve well-being, see our Ultimate Psychedelics and Mental Wellness Guide!

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