Dimensions: Algonquin Highlands

Our Processes

Substance sourcing

• Our Dimensions staff and therapists follow all regulatory guidelines and do not provide cannabis to our guests for their ceremonial experience. Retreat guests are advised to procure cannabis for their personal Plant Medicine use.
• We have developed professional relationships with local dispensaries.
• All cannabis purchases must be made in person, for personal use, and in accordance with local regulations. For the optimal psychedelic experience, our team will guide guests in purchasing, measuring, and identifying the ideal strains of cannabis to vaporize the Plant Medicine.
• Our recommendations for specific strains of cannabis are key to the success of the Retreat experience. Every ASCEND program held at Dimensions Algonquin Highlands includes the provision of guidance and education in making a psychedelic cannabis blend.
• Through our preliminary evaluation process, our medical team is authorised to recommend cannabis assisted therapy.
• Our on-site therapists provide ceremonial support for all guests to use their own Plant Medicine while participating in a Dimensions Retreat.

Intake / Prescreening Process

• Intake and Assessment – Before guests arrive at Dimensions, intake and assessment are completed to assess the guest’s current mental, emotional, physical and spiritual readiness for our retreats as well as plant medicine work.
• These assessments also assist us in personalizing the guest’s experience at the retreat by recommending complementary modalities that will support their process of healing while at Dimensions.
• Dimensions’ ASCEND Retreat is held in a uniquely Western container: it is supported by rigorous health and safety protocols and is among several well-being programs developed by Dimensions’ team of experts.
• The Retreat’s five-star environment is a ground-breaking opportunity to leave the everyday behind.

Preparation

• Psychedelic Preparation – Preparation for plant medicine includes group psychotherapy and psychoeducation to prepare guests for their plant medicine ceremonies.
• Through psychotherapy, we will guide guests in connecting to their intentions for healing.
• Education on polyvagal theory will empower clients, teaching them how to self-regulate their nervous system.
• Mindfulness-based practices provide a foundation for our guests to navigate challenging experiences that may surface during ceremony.
• Discussions on plant medicine and its psychopharmacology will help guests to develop a deeper understanding of the wisdom and intelligence of these natural medicines.

Ceremony

Ceremony is the coming together of community in a sacred and ritualist gathering. At Dimensions we draw from shamanic traditions that have worked with Plant Medicines in a ceremonial context. Guided by experienced facilitators who will navigate our group through music, song, and personal healing work in a safe protected environment.

Integration

• Psychedelic Integration – The process of ceremony continues long after the session is completed.
• Integration is the process guests go through in the days, weeks and months after the ceremony.
• During this time, through group psychotherapy, we guide our guests in making sense of the content of their experience, process the profound insights that came up, and reprocess any significant memories and emotions that surfaced.
• Body- oriented therapies support our guest’s integration by resolving things on a somatic level and work to create greater alignment with the mind and body.
• After our guests return home, they will continue to receive online support that will guide them in bringing their external lives into deeper alignment with the changes and discoveries they have made during their retreat.