Category: Article
Article: How Depth Hypnosis Supports Psychedelic Integration
Plant medicine and psychedelics have become increasingly prevalent in mainstream consciousness, experiencing a cultural revival as more individuals explore their potential for profound personal growth, healing, and therapeutic application. Substances like ayahuasca, psilocybin, MDMA, and ketamine have emerged from indigenous ceremonies and underground contexts to clinical settings and even mainstream retreats. Yet, as the use of these powerful substances grows, the importance of properly managing and integrating these experiences becomes paramount. Depth Hypnosis is an integrative therapeutic modality that combines elements of hypnotherapy, Buddhism, shamanism, transpersonal psychology, and energy medicine to facilitate deep inner healing and transformation. It offers significant tools and methods for effectively navigating and integrating the insights gained through psychedelic experiences.
Article: An Introduction to Coming to Peace: Resolving Inner and Outer Conflict
Conflict is an inevitable part of life. It touches every one of us in different ways, whether through disagreements with loved ones, tensions at work, or the quiet, inner battles we wage within ourselves. For many, the instinct is to avoid or suppress conflict, but in my experience, conflict holds the potential to be one of our greatest teachers. If we approach it with courage and openness, conflict can guide us toward deeper understanding, healing, and harmony. This is the essence of the Coming to Peace process.
Coming to Peace is a conflict resolution method I developed through decades of study in transpersonal psychology, Buddhist philosophy, and earth-based wisdom traditions. It is both a practical approach to resolving disputes and a pathway to self-discovery. By addressing the external dynamics of conflict and the internal struggles that fuel them, Coming to Peace empowers individuals to transform suffering into growth and disconnection into connection.
Article: The Role of Elements in Healing with Integrated Energy Medicine
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
Integrated Energy Medicine is a method of working with subtle energies for healing on a physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual level. This method of healing integrates many different forms of vibrational and subtle healing technologies, including working with sound, light, elements and vibrational fields to create change in the subtle bodies which underlie the physical body. By working at this more subtle level, healing on other levels can be enhanced and sustained.
Article: Applied Shamanism and Plant Medicine: Bridging Ancient Wisdom and Modern Healing
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
As someone deeply immersed in the study and practice of shamanism, I have often reflected on the profound synergy between Applied Shamanism and plant medicine. These two traditions, though distinct in their methodologies, share a common thread: they offer pathways to profound healing, self-discovery, and transformation. Together, they create a dynamic framework that not only addresses personal challenges but also nurtures a deeper connection to the natural world and the greater web of existence.
Article: Buddhism and Psychedelics: Two Paths to the Same Truth
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
The intersection of Buddhism and psychedelics is a meeting point between two profound modalities of exploring the nature of reality. Though they arise from different traditions, these approaches both aim at unveiling deeper truths about the self, the mind, and the universe. By examining this intersection, we can uncover a rich dialogue between ancient wisdom and contemporary experiences.
Article: The Shamanic Journey: A Pathway to Healing Anxiety
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
In today’s fast-paced world, many of us are grappling with the ever-growing burden of anxiety. From the constant pressure of work to the emotional turmoil of personal relationships, the demands of modern life can leave us feeling disconnected, overwhelmed, and spiritually drained. While conventional methods like therapy or medication can offer valuable relief, there is another powerful tool that has been used for centuries in indigenous cultures around the world: the shamanic journey. This ancient practice offers a pathway to reconnect with the deep wisdom of the soul, access inner guidance, and heal the root causes of anxiety.
Article: Harnessing Positive Intentions for an Empowered Life
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
Intentions hold a unique place in the landscape of personal transformation. Setting a clear intention is not simply about creating a positive thought. It is an active engagement with the self, a conscious choice to shape the inner narrative and align with the deeper truths of who we are. When approached thoughtfully, intention setting becomes a powerful catalyst for clarity, healing, and profound personal growth.
Article: Harnessing the Power of Imagination for Positive Change
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
Imagination is one of the most profound tools we possess for personal transformation. It allows us to envision possibilities, explore solutions, and create change in ways that transcend the limits of our immediate reality. When intentionally directed, imagination becomes a bridge to transformation, unlocking new perspectives and helping us manifest our desired outcomes.
Article: Understanding and Healing Addiction: A Holistic Path to Recovery
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
Addiction is not simply a matter of willpower or behavior; it is a symptom of deeper emotional and spiritual imbalances. It often emerges as a coping mechanism for unresolved trauma, power loss, or soul loss—experiences that fragment the self and create a sense of disconnection. True healing requires addressing these root causes, empowering individuals to reclaim their wholeness and transform their relationship with themselves.
Article: Harnessing Affirmations for Positive Change
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
Affirmations hold a unique place in the landscape of personal transformation. These carefully crafted, intentional statements are not just words spoken into the void; they are an active engagement with the self, a way to shape our inner narrative and align with the deeper truths of who we are. When used thoughtfully, affirmations have the power to reprogram the subconscious mind, offering a pathway to clarity, healing, and profound personal growth.
Article: The Healing Potentials of Buddhist Philosophy in a Modern Therapeutic Environment
By Scott Menasco, Ph.D.
In articulating Buddhism primarily as a path of healing, the teachings at the Sacred Stream offer the living transmission of Buddhism accessible to individuals with diverse cultural backgrounds. The classes at the Sacred Stream combine accessibility and authenticity of Buddhist practice in a way that does not require a rigidity of cultural expression and does not sacrifice the authenticity of a living Dharma tradition. This is a tremendous contribution to all who desire to deepen their understanding of practice in Buddhism but have been uncertain at how they can practice genuinely, without appropriation, and without forcing themselves into unfamiliar cultural practices.
Article: What Is Spiritual Counseling?
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
“There can be no true healing without the participation of spirit.”
Carl Jung
I am often asked what spiritual counseling is. The answers to that question are many and there are many types of spiritual counseling. For some people, it is about exploring their faith and focusing on the values of that faith as a way to understand themselves and the world around them. For others, it is a way of exploring the world beyond the everyday in order to give context to their experience.
Spiritual Counseling at the Sacred Stream embraces both of these definitions and also offers further opportunities for exploration. When we talk about spiritual counseling, we are talking about the inclusion of spirit in our inquiry into our clients’ presenting issues. This includes helping people define their relationship to spirit as well as learning how the consideration of the spiritual element of any imbalance impacts their understanding of their situation and their ability to transform it.
Article: Healing and Awakening with Buddhism and Shamanism
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
I’ve been exploring Buddhism and plant medicine and psychedelics for about six years now. One area that I find really absent in a lot of the conversations on psychedelics and spirituality is indigenous shamanism, and it’s hard to find people who know much about that, and also have some kind of Buddhist framework. That’s why I was so excited to hear about your work and listen to some of your talks.
The main question I’m working with in this book is how can we engage with plant medicines as tools or technologies to support awakening? How can we understand the psychedelic experience and also the outputs of psychedelics through a lens that is with the intention of awakening? When I heard about Depth Hypnosis and your work, I thought it would be amazing to talk to you and hear your thoughts on this. You’ve spoken about the catalytic power of shamanic practice and how you feel that there’s potential in that to be harnessed by Dharma practitioners in service of Awakening. This seems to be the focus of your work with Depth Hypnosis, so maybe we could start there.
Article: Tara, Bob, & Me
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
Robert Thurman and I spent several years teaching a class called Embracing the Sacred Feminine. The class was an exploration of the power of the feminine within Buddhist philosophy. At the beginning, I was surprised that Bob wanted to teach this class together because it was outside of his usual focus in teaching. But it was right in the heart of mine. I had been teaching two classes, the Initiations of the Sacred Feminine and Tracking Spirit in the Birth Environment: The Creative Portal for many years. I was excited to teach what I knew from this perspective and learn more about the power of the feminine within Buddhist philosophy when I accepted his invitation.
At the outset, I realized this was a learning for Bob as well. Although he had an incomparable mastery of Buddhist philosophy, he had never really filtered that mastery through the lens of the Sacred Feminine in the way class required. At first, it was hard to perceive the influence of the feminine beyond the expressions of the female deities, but that quickly shifted for the two of us.
Article: Tonglen – An Integrated Energy Medicine Point of View
By Joanna Foote Adler, PsyD, CHT
Much has been written on the practice of Tonglen, the Tibetan Buddhist meditation practice of giving and taking. Tonglen is a powerful and important practice in many of the schools of Buddhism. I would like to offer some thoughts to add to this literature from the perspective of Integrated Energy Medicine as it is taught at the Foundation of the Sacred Stream, which will hopefully help to focus this practice for western practitioners in a skillful way.
Let’s start by defining Tonglen. Tonglen is a meditative practice for cultivating love and compassion through giving and taking. The focus in this practice is to embrace (rather than reject) unwanted and painful aspects of experience, and to work to overcome fear and develop greater compassion for others. The opportunity here is to change the attitude towards pain and to open the heart as one visualizes dissolving pain. In this practice, one uses the breath in conjunction with a specific visualization. One visualizes or imagines taking in the pain and suffering of others on breathing in, and then visualizes breathing out love and peace for the other.
Tonglen is a practice said to help develop wisdom and compassion on both the relative and absolute levels of reality as they are understood in Buddhist philosophy. These levels are known as the Two Truths. Talking about these levels of reality gets us into deep philosophical water, but for the purposes here we can understand that the relative level of existence refers to the everyday ordinary world experienced as solid and “real.” The ultimate level of reality in Buddhism points to the understanding that reality is actually “empty” in that it is always changing, and that all things depend on or originate from the causes and conditions that came before them. Tonglen points us towards letting go, towards releasing the clinging to our sense of self and to the attachment held when one believes they are permanent beings. In different ways on the relative and absolute levels, Tonglen practice can reverse resistance to pain and help develop the enlightened mind qualities of equanimity, love, and compassion in the face of suffering. The concepts of relative and absolute levels of reality are helpful here in the exploration of how Tonglen practice works.
As the Founding Director at the Foundation of the Sacred Stream, Dr. Isa Gucciardi teaches courses of study in Applied Buddhist Psychology and Integrated Energy Medicine, among others. She teaches that one way to understand Tonglen is as an energy medicine practice.