Pilar Brooks

I am a Psychedelic Integration Coach, Ceremony Facilitator, Therapist Mentor and Plant Medicine Educator working, living, and loving between California, Costa Rica, Europe, and Colombia. I received my BA in Fine Art from University of Southern California where I learned in the ins and outs of the analog photo lab. Spending lots of time experimenting with light, color, and shadow—having only to rely on the senses of my body in the dark room—I accidentally fell into my first conscious meditation practice. From there, I went on the study Meditation and Trauma-Informed Yoga and received my 200-RYT certification. I taught public and private classes in Venice, CA until I became increasingly more interested in the marvelous and complex relationship between the emotional and somatic body. Continuing my somatic education by studying the body-based psychotherapy modality of Somatic Experiencing©, my enrapture with the psyche + body grew like wildfire—spreading to Pacifica Graduate Institute, where I received my MA in Depth Counseling Psychology in 2019.

In my Masters program, I studied psychotherapy from a Jungian, Humanistic, and Imaginal perspective. To study the unconscious in such depth propelled my psyche (soul) and soma (body) to link patterns she had discovered in her years of disciplined meditation practice and psychedelic adventures. The psychedelic realms no longer solely belonged in symbolic imagery and intangible conceptualization, but rather had been given a language for my modern mind to understand these psychedelic spaces within and without with profound clarity. I spent hours reading, writing, and working—in both academic and therapeutic formats—with my images presented in dreamtime and psychedelic spaces to integrate discovered wounds of my lineage and what divine sacred medicines can bring forth. Inspired by the world of the unseen, I explored the realms of witchcraft in my published thesis, Bones of the Therapist’s Chair: An Exploration of Witchcraft and Psychotherapy to further employ the unconscious relationships of the ancient witch as it pertains to the role of the modern psychotherapist.

In my personal time, you can find me in various meditative practices, including Cha Dao tea ceremony, traveling around the globe, and studying with indigenous plant medicine wisdom keepers from the Inga tribes in Putumayo reign of Colombia. I am an apprentice, lead integration therapist and program consultant for internationally recognized plant medicine retreat centers supporting indigenous medicine traditions and can easily be found floating in any body of water, or planning my next trip to the jungle.