Michele Koh

I’ve had recreational experiences with psilocybin and other psychedelics in my teens and twenties – some of these were fun and some were downright scary! But my first therapeutic experience with psilocybin in my 40s was like nothing I’d experienced before. I felt a major energetic shift and could feel my body and mind releasing things they’d been clinging to for a long time. My perspectives on reality, relationships, life, and death changed for the better. Something big happened for me when I went inward with the medicine, the way it’s done therapeutically.

It was such a powerful experience that I felt compelled to continue developing a relationship with psilocybin, and to undertake training so I could share this healing experience with others.

I am an LPC Associate and cognitive behavioral hypnotherapist with a Master of Science in Psychology. I also practice reiki and breathwork and regularly engage in my own journeys with psilocybin and other plant medicines as this helps me better serve those I work with. I love learning about the different wisdom traditions, quantum physics, and alternative healing.

Born in Singapore, I lived in Perth (Australia), Sulawesi (Indonesia), London, Boston, and Hong Kong, before arriving in Portland in 2021. Before becoming a mental health worker, I was a journalist for media outlets like Al Jazeera, CNN, Harper’s Bazaar and The Wall Street Journal. I am also a biographer and a fiction writer whose stories have been published in literary magazines and anthologies in the US, Canada, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

My approach is person-centered, existential, spiritual, holistic, and culturally responsive. I specialize in life transitions, creative blocks, codependency, addiction, childlessness, conscious aging, third culture identity issues, and intergenerational, cultural, and religious trauma.

In preparation sessions, I help my client work through any anxieties they might have and assist them in getting greater clarity on why they are having their psilocybin journey. During the facilitation, I hold safe space, assist clients with grounding and guide them if they need to ride out challenging emotions and somatic experiences. I also serve as record keeper. If they wish to, my clients can download their first impressions as they come down, and I will record them so we can discuss them during our integration. In integration sessions, we work together so my clients can make sense of the insights they received on their journey and apply them to improve their lives.

Taking slow walks in nature, picnics, meditating, reading, weaving, yoga, eating good food, playing with my cats, and spending time with family and friends.

I cover all practical aspects of preparation – when to stop eating, what to wear, what to do before the journey, bring, etcetera. I will give you a general idea of what the facilitation day will look like and let you know what you can expect from me during your experience. I’ll let you know about some of the physical and psychological changes that are common during a psilocybin journey and how to deal with any uncomfortable sensations or emotions that might come up. We’ll discuss your expectations and worries, and I’ll also talk a bit about what difficult experiences might look like so you’re prepared if these do occur and know how to get through them. Then we’ll go into intention setting, where I help you get clear on your purpose for having this journey and explore your hoped-for outcomes.

It’s important to me that the space is all yours during your journey, so I do my best to be as unintrusive as possible. If I see that you are in distress, I will offer therapeutic touch, which you can decline at any time. I also offer reiki so you can request for this if you’d like some hands-on energy work. I’ll also help you write down any insights you want recorded during your journey (you can just speak them out loud) so you don’t have to break your flow. I am also always available if you need someone to talk to during or near the end of your journey.

I offer a brief complimentary 15-20 minute integration or a full hour integration for an additional $120. Integration is a process of developing integrity – where what we believe on the inside becomes more aligned with our actions, choices and how we show up for life. During your integration, I will help you identify the big “lessons” that you received from your journey and explore ways you might want to make changes in different areas of your life (relationships, career/creativity, habits, existential/spiritual) so you can live in harmony with this “felt truth”. The way I see it, integration is where the real work begins. It is about sustaining the useful perspectives glimpsed during the journey to improve our lives.