Breaking Barriers on the Path to Liberation: A Call to Center Black Women’s Healing Journey

This panel charges us to dive further into the role of psychedelics and integration work in Black women’s healing. We will explore the barriers, solutions, and considerations at the forefront of the movement. An opportunity for transformative healing in the amplification of Black women’s voicesHistorically, Black women have endured compounded trauma due to systemic oppression, cultural stigmas, and the demands placed on them due to gender roles. Participants will be able to describe how the liberation of Black women, both in and around the psychedelic space, contributes to broader collective liberation.Although there is room for healing of the trauma experienced both on the macro and micro level of society through psychedelics, Black women face unique obstacles and barriers to accessing this healing modality. In addition to access, equitable and culturally sensitive integration methodologies are limited and far in between.When visiting solutions and considerations, we look to the words of Bell Hooks – “Healing is an act of communion.” There is a critical importance of community support and collective healing particularly in the work with Black women. Participants will increase understanding of the impact of spirituality and community on Black women’s mental health and be able to develop culturally informed support strategies. In addition, solutions need to emphasize a holistic approach which will include the biological self, the social self (community), the psychological self, and the spiritual self through the creation of sacred spaces. This conversation will explore spirituality as a large umbrella and an additional tool in integration with Black women. Informed psychedelic facilitation illuminates the way to profound emotional release, introspection, and enhances connectivity to one’s spiritual self and community.