Psyche & Praxis Forum: Working at the Edge of Medicine and Mysticism

Jasmine Virdi, MSc (Writer, Educator, Lyric Essayist, Activist & Integrative Somatic Coach)

Thursday 29 January, 2026 8PM CET (7PM BST, 3PM ET, 12PM PT)

Online via Zoom

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As psychedelics move further into mainstream healthcare across the global North, they are increasingly framed through clinical language, therapeutic outcomes, and measurable mechanisms of change. At the same time, these substances reliably occasion experiences that many people describe as spiritual, mystical, or ontologically disruptive. This can create a practical and ethical tension for clinicians: what happens when the clinical container elicits experiences that reach beyond the frameworks used to explain them?

Preparatory material (please review in advance)

Center for the Study of World Religions. (2020, November 3). Medicalizing mysticism: Religion in contemporary psychedelic trials [Video]. Harvard Divinity School. Speakers: Rita Powell, Jeffrey J. Kripal, Rachel Petersen, & Charles Stang. Access here.

What to expect in the forum

This session will be discussion-based, using the video as a springboard for small-group and whole-group dialogue. Together, we will explore questions such as:

How do our therapeutic framings shape what we notice, remember, and how we support clients in integrating?
Where might we feel under-resourced or uncertain when clients report ontological or spiritual shifts?
How do we hold multiple frameworks of meaning without defaulting to certainty or reductionism?
What does responsible practice look like when the clinical and the religious begin to overlap?

Jasmine Virdi, Coordinator of Professional Events at the OPEN Foundation, will facilitate and moderate the discussion and support the group in engaging with care, groundedness, and mutual respect. These sessions will not be recorded to protect participant privacy and to support open conversation.

Our goal for the Psyche & Praxis Forums is to create a supportive yet critically engaged space where professionals can connect through meaningful dialogue on the complex realities shaping the psychedelic field. Please review the preparatory material and come ready to engage with openness, humility, and curiosity.

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Jasmine Virdi, MSc (she/her) is a writer, educator, lyric essayist, activist, and integrative somatic coach.

Her creative and written work explores plant medicines, spirituality, deep ecology, Indigenous and more-than-human rights, reworlding, and liberatory praxis. Her writing has appeared in DoubleBlind Magazine, Open Democracy, and the Chacruna Institute. She is also a contributing author of the book chapter “Psychedelics and Death: Transitioning from this World with Consciousness” in Women and Psychedelics: Uncovering Invisible Voices (Synergetic Press, 2024).

Over the years, she has collaborated with numerous non-profits and mission-driven organisations, offering consultancy, education, operations, and communications support. She also spent two years volunteering with Fireside Project, providing peer support to individuals in crisis and those seeking integration. Currently, Jasmine works with the Dutch non-profit OPEN Foundation as Professional Events Coordinator, curating ongoing educational offerings for clinicians, researchers, and practitioners committed to ethics and best practices in psychedelic-assisted care.

Holding an MSc in Transpersonal Psychology, Jasmine offers private coaching and mentorship. As an advocate for decolonising healing practices, she integrates earth-based wisdom with somatic, trauma-informed approaches that honour both body and spirit. Her monthly newsletter, Foraged Wisdom, gathers insights on world-building amidst systems collapse, weaving together animism, earth-based wisdom, grief work, decolonisation, magic, and the richness of the human spirit.

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