I write about mental health, psychosis, altered states, trauma, yoga therapy, nervous system regulation, philosophy, spirituality and the many ways people find their way back to themselves. My work lives at the meeting point of psychiatry, psychology, yoga, ancient wisdom traditions and what I call Original Medicines: the practices, relationships, rhythms and ways of knowing that reconnect us with body, community, nature and meaning. After more than 25 years working in mental health as a psychiatric nurse, therapist and yoga therapist, I’m especially interested in what becomes possible when we widen the conversation beyond diagnosis and symptom reduction — without losing discernment, safety or good clinical care. Through Terrapy, I work with individuals and groups and teach healthcare professionals, therapists and others who care. I also share reflections from my books, research, conversations, trainings and the questions I’m currently exploring.If you’re curious about a broader, more humane and integrative approach to mental health and healing, you’re very welcome!
The 4 day summit… what’s actually happening behind the doors? 🤔
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Hey there Reader, It started as a little fun idea, as it always does (if you know me)... A seed was planted. I started speaking with people who crossed my path — and I couldn't have imagined how beautiful this summit would become. So let me tell you what it's grown into. Expect more than interesting names — expect what happens when different ways of knowing meet in the same room: psychiatry beside animism, yoga beside consciousness research, lived experience beside clinical practice, grief, spirituality, altered states, trauma, ritual, and transformation, all in the same room. I'll open the four days myself, setting the tone and the intention I want us to carry into the summit — drawing from my recent book, Wisdom of Psychosis. One of the first conversations will be with me and Jim van Os, professor and psychiatrist, where we explore how language, choice, connection, and human presence can help us build more humane ecosystems for altered states — including psychosis — and open the possibility of post-psychotic growth. Then Skye enters the summit — a woman I met earlier this year, born in South Africa, now living in Melbourne, fluent in the language of the more-than-human world. She brings an animist lens to altered states, grief, and perception, shaped by years as a Nature Connection Mentor, Folk Herbalist, Plant Medicine Ritualist, and facilitator of Practical Animism and Experiential Deep Ecology. And Maja, a former criminal lawyer, now Remembrance Alchemist, will guide a live group on Never Labeled Extraordinary States, for you to share and connect with others. Different paths, one focus. This is for all who care — for anyone curious about altered states and human transformation: people with lived experience, the people who love them, and the practitioners working to meet these experiences differently. This summit creates a meeting place between worlds — and asks what becomes possible when we let them speak to each other. More names, conversations, and themes are coming soon. So, be invited! I'd love to build and strengthen our relationship, and hear your voice too! Four days. Live. Online. Free. (And recorded if you cannot make it.) October 15–18.
With love, Anneke Wisdom of Psychosis | Terrapy Press |
Terrapy | The Original Medicines
I write about mental health, psychosis, altered states, trauma, yoga therapy, nervous system regulation, philosophy, spirituality and the many ways people find their way back to themselves. My work lives at the meeting point of psychiatry, psychology, yoga, ancient wisdom traditions and what I call Original Medicines: the practices, relationships, rhythms and ways of knowing that reconnect us with body, community, nature and meaning. After more than 25 years working in mental health as a psychiatric nurse, therapist and yoga therapist, I’m especially interested in what becomes possible when we widen the conversation beyond diagnosis and symptom reduction — without losing discernment, safety or good clinical care. Through Terrapy, I work with individuals and groups and teach healthcare professionals, therapists and others who care. I also share reflections from my books, research, conversations, trainings and the questions I’m currently exploring.If you’re curious about a broader, more humane and integrative approach to mental health and healing, you’re very welcome!
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