In addition to supporting clients to make change and find healing through hypnotherapy, I’m also a certified Applied Shamanic Counselor. This means I work with people using the shamanic journey and other shamanic healing techniques to support their healing, personal growth, and spiritual development. Many people approach this work with curiosity. One of the first questions a potential new client often asks is, “What is a shamanic journey?” or “How can shamanic journey work help me?”
These are great questions! There are many types of shamanic practices and traditions, so I speak here from my own training and experience. My work is centered primarily around a style of shamanic journey work and counseling that seeks to bring the power and wisdom of shamanic practice to people in modern, Western cultures who have not had the benefit of growing up in a community where these healing modalities are commonplace.
The truth is, shamanic journey and healing work can be found in the history and indigenous traditions of every continent that has been inhabited by humans – essentially everywhere but Antarctica. This is a powerful testament to the impact of shamanic work and its importance across human history.
What Is Shamanism?
The word “shaman” comes from the term saman, meaning “one who knows,” in the Tungusic language family of Eastern Siberia. (Interestingly, this word has ancient ties to other regions too. The root “saman” is strikingly similar to its Asian linguistic cousins: the Pali word samana and the Sanskrit word śramaṇa, both referring to a contemplative spiritual practitioner, wandering ascetic, or monastic.) At its core, shamanism encourages healing and guidance in collaboration with the unseen spiritual power rooted in the natural world. Shamans are typically seen as intermediaries between the spiritual and physical worlds.
What Is a Shamanic Journey?
A shamanic journey is a powerful technique to connect with our inner knowing through a lightly altered state of consciousness. Shamanic journey work has similarities to meditation, psychedelic assisted therapy, and hypnosis, with some important differences. Typically accessed through a process of visualization, accompanied by repetitive, rhythmic drumming, the journey uses the drum’s beat as an auditory driver that entrains the brain into a light trance state.
Recent findings from the University of Michigan’s Center for Consciousness Studies indicate that shamanic journey work can lead to experiences of unity, ego dissolution, and insightfulness that are on par or even greater than those induced by certain psychedelics. Because this is such a powerful meditative tool, those who are curious to begin a journey practice are encouraged to work with a trained and trustworthy shamanic practitioner for support.
How Can Shamanic Journey Work Help Me?
Shamanic counseling is an impactful healing modality that uses the shamanic journey as the primary vehicle for accessing deeper inner wisdom, guidance, and healing. So, how can shamanic journey work help you?
Shamanic journey work can deepen insight, intuition, and trust in yourself:
Through the shamanic journey, you’ll have the opportunity to connect more fully with your own inner wisdom and deeper guidance. This can be tremendously helpful in many circumstances—from navigating major life transitions and decisions, to understanding stuck patterns in relationship, to cultivating more confidence. This work supports an incredible range of experiences: I have worked with clients as they make major changes in romantic relationships, navigate illness, tackle big new creative projects, overcome phobias and fears, and prepare for important life events. Clients often come away feeling more comfortable in their own skin, a greater sense of agency, and more able to meet life’s challenges with clarity.
Shamanic journey work is a powerful practice for spiritual growth:
Many clients come to me at a point in their spiritual practice where it feels like things are unfolding beyond their usual scope. Buddhist meditators having visionary experiences, people working to make sense of an overwhelming ayahuasca ceremony, or those who feel there must be “more” to their current path. Shamanic journey work can offer spiritual support and expansion that complements existing practices, helping us find our way more fully no matter the tradition or background we come from. For more from me on this topic, please check out my article on shamanic journey work and meditation in Tricycle Magazine.
Shamanic journeying can be an alternative to psychedelics:
I often speak with people who are interested in psychedelic-assisted therapy but face barriers to access. Whether the cost, intensity, or legal limitations feel prohibitive, shamanic journey work can be a gentle and accessible alternative. Because a shamanic journey is shorter and easier to integrate, it can become part of regular life rather than something that requires extended time away. This work also serves as excellent preparation or integration for psychedelic experiences. Click here to learn how shamanic counseling and Depth Hypnosis can support psychedelic integration.
Shamanic journeying can help you find stability and insight during grief, loss, and uncertainty:
One client I will never forget came to me with a terminal cancer diagnosis. He wanted to feel more ease in the face of his illness during treatment, and later as those treatments lost effectiveness. His experience of connection with something greater than himself that could accompany and support him was incredible. It brought him peace and strength throughout his last years. After his passing, his family members also worked with me to find their own sources of support and inner guidance as they moved into a new phase in their own life. Shamanic journey work is deeply supportive in moments of grief, loss, or big existential questions.
If you’d like to learn more and explore working together using shamanic counseling, I’d love to hear from you. Just click here to schedule a free consultation to see if this work is right for you.
Juliana Sloane is a hypnotherapist, shamanic practitioner, and meditation teacher. She has taught mindfulness meditation throughout the United States and helped individual clients deepen their confidence, find relief from stress, and build the lives they want. She loves supporting clients with shamanic journey work as a powerful practice to connect to deeper knowing and wisdom. To learn more about her, click here.
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