Create a Life that Sets You Free

Cannabis-Assisted Psychedelic Psychotherapy

Somatic, interactional trauma psychotherapy in an altered state

Deakin, Canberra

Some experiences are difficult to reach through words alone

Cannabis-Assisted Psychotherapy offers another way to work with trauma, depression and deeply held patterns through an altered state, combining somatic and relational psychotherapy with carefully supported access to the body, emotion and memory.

Why Cannabis-Assisted Psychedelic Psychotherapy? (CAPT)

Access something deeper.

Cannabis can soften familiar ways of thinking and protecting, allowing greater access to sensation, emotion, memory and inner experience.

The body leads the way.

Rather than relying on words alone, we pay attention to sensation, movement, breath and the body’s responses as they emerge during the altered state.

Work with what the body remembers.

The altered state can create access to embodied patterns connected with past experience, giving us an opportunity to work with what has remained unfinished or unresolved.

We work together.

This is interactional psychotherapy. I stay actively engaged with you, responding to what emerges and helping you work with the experience as it unfolds.

Held within a process.

Assessment, preparation, the medicine session and integration are all part of the treatment, creating a careful therapeutic container around the altered-state work.

You don’t have to stay stuck in the same cycles

Cannabis-assisted psychotherapy offers another way to work with patterns that can be difficult to reach through ordinary conversation alone.

Within the altered state, we can slow things down and work directly with what is happening in your body, emotions and experience as it emerges.

The aim is to create enough safety and support to explore what has been holding you in the past, make sense of it differently, and begin creating new possibilities for how you feel, respond and live.

My role is to stay with you throughout the process; helping you remain connected to yourself while we work with whatever emerges, at a pace your nervous system can manage.

This work is for you if...

  • Anxiety, trauma or depression continue to shape your life despite the work you’ve already done.

  • You understand a lot about yourself, but insight alone hasn’t shifted what happens in your body.

  • You’ve tried other therapies or approaches that haven’t felt like the right fit or haven’t taken you where you want to go.

  • You’re interested in working with altered states as part of a structured psychotherapeutic process.

  • You want to explore difficult experiences through the body, with a therapist actively alongside you.

  • You’re ready for deeper therapeutic work and willing to undertake the preparation and integration that supports it.

It’s especially for people who are ready to approach cannabis-assisted psychotherapy as a therapeutic process rather than a stand-alone experience, with preparation, altered-state sessions and integration forming part of the work.

Cannabis-Assisted Psychedelic Psychotherapy

(CAPT)

What it will look like...

Step 1: Begin with Psychotherapy

We begin with ordinary psychotherapy sessions to understand what is bringing you to this work, establish our therapeutic relationship and explore whether CAPT may be an appropriate treatment option for you.

Step 2: Assessment + Preparation

If we decide to explore CAPT, we work through preparation together, including your intentions, history, safety, what to expect from the altered state and arranging an appropriate medical cannabis prescription where required.

Step 3: Cannabis-Assisted Session

The medicine session is longer than ordinary psychotherapy. Once you enter the altered state, we work interactionally with sensation, emotion, movement, memory and whatever emerges through your experience.

Step 4: Integration

We meet again after the medicine session to make sense of what emerged and continue working with it through psychotherapy, helping the experience become part of meaningful change in your everyday life.

You remain part of the process

You don’t hand yourself over to the medicine or to me. You remain an active participant in the therapy, and we work collaboratively with what emerges.

You can speak, move, pause, change position, ask for support or tell me when something doesn’t feel right.

My role is to remain present and responsive throughout the altered state, helping you stay connected with your body and experience while we work with what is happening together.

PACFA-registered Clinical Counsellor

I bring more than two decades of therapeutic experience to this work, with particular focus on trauma, neurodiversity and altered states.

What shifts with this style of therapy?

  • Greater access to embodied memory : noticing and working with sensations, emotions and responses connected with earlier experiences.

  • Less bracing and protective tension : allowing the body to begin releasing patterns it has carried long after the original danger has passed.

  • A different relationship with difficult emotions : increasing your capacity to stay present with what arises without becoming as quickly overwhelmed.

  • More flexibility in familiar patterns : creating space between an automatic response and what you actually want or need now.

  • Deeper connection with yourself : strengthening awareness of your needs, boundaries, feelings and internal experience.

  • New experiences within relationship : working with what emerges between you and your therapist while you are in the altered state, so safety, trust, agency and connection can be experienced rather than only understood.

join the waitlist to be notified when places become available
Hollie Wildëthorn drinking tea and laughing

Meet Your therapist

I’m hollie wildëthorn; a psychotherapist and counsellor based between Canberra and Braidwood, NSW.

My work sits at the intersections of trauma healing, neurodiversity, altered states, ecology and feminism. I bring together formal training, decades of lived experience and a deep respect for the body’s own ways of knowing to support people in creating lives of authenticity and freedom.

Therapeutic Approach

I practise within a psychodynamic, somatic self-psychology framework, integrating process-oriented, relational and body-based models with a transpersonal lens. I am trained in psychedelic-assisted therapies, with a particular interest in how altered states can be used within psychotherapy to work with trauma, anxiety and deeply held patterns.

Cannabis-assisted psychotherapy extends this work into the altered state, where we can work interactionally with what emerges through the body, emotions and therapeutic relationship, always at the pace of your nervous system to keep the work steady and sustainable.

This is for You if...

  • You live with trauma, anxiety, depression or patterns that keep returning despite understanding where they come from.

  • You’ve tried therapy or other approaches before and feel there is something you haven’t yet been able to reach.

  • You notice that your experiences live in your body as much as in your thoughts, and want a therapy that can work with both.

  • You’re curious about altered-state therapy and want to explore it within a structured, therapeutic relationship.

  • You’re willing to prepare for the work, engage with what emerges and give yourself time for integration afterwards.

  • You want to work more deeply with the experiences and patterns that continue to shape how you feel, relate and live.

This work may not be for you if...

  • You’re looking for a one-off cannabis experience rather than an ongoing therapeutic process.

  • You want the medicine to do the work for you, without preparation, active participation or integration.

  • You’re primarily looking for access to medicinal cannabis or someone to prescribe it.

  • You’re looking for an entirely inward psychedelic experience rather than interactional psychotherapy with a therapist actively engaged alongside you.

  • You’re unable or unwilling to undertake the assessment and preparation needed to establish whether CAPT is appropriate for you.

  • You need a form of treatment or level of medical or psychiatric care that sits outside my scope of practice.

If you could get out of the cycle on your own, you would have by now.

Sometimes insight and talking only take us so far. Cannabis-Assisted Psychedelic Psychotherapy offers another way to work with what continues to be held in the body; gently, deeply and with support.

Because this work requires careful preparation and a strong therapeutic relationship, CAPT begins with psychotherapy and an assessment of whether this approach is right for you.

join the waitlist to be notified when places become available

Professional Memberships

  • Clinical Member PACFA (Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia), Registration No. 25488

  • Member AMAPP (Australian Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Practitioners)

  • Member IAPSP (International Association for Psychoanalytic Self Psychology)

  • Member OHA (Outdoor Health Australia)

  • Member ATL (Animal Therapies Ltd.)

  • Member NAPAA (Neuro-Affirming Professionals Alliance Australia)

Questions?

  • Cannabis-Assisted Psychotherapy (CAPT) is a specific form of somatic, interactional psychotherapy undertaken within an altered state created by prescribed medicinal cannabis.

    Rather than relying on talking alone, we work with what emerges through sensation, emotion, movement, memory and the therapeutic relationship.

  • CAPT may be useful for people working with trauma, anxiety, depression and long-standing patterns that have been difficult to shift through other approaches.

    The altered state can increase access to embodied experience, allowing us to work with responses and memories that may be difficult to reach through ordinary conversation alone.

  • Yes. You need a legal prescription for medicinal cannabis and use your own prescribed medicine for treatment.

    I do not prescribe cannabis, although we can work through the steps together and i can help you connect with an appropriate prescriber if CAPT appears to be a suitable pathway for you.

  • CAPT begins with psychotherapy rather than going directly into an altered-state session. This gives us time to establish a therapeutic relationship, understand what you want to work with, assess suitability and prepare properly for the experience.

    We can discuss the likely pathway during your initial consultation.

    Join my psychotherapy waitlist here»

  • You self-administer your prescribed cannabis and are supported as you move into the altered state.

    From there, we work together with whatever emerges through your body, emotions, memories and experience.

    You can speak, move, change position, pause and interact with me throughout the process. This active interaction is an important part of the therapeutic model.

  • The intention is not to overwhelm you or force you to relive traumatic experiences, however it is not unusual to be working with traumatic memories in this treatment.

    We work with what emerges at a pace that respects your capacity, with attention to your body, nervous system, boundaries and agency throughout the session.

    You remain an active participant in the process and can communicate what you need.

  • Cannabis produces a different altered state and allows a highly interactive, body-oriented form of psychotherapy.

    MDMA and psilocybin currently have much more restricted prescribing pathways in Australia and are available only for specific conditions through authorised psychiatrists.

    CAPT can provide a more accessible altered-state treatment pathway for suitable clients who have an appropriate medicinal cannabis prescription.

  • No treatment is appropriate for everyone.

    Cannabis can have psychological and physical effects that make CAPT unsuitable for some people, which is why assessment, medical prescribing, preparation and informed consent are important parts of the process.

    We will consider your history, current circumstances and treatment goals before deciding together whether CAPT is an appropriate option.

  • Integration is part of the treatment rather than an optional extra.

    We meet again through ordinary psychotherapy to explore what emerged, understand its significance and work with how the experience relates to your everyday life, relationships and ongoing therapeutic goals.

  • Cannabis-Assisted Psychotherapy is offered face-to-face at my clinic in Deakin, Canberra.

    Treatment includes psychotherapy, preparation, the longer cannabis-assisted session and integration. My hourly fee is the same as for ordinary psychotherapy sessions, and there are no additional fees for working with me simply because a session involves CAPT.

    The medical and prescribing aspects of treatment are separate from your work with me. Assessment and prescribing are undertaken independently by an appropriate medical practitioner, and you obtain your prescribed medicinal cannabis separately through your prescriber and pharmacy. These costs are not included in my psychotherapy fees.

  • I’m not a registered NDIS provider, but if you are self-managed, we can discuss whether my psychotherapy services fit within your plan.

  • My psychotherapy practice is built around ongoing therapeutic relationships, so new spaces open only occasionally when existing work comes to completion.

    I will be taking new psychotherapy clients in September 2026. Please join the waitlist to be contacted when these places open up.

    There may sometimes be earlier openings for ecotherapy work, depending on the season and availability. You can find out more about that here » ecotherapy »