Confluence Retreats

I attended the 5 day Confluence Retreat at the end of June 2025. I chose Confluence because I wanted my first psilocybin experience to be legal in a therapeutic setting amongst nature and supported by a group of like minded fellow participants. I flew to Oregon from Sydney, Australia and have much gratitude for what unfolded. It was helpful to pre-meet fellow participants via some Zoom calls. The pre -work (reading some books, watching some videos & setting my intentions) really paid off as each of my intentions and more informed my positive experience while on the psilocybin. The Confluence Team did a great job making us feel safe and explaining what would happen. When I reflect on my experience, I am glad we did two journeys on the psilocybin. Yes, I was nervous for the first journey but felt more comfortable for the second journey which resulted in a deeper experience. I came to the retreat to process grief as I had lost my wife of 30 years. During my journeys I felt deep grief and tremendous love from the important people (& dogs) in my life. I also felt new love entering my life. “Reawakened” is the word I would use to sum up my experience. I was very impressed with the quality of the therapeutic staff. The food was yummy, the setting in the beautiful Oregon mountains was so soothing and grounding. There was a very spiritual element to the retreat with blessings and songs offered by a local native American shaman. I departed feeling very close to my fellow participants…we remain in touch with each other.

I have had depression literally my entire life. Last December 2024, at age 53, I hit rock bottom emotionally. It was not the first time I’ve hit rock bottom, but I desperately needed it to be the last time.

I reached out to Confluence Retreats and spoke with Myles within a day. I was shocked at how quickly I was able to schedule the first call. I can honestly say that Myles is one of the kindest, compassionate and calm people I’ve ever met. Speaking with him was easy and gave me hope.

I’ve tried just about every medication, counseling, etc., etc. available to me since age 12. I had amazing parents and a normal childhood save the depression and anxiety. I have had the normal amount of stressors and sadness in my life, however, I could never get to the root cause of my overwhelming and many times debilitating depression and anxiety. Nothing I tried alleviated any of it.

I attended Confluence Retreats in February 2025. Prior to the retreat, Myles and his staff held several Zoom Calls with those of us scheduled to attend together. The calls were priceless for not only everyone getting to feel comfortable with each other, but for the information they shared with us in what to expect during the retreat, etc.

Everything from the flight to the airport shuttle to the accommodations to the food to the staff was beyond and above my expectations. Myles and his entire team made everyone feel welcome, informed, calm and heard.

I did as much research as I could prior to arriving in February, and had my notes from the Zoom Calls, however, I was still unsure of how I would personally feel during each ceremony / journey.

I grew up fairly sheltered in regards to drugs and alcohol. I have only smoked weed a couple times and edibles a handful of times since age 40. I wasn’t sure if the psilocybin would make me feel “high” like marijuana, or not.

Myles and his team were there every single step. They were physically present every single step. Our group of 8 was never alone and we were assured no matter what questions we had were not “dumb” - the atmosphere was always very kind and very supportive. The care. The attention. The information. The ceremonies. The journeys. The integrations. Each was more than I had dare hoped for.

The journeys were very difficult for me. I did not feel “high” like with marijuana. We were told to have our intention(s) set prior to our journeys. I knew my intention: “Why have I been so depressed and anxious my entire life?!?”

However, I was not prepared for what I saw was the root cause of my depression and anxiety during my journeys! I was literally shocked beyond words. What I saw were horrible things happen to me as a baby that I didn’t remember until I was on my journeys. They were absolutely repressed. There was literally nothing that could have prepared me for what I saw happen to me as a baby.

My intention allowed me to literally see, feel, hear, smell why I have literally had horrible depression and anxiety my entire life.

The integration after the journeys — the care, concern and knowledge I experienced while I was attending Confluence Retreats— were priceless. They gave me the tools I needed to be able to process what I saw on my journeys.

This whole process was not something I would ever define as fun. It has been the reason why I will be able to eventually survive and come out on the other side of the depression and anxiety that has crippled me. I cannot thank Myles and his team enough for the experience, the support and the continued support.

Myles and his team helped me find a therapist at home to help me integrate and continue processing the journeys. I will be in therapy for the foreseeable future, but now I finally know the “why!” and because I now know, my therapist can help me process in a way I never could prior to knowing why.

I simply cannot recommend Confluence Retreats enough.

❤️❤️❤️

The five day Confluence retreat changed my life. I was on antidepressants for many years to cope with severe trauma. I finally found a psychotherapist who helped me identify the issues I needed to overcome, but I reached a point where I needed to go deeper than just talking to someone. I was impressed by the extensive preparation ahead of the psilocybin journeys, the many levels of support during the retreat and the support with reintegration to life afterwards that Confluence provided. I have been off all medications for several months now and have a calm, peaceful life at last.

I attended a Confluence five-day group retreat in June 2025 and the experience has changed my life in deep, meaningful ways. There is a lightness, a spaciousness in me that I hadn’t experienced before; the rigidity of thought and action that had been with me most of my adult life has softened and I now regularly feel a sense of deep peace and groundedness. My journey began before actually taking the psilocybin; with expert guidance and information provided by Confluence weeks before the retreat, I felt prepared and comfortable by the time I met my fellow group members and facilitators. Even though our psilocybin journeys were individual/internal experiences, being together as a group and sharing our vulnerabilities and experiences before and after each journey gave me a profound sense of healing connection and bonding that will stay with me for a long time. We were provided comfortable lodging in the beautiful woods of Oregon, delicious meals, and participated in activities that encouraged introspection, presence and mindfulness. The whole experience was much more than taking psilocybin - which was its own amazing, incredible, meaningful experience that can’t be put into words – but Confluence Retreats made sure that we each felt safe and supported so that we could just focus on/wholly participate in our internal mushroom journey. Thanks to the magic of the mushrooms, I now have this deep knowing of my own strength and wisdom that has been in me all along. I am so incredibly grateful to have had this experience. Truly and wonderfully life changing.