5-Day Oregon Mushroom Retreat: Small Group Healing + Integration

My experience at Confluence was truly life changing. I did my best to prepare before arriving and followed most of the suggested guidance, but nothing could have fully prepared me for what unfolded during my time there.

Myles, Drew, Arin, Tsana and Thunder Eater are incredibly special people. I’m deeply grateful for everything they shared with us and for the care, wisdom, and presence they brought while guiding me on such a meaningful journey back to myself.

I will always be thankful for my time at this retreat. If you feel called and are brave enough to take the step, I cannot recommend this experience highly enough.

Deep insight. I came away from my retreat with a newfound joy and understanding of myself and my relationship with existence. Myles and Confluence Retreats were very supportive and thoughtful. I wanted a journey without too much "woo" and Confluence was able to meet my needs. I've had experience with the medicine before so knew what I was looking for: a safe container, supportive staff, and comfortable environment for the medicine to do its work. The retreat was exactly what I was looking for. I highly recommend Confluence to anyone seeking a personal journey.

I highly recommend Confluence Retreats. My experience was so much more, so much richer, than I expected. I felt that I was in the very best hands with Confluence. The facilitators are skilled, experienced, compassionate, smart, and fun. The time in Oregon was amazing. Confluence creates an environment and camaraderie among group participants that becomes so helpful and meaningful. I will forever treasure my time with the group and the connections made. I strongly encourage a group retreat, rather than a solo experience, as the group retreat was about so much more than just psilocybin. The whole process is carefully and thoughtfully managed, from pre-retreat calls and materials to post-retreat wrap up and ongoing support. Do it!

I had an incredible experience at Confluence. The facilitators are extremely professional, knowledgeable, and create a very safe and supportive environment. Everything—from preparation to integration—was thoughtfully done. The setting is beautiful and peaceful, making it the perfect place for deep personal work. I’m truly grateful for the experience and highly recommend it.

This journey carried me through another step of healing, to get ready for the next chapter of my life. Together with my dear late wife Beth, we bravely endured the long-goodbye in her decline from Posterior Cortical Atrophy, and I walked with her through that gradual unraveling until I closed her eyes for the last time. I had already done multiple steps of grief counseling, books & podcasts, built community with other PCA spouses, and left no stone unturned. Yet beneath all that effort, I knew there was still something deeper, not intellectual, but existential.

I came seeking clarity. Not just about loss, but about who I am now. I wanted alignment between my subconscious and conscious mind. I wanted to wipe away ego, roles, and the invisible “rules” about who I’m "supposed" to be; remove the fog of loss, and rediscover the core of who I actually am now on my own.

I came to Confluence Retreats because I am navigating life transition. Moving from grief into what I call my “second ascent”, I had carried strength for a long time; for Beth, for family, for responsibility. Yet strength can sometimes calcify into identity. I wanted to strip everything back, hold the past with gratitude, yet start clean into a new beginning.
The medicine gave me what I needed. It dissolved the noise, and softened my ego protection to reveal truth. It helped to remove the expectations and the mental constructs I questioned and was still carrying in duty. What remained was simple and clear: my strengths and vulnerabilities, my love for family and friends, and a deep sense of spiritual grounding, and clarity of my life purpose.

Since the retreat, what has shifted most is clarity and peace. Not dramatic fireworks; yet a distilled certainty. I feel congruent in a way I hadn’t before. The fog of “shoulds” is gone. There’s a calm confidence in who I am and where I’m going. It didn’t add something to me. It clarified what wasn’t aligned with my purpose.

In that clarity, what surfaced was an enlightened sense for what I’ve endured and overcome, a renewal of purpose, gratitude, and a resolute commitment to live fully; a drive for growth, adventure, joy, and utilize God-given abilities to enrich the lives around me and contribute meaningfully in this world.

The support team created an environment that felt safe, grounded, and deeply intentional. They were personable, genuine, and caring; like angels in overwatch or lifeguards as we entered deep waters. The program was thoughtfully constructed. Even the music was curated in a way that allowed the journey to unfold naturally. I still listen to the playlists almost daily and it brings me right back to a grounded space.

Doing this work in a group added something powerful; shared humanity. Even though each journey was deeply personal, there was a collective steadiness in knowing we were held together in that space, and we freely connected deeply with the other voyagers.

Experiencing both a mild dose and a heroic dose made a meaningful difference. The mild journey opened the door gently. It built trust; with the facilitators, the group, and the medicine itself. It allowed insight without overwhelm. The heroic dose went further, it dissolved known structure. It softened protective ego boundaries in a way that allowed true surrender to the process. I don’t believe I would have accessed the same depth of clarity with only one session and without the guided support of the staff. Having both gave me integration, not just intensity.

For anyone considering this work: If you are searching, not for escape, but for your own truth … this space is a powerful container. The medicine doesn’t manufacture insight; it reveals what is already within you. I would not recommend this for people still feeling fragile from trauma or wounds, it may be overwhelming and may reinforce past trauma you may not yet have the tools to face. When you are ready, and if you are willing to surrender your defenses, you may find what I found: peace beneath the noise, clarity beneath the roles, and a renewed connection and beginning to who you are meant to be in your journey forward.