A facilitator, or plant medicine facilitator, is a person whose primary role is to guide and support participants attending an ayahuasca ceremony or other plant medicine ceremony. Facilitators almost always have above-average experience with taking plant medicine in a personal, retreat, or ceremonial setting. They are often studied and experienced in the cultures and traditions of which the plant medicine is a part, and they are often trained in support, response, and integration strategies that help prepare participants for taking plant medicine, get the most out of the plant medicine while they are taking it, and integrate their experience into their lives after administration is completed.
Facilitators are most often found in group settings supporting attendees of ayahuasca retreats. Depending on the size of the retreat group, one or more facilitators is present for the duration of the retreat and, along with the shaman or curandero, are of particular importance during the administration of ayahuasca in ceremony.
A primary role of ayahuasca facilitators is to create and sustain a safe, supportive, high-trust, and positive environment throughout the course of the retreat and in particular throughout the ayahuasca ceremony. This can be referred to as ‘holding space’. In addition, skilled facilitators are trained in supporting retreat participants to stay with their experience, particularly when a participant can feel overwhelmed or intimidated by the intensity of the experience. Skilled facilitators work with participants to be present in the experience, rather than try to shy away from it, and guide them in ways that allow them to stay mindful, receptive and open to the often revelatory knowledge that comes with the plant medicine.
Facilitators are also often a part of the retreat experience outside of ceremony. They make themselves available for participants to share and explore their feelings about the experiences they are having, and sometimes meet participants for one-on-one or group conversations.
