The Power of Aromas in Therapy: A Weekend Immersion with Cathy Skipper & Florian Birkmayer, MD. and Amy Donnelly

April 5-6, 2025 - Kansas City, MO

Are you ready to elevate your therapy practice with the power of aromas?

Did you know that scent is our oldest sense? It connects directly to the limbic brain, which explains why certain scents can have such a powerful effect. You can harness this by using aromas in your work with clients. This is especially powerful when clients are in a non-ordinary or non-verbal state of consciousness, such as psychedelic therapy, hypnotherapy, somatic therapy, holotropic breathwork, body work, and more.

Amy Donnelly and Katja Cahoon are pleased to host world class aroma experts Cathy Skipper and Florian Birkmayer at Amy’s beautiful Urban Sanctuary in Midtown, KCMO.

Whether you’re just starting out or looking to deepen your practice, this weekend intensive is designed for you.

You will walk away with confidence in how to use aromas and scents to the benefit of your clients.

This hands-on program is designed for therapists and guides seeking to integrate essential oils into their therapy work.

Explore the science behind aroma and psychedelics, learn practical techniques, and discover how to use aromatic allies throughout the therapeutic process in order to enhance healing and transformation for your clients.

This transformative weekend of learning and growth includes a didactic part and an experimental part during which you experience first hand the power of aromas in a Non-Ordinary State of Consciousness. Amy Donnelly will lead a holotropic breathwork session, Cathy and Florian will provide and elicit the guidance of aromatic allies.

OVER TWO DAYS YOU WILL LEARN:

●      A holistic, yet easy-to-understand model of the psyche and the role of aromas in this model

●      What are aromas, how can they enhance and amplify therapy, how to use them

●      What to look for when purchasing aromas and essential oils

●      The scientific basis of the synergy between aroma and Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness

●      How to use aromas during all stages of the therapeutic process

●      The importance of intentions: What are they, why are they important for a variety of therapeutic approaches, how to set clear intentions, how aromas can aid and be guided by the intention setting process

●      Special considerations for group work

●      How to connect with aromas more deeply and develop an ongoing practice and method

●      The importance of the guide/therapist committing to facing their own shadow aspects

●      Experiential day:

• Setting intentions together

• Picking your aroma and preparing for aroma assisted breathwork

• Guided breathwork with aromas

• Gentle integration circle

• Closing

FORMAT:

Saturday April 5th, 2025: 9:30-4:30, 1.5h lunch break - there are many wonderful lunch options near the office

Sunday April 6th, 2025,  9:30-4:30 - we will offer nourishing and healthy snacks throughout the day (please indicate food intolerances and preferences during checkout).

Morning intentions and selecting aromatic allies.

Afternoon breathwork session with aromas and integration

FEEDBACK FROM A PAST PARTICIPANT:

Geoff Sternlieb, MD: “Cathy and Florian are a truly a dynamic team, distilling their combined decades of aromatic ally experience into an information-packed weekend workshop you won’t want to miss.  Between the rich scientific grounding from Florian, the deeply experiential modules from Cathy, and their practical, hands-on tips for novice and experienced practitioners alike, this workshop was a true tour de force for anyone curious about how aromatic allies can deepen their psychedelic work.”

CANCELLATION POLICY:

Two months out: full fee minus $15 admin fee

Six weeks out: 50%

One month out: 25%

0-3 weeks out: 0% (unless we can fill the spot from a waitlist, minus a $15 admin fee)

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BIOS:

Cathy Skipper is a CTA certified coach. She holds B.Ed. Hons. in Speech and Drama from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London as well as a Herbalist Degree from the Ecole Lyonnaise de Plantes Medicinales and a four year training in advanced kinesiology (Cellule de Vie) in France. Cathy has been coaching and supporting people be it in the corporate, educational and health fields for over 30 years. Cathy Skipper is committed to empowering women to embrace menopause as a transformative journey rather than a crisis. Through personalized coaching, education, and community support, she helps women navigate menopause with confidence, resilience, and a renewed sense of purpose. More here.

Florian Birkmayer, MD has a strong commitment to his own Wounded Healer’s journey. He helps clients and students find their own personal myth or soul’s purpose. He believes that alive aromatic allies, in the form of high quality essential oils, powerfully help our ego, our conscious story of ourselves, partner with our soul, Shadow or unconscious by bypassing the intellect and weakening the Default Mode Network. In response to the recent groundswell of interest in psychedelic therapies, he has pioneered the use of essential oils to enhance the benefits of psychedelic therapies in a variety of ways. Essential oils synergize with psychedelic therapies on multiple levels ultimately aromatic allies can be powerful by themselves to help us live in alignment with our soul’s purpose. After a career in mainstream academic psychiatry and addiction treatment, he became frustrated by the overemphasis on pharmaceuticals to cover up symptoms and decided to use his knowledge and experience to help people recover from pharmaceutical medications. He received his bachelor’s degree in molecular biology at Princeton University, where he learned to question assumptions and discover the hidden gifts of the unseen side of life, the shadow. He received his medical doctorate from Columbia University, which taught him how to think critically about ‘business-as-usual’ medicine and inspired him to become an addiction psychiatrist.

Both Cathy and Florian have published extensively and are frequent guests and speakers at conferences. More here.

Amy Donnelly LMFT, SEP.  Amy owns a private practice in which she takes a holistic approach to her work with clients, that focuses on reconnecting the mind and body for whole hearted living.  She has advanced post graduate  training in a wide variety of modalities meant to bring awareness and understanding to the impact of trauma on our systems.  She is Level 3 trained in IFS, as well as a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner.  Her practice also includes Touch Work. (training with Dr Kathy Kain and Dr Aline LaPierre).  She completed certification in Compassionate Inquiry (Dr. Gabor Mate’). She first experienced the power of breathwork in a two year advanced training in heart centered hypnotherapy at The Wellness Institute in Seattle.  She went on to train in breathwork with Teresa Kleffner.  She completed training in working with the subtle energy body with Yvonne Christman out of Chicago.  She is passionate about the healing benefits of breathwork to help activate and integrate trauma healing.  More here.

Katja Cahoon LCSW MBA started her career leading year-long closed trauma groups. In addition to ketamine assisted psychotherapy groups she has guided mindfulness and meditation groups. She worked as a lead facilitator for Usona sponsored, FDA approved Phase I clinical trials (5-MeO-DMT and psilocybin) in individual and group settings and is a trainer and psychoeducation provider for phase III psilocybin trials. She trained with Polaris Insight Center and MAPS, Tara Brach & Jack Kornfield (MMTCP), EMDR Institute, and others and is committed to helping others grow in this field. Her Group KAP training, consultation, and retreats have helped hundreds of clinicians to feel more confident about Group KAP.