What’s in a psilocybin retreat?

With ‘magic mushrooms’ legally cultivated and available in Jamaica, a supportive cottage industry – psilocybin retreats for persons battling severe mood and behavioural conditions – has proven fertile ground in the transformational well-being of participants flying in from all corners of the globe. One Retreats Jamaica and Beckley Retreats are two leading experiential havens operational on the island which, separately, offer days’-long therapeutic sessions to participants to address their cases of depression, addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), grief, and other conditions.

The pair of Kevin Bourke and Vernice Cardillo together run One Retreats, which was founded in 2021.

“Our retreats are hosted monthly in Negril. Participants come from around the world, military veterans, professionals, seekers, all drawn by the healing potential of psilocybin,” Bourke informed Health last week on the eve of prepping for airport pick-ups of incoming guests for June’s retreat. “We cap each retreat at 12 guests to ensure personalised care, safety, and integrity throughout the experience.”

Outlining the agenda for adults to recalibrate their mental and emotional states of being in the north coast resort town, Bourke said, “Each retreat spans five to six days and follows a structured yet nurturing rhythm. There is a strict and rigorous screening and intake process supported by our medical and scientific advisory team. Daily integration, group therapy, somatic practices, and education sessions lead into ceremonial psilocybin experiences. Guests are gently guided through preparation, participation, and post-journey reflection, with ample space for rest, connection, and renewal.”

American military veterans who battle PTSD, suicidality, anxiety, and other conditions have become regular participants at One Retreats, with eight veteran-focused retreats held in Negril since 2023.

Psilocybin, Bourke explained, is incorporated in the days’-long experiential occasion with reverence and precision. “Doses are individually tailored and administered in ceremonial sessions only. The compound serves as a catalyst — helping guests access inner healing, release trauma, and reconnect with purpose. There are many other tools that are present during the retreat beyond psilocybin that support self-healing. Integration throughout the retreat ensures insights become lasting change. It allows people to gain clarity and a solid plan of future change and growth.”

SELF-LOVE AND INNER HEALING

A major life transitional shift came for 44-year-old American Amanda Hillis after her One Retreats experience in March.

“I arrived in a state of emotional depletion, struggling with chronic stress and dependency on alcohol and marijuana,” divulged the mother and owner of a marketing agency based in Wisconsin who journeyed to Jamaica for the retreat with her best friend.

“We were both searching for something other than rest. We wanted healing, clarity, and reconnection.”

By the end of the retreat, and three months later, Hillis said the psilocybin journey was revelatory, and “I’ve stopped drinking alcohol and reconnected the practices that nourish me - yoga, journalling, meditation and nature”

From a personal standpoint, Bourke credits using psilocybin as a corrective step for his undiagnosed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and social anxiety.

For the latter condition, he revealed that he had turned to alcohol. “Psilocybin helped me address that and gave me the clarity of who I wanted to become as a man, a father, and as a partner for my fiancée. I was very comfortable with the medicine and did my research on the safety of it,” he disclosed, having previously experimented with it during his college years while living in Canada at the time.

“A lot of people say ‘I am going to go out in nature and experience this’. We are nature, we are a part of it. There is a oneness with nature, and it’s very intelligent. We all have the self-healing mechanisms within us. We are all gifted with that at birth and sometimes it gets caught up with a lot of angst, anxiety, and problem solving in our frontal lobe of our brain where it is too much, and this medicine [psilocybin] allows us to get that clarity and drop into our purpose. It’s all down to self-love and that inner healing that we have, and isn’t that a beautiful gift to give yourself where you can self-heal?”

PARTNERSHIPS

Bourke revealed that the University of Ottawa signed a partnership with One Retreats just in March to offer students the Master of Arts in Psychedelics and Consciousness Studies programme immersive fieldwork and practicum experience in psilocybin-assisted therapy here in Jamaica.

Sold on Jamaica as a paradise destination, Vian Morales, chief operations officer of Beckley Retreats, which launched its Trelawny-based retreat here four years ago, explained why the company chose the island to be one of its three destinations that also include The Netherlands and California in the US.

“Jamaica is one of the few countries where the cultivation and consumption of psilocybin mushrooms is legal. This legal framework, coupled with Jamaica’s serene nature, beautiful culture, and most importantly, the incredible retreat centre partners we are honoured to work with has made it an optimal location for us to realise our goal to foster holistic well-being and space for introspection in a legal, safety-focused, and supportive setting,” she explained.

Against the backdrop of high-profile media attention gained for Beckley in between the pages of Vogue, Forbes, and the Financial Times, the United States-based Morales shared that registered guests for retreats come from North America, Indonesia, Kenya, Asia, and many other locations and diverse backgrounds. “Many of our participants find Beckley Retreats through word of mouth as they hear about the experiences of our programme alumni.” She said that many Beckley guests “have shared they were drawn by the desire to accelerate personal growth, expand self-awareness, and tap into deeper layers of creativity and performance. For others, the retreat is an opportunity to build emotional resilience, foster empathy, and reconnect with a sense of meaning or spiritual depth”. Retreat groups are intentionally small, with a maximum of 18 to 20 participants, according to Morales. It helps “to maintain a 3:1 participant to facilitator ratio, ensuring personalised attention and safety”, for the five-night experience, which she said includes mindful movement, meditation, and breath work. There are also two psilocybin ceremonies with live music, each of which is followed by a day of guided integration, rest, and nature immersion.

Beckley’s exclusive psilocybin provider is the Jamaica-based producer Psacred Therapeutics, which she told Health “is our longest-standing partnership, whose thoughtful cultivation practices, consistent quality, and deep intention truly stand out. Their approach brings a noticeable difference to the depth, reliability, and overall impact of the experience for our guests”.

She lauded Psacred for “carefully testing every product batch for potency and safety and maintaining the high standards that allow us to confidently serve our community”.

DEEPER CONNECTION

On the other end of the non-producer spectrum of the local mushroom industry is Jason Worton.

He works as a facilitator at Beckley’s retreats, and separately, leads yoga and meditation sessions with mild doses of psilocybin, where he provides “sound bath/sound healing”.

As a mushroom advocate, Worton sees it as an aid for positive changes and quality of life. He faced tragic familial loss with the death of his flight instructor brother Jonathan back in November 2016.

“Mushrooms helped me navigate the grieving process and find some peace and meaning in life, along with yoga, community, and, of course, prayer and my spiritual practice,” he divulged. “Psilocybin is not a magic catalyst. It’s part of a larger practice for me.”

Worton, who works monthly for Beckley reported: “I have seen a lot of people find relief from grief, chronic depression and anxiety, PTSD, and other similar struggles. I’ve also seen people benefit in feeling a deeper connection to themselves and their loved ones, a deeper ability to process their emotions, and find some clarity during major transitions in life or career. I even saw someone quit cigarettes and painkillers.