Ben Schwarcz, LMFT

Ben Schwarcz is a licensed marriage and family therapist and coach in Santa Rosa, California, who focuses on trauma. He combines EFT tapping, breathwork and Psychedelic Somatic Interactional Psychotherapy (PSIP), in which cannabis or ketamine supports the release of trauma held in the body.

Approach

Schwarcz has more than 25 years in mental health work, including as a wilderness and vision quest guide. He has given over 12,000 tapping sessions since 2005 and is an advanced practitioner and trainer in ACEP’s clinical EFT certification. He is also a certified Transformational Breath coach and co-developed Ancestral Trauma Release Techniques. In PSIP the medicine is meant to quiet the thinking mind so the body can release old trauma, often through shaking. He sees it as suited to complex, early and dissociated trauma, and tapping to specific, conscious memories.

Who it is for

He works with trauma and PTSD, including sexual and combat trauma, as well as anxiety, ancestral trauma, relationships and spiritual emergence. He also runs a group programme for women leaving toxic relationships and coaches entrepreneurs.

Practical details

Sessions take place at his office on 7th Street in Santa Rosa, online, or outdoors in Sonoma County. Individual sessions cost $200 to $400. PSIP sessions last two hours and come as a package of four for $1,400, while breathwork sessions usually run 90 minutes, at $2,700 for twelve. Full-day intensives and retreats can be arranged, after a free 30-minute consultation.

Care and safety

PSIP starts with at least one resourcing session, then usually a medicine-free session that gauges how active or dissociated the nervous system is. Clients need a basic level of stability and support. Schwarcz describes PSIP as legal and says he does not advise, provide or prescribe any substance; clients obtain cannabis or ketamine lawfully themselves. His California licence number is MFC35606.