New Psychedelics Retreat Launches in Holland
Leading holistic wellbeing company Beckley Retreats, has announced its first psilocybin retreat in Europe, taking place in the Netherlands from 24-28 August. Based on decades of insights from the renowned Beckley Foundation, and under the leadership of its founder Amanda Feilding, the retreats combine world-class contemplative practices with the science-backed benefits of psilocybin to offer a comprehensive approach for people looking to make meaningful change in their lives.
The eleven week programme includes pre and post-retreat preparation and support, as well as a five-day immersion in Holland, where using psilocybin truffles is legal.
Beckley Retreats already runs a successful programme in Jamaica. Hosted in a safe and legal setting, their retreats provide participants with the guided consumption of hallucinogenic fungi for therapeutic purposes.
The new retreat will take place at the residential centre New Eden, 90 minutes from Amsterdam. Set in 50 acres of forest and nature, the private venue offers a healing environment perfectly suited for deeply immersive experiences and has hosted events focused on deep personal transformation for almost 30 years.
Ahead of the retreat, participants join a 4-week virtual preparation program. This enables them to learn the basics through group workshops, 1:1 facilitator calls, journaling and exercises, plus an introduction to key wellbeing practices. These are put into practice during the retreat itself.
Across the five days, participants immerse in nature and enjoy a digital detox for psilocybin ceremonies, meditation, mindful movement, therapeutic group integration and breathwork. Back home, they’re supported in turning what they’ve learnt into daily wellbeing practices through weekly group calls, meditation and breathwork modules.
Neil Markey, CEO of Beckley Retreats, says the philosophy of Beckley Retreats reflects Amanda’s vision “to bring the proven benefits of psychedelic therapy to a wider, mainstream audience in safe and legal settings.”
Neil discovered the therapeutic potential of psychedelics after suffering from severe depression and PTSD following his deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan as a captain in the US Army Rangers. He recognises that accessibility is a major issue given the luxury price point, which is necessary to maintain high levels of care and experience.
“Our goal as a mission-oriented, conscious business is to improve accessibility to psilocybin. We keep our prices as competitive as possible and offer an innovative model which has longer term benefits to healers and the community. We’re also part of an ecosystem of world class psychedelic research, drug development, training and thought leadership,” Neil adds.
Consequently, the Beckley Retreats business model is one around distributed equity, which supports Amanda’s wider vision of egalitarianism and equal access. This includes a scholarship programme with two free places on each retreat, available to make the programme more accessible. They also donate to improve veterans' access to psychedelic therapies, support community projects in Jamaica and train local practitioners in the skills needed to guide.
The new four-night retreat in Holland costs from 3,600 Euros (shared room), or 4,000 Euro (single), with a maximum of 20 participants. Price includes locally sourced vegetarian meals. There is also a scholarship program available.
