Liminal States: Harm Reduction & Grief
Harm Reduction
I do the following:
- Create learning experiences, leading to a deeper understanding of topics related to the war on drugs, psychedelic therapy and grief
- Provide thought partnership and strategy around how to support certain goals, projects or visionary initiatives.
- Speak and present to create inspiration and awareness.
- Cross-pollinate interdisciplinary knowledge, including somatic, socio-economic, care based and trauma informed approaches, to grow new infrastructure that supports liveable futures.
To read some of my writing on drug policy and harm reduction, please click some of the images below
Professional Highlights
Advisor and project manager for the Psychedelic Medicine and Cultural Trauma Community Workshop (MAPS, 2019)
I worked as an advisor and project manager for MAPS during this two day workshop, which was a precursor to the first MDMA Psycotherapy training for BIPOC therapists. This role involved programming, logistics, facilitation and educational design.
Guest Lecturer and Presenter for Psychedelic assisted therapists in training.
I have taught within various programmes for psychedelic therapists in training, on topics including cultural humility, the war on drugs, somatic grounding and embodied ethics. Former clients include Alma Institute, Synthesis, CIIS and MAPS. I have presented at conferences including Psychedelic Science (2017 & 2023), Drug Policy Reform Conference (2017 & 2019), Harm Reduction International (2019) and Breaking Convention (2023).
Click the image on the right to watch the panel discussion:
Author of the foreward for Body Autonomy: Decolonizing Sex Work and Drug Use.
I had the pleasure of writing the foreward for this pivotal book by Justice Rivera about the interconnections between the criminalisation of sex work and drug use. It inspres us to dream beyond carceral logics to grow cultures and movements rooted in care, harm reduction and body autonomy.
“Camille has been one of my greatest teachers, collaborators and thought partners in my almost a decade of drug policy and psychedelic movement building. To this day, I am constantly learning from their beautiful ideas and ways of being. I have watched them develop and seed a number of deeply visionary and impactful concepts, projects and communities. They are also an exceptionally attuned, embodied and powerful facilitator and educator. As a facilitator, they are able to immediately drop large rooms of people deep into our bodies and heart spaces, and even into connection with our ancestors. They are also able to gracefully and effectively invite healing and growth into difficult conversations and spaces of discomfort. They are able to break down complex and sensitive concepts in simple ways, and create space for people to learn and heal not just through their minds but also through their bodies. I cannot recommend working with Camille highly enough!”
“Camille is an extraordinary teacher who embodies the very important curriculum that they offer. As an educator and trainer in the space of psychedelic assisted therapy, I always make an effort to include Camille’s voice in my educational programs. Camille skilfully, seamlessly weaves wisdom from different disciplines in an impactful way that leaves everyone with a wider, kinder perspective on what is needed to heal, both personally and collectively. Give Camille the loud speaker please!”
Grief
Camille Sapara Barton is a writer, artist and embodied ethics facilitator. They have been tending grief since 2017 and have developed public resources including The GEN Grief Toolkit as well as other tools, to cultivate the practice with others. Rooted in Black Feminism, ecology and harm reduction, Camille is dedicated to creating networks of care and livable futures. Their debut book Tending Grief: Embodied Rituals for Holding Our Sorrow and Growing Cultures of Care in Community will be published in April 2024 by North Atlantic Books.
Based in Amsterdam, Camille designed and directed Ecologies of Transformation (2021 – 2023), a masters programme exploring socially engaged art making with a focus on creating change through the body into the world. They curate events and offer consultancy combining trauma informed practice, experiential learning and their studies in political science. Camille loves plants, music and dancing.
