What is Physis?

In ancient Greek philosophy, Physis (φύσις) represents the concept of Nature itself, embodying the idea of growth, origin, and the inherent characteristics of the natural world. The pre-Socratic Greeks conceptualised Physis as the generalised “creative force of Nature, which eternally strives to make things grow and to make growing things more perfect” (Berne, 1968).

In a psychotherapeutic context, Physis refers to our innate capacity to heal—our inner wisdom. It is not unique to human beings; rather, we are immersed in it and surrounded by it. The goal of psychotherapy and psychedelic integration is to foster a relationship within a supportive container that nurtures natural growth and development. This process is best supported by cultivating a warm, compassionate environment and a relationship in which you feel truly heard and accepted for who you are—ultimately allowing your Physis to guide you toward becoming your most authentic self.

Physis, as the Greek counterpart to the Latin Natura, describes the constitution and origin of complexes arising from themselves in various degrees of independence. In a broad sense, “physis can name the ‘growth’ of plants and animals as well as the origin or composition of the entire cosmos. […] In the realm of actions, physis can be regarded as the point of orientation on which a successful life is to be aligned – one is to “live in accordance with physis”. (Dunshirn, 2019).

Parmenides of elea — On Nature

εἴσῃ δ’ αἰθερίαν τε φύσιν τά τ’ ἐν αἰθέρι πάντα

You shall know the nature of the aether and all the signs in the aether

σήματα καὶ καθαρᾶς εὐαγέος ἠελίοιο

and the invisible works of the pure torch of the bright sun

λαμπάδος ἔργ’ ἀίδηλα καὶ ὁππόθεν ἐξεγένoντο,

and whence they were born, and you will learn the

ἔργα τε κύκλωπος πεύσῃ περίφοιτα σελήνης

wandering works of the round-eyed moon and its nature

καὶ φύσιν, εἰδήσεις δὲ καὶ οὐρανὸν ἀμφὶς ἔχοντα

and you will know the heaven around them both

ἔνθεν ἔφυ τε καὶ ὥς μιν ἄγουσ’ ἐπέδησεν Ἀνάγκη

whence it grew and how necessity leading bound it

πείρατ’ ἔχειν ἄστρων.

to hold the limit of the stars.

Berne, E. (1968) Games people play: The psychology of human relationships. London: Penguin. Dunshirn, A. (2019) Online Lexikon Naturphilosophie. Journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de Parmenides (trans. Burnyeat, M.) (2008) On Nature, in Palmer, J. (ed.) The Presocratic Philosophers. London: Routledge.

“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity... and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.”

―William Blake

ALESSIA Chiappino

I have a classical and humanistic education, followed by a Diploma in Photography from the Istituto Europeo di Design in Milan and a Master’s degree in Fine Arts at Central St. Martins (University of the Arts, UAL London), focusing on video and sound art. I worked in the music industry for over a decade before training in Integrative and Depth-Relational Psychotherapy. Additionally, I have trained in Somatic Attachment Therapy, Psychedelic Harm Reduction and Integration (PHRI), and Integrative Psychedelic Therapies with institutions in Canada, the UK, and the USA.

I am a graduate of the two-year advanced clinical training for the Postgraduate Diploma in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy with the Institute of Psychedelic Therapy (UK). I am also currently enrolled in a Certificate in Indigenous Studies at the University of Alberta (Canada), which informs a respectful, non-appropriative stance toward the Indigenous plant-medicine traditions of the Americas.

Having worked for several years in both individual and group settings with people from minority groups and those experiencing religious, spiritual, and intergenerational trauma, I take an anti-discriminatory stance. I am committed to learning about the impact of discrimination in all its forms and examining my own biases and assumptions in the process.

I have a strong interest in Amerindian Cosmologies — the ancestral lineages of healing through teacher plants of the Native peoples of the Americas. I have experience working with Native Americans in the Navajo Nation and with the Shipibo–Conibo in the Western Peruvian Amazon, and I have experienced Master Plant dietas and the ceremonial use of plant teachers in their traditional settings. I do not practice within these traditions; I hold deep respect for them and the interdependence between people and the natural world, and I am committed to a socially responsible relationship with these medicines. These experiences have fostered my passion for social justice and biocultural conservation. I support organisations in the Western Amazon that, through reciprocity-based projects, address biodiversity loss, habitat loss, deforestation, post-colonial extractivism, spiritual appropriation, and the effects of forest and desert medicine tourism on Native communities.

I am a member of the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines, and I support the Indigenous Reciprocity Initiative of the Americas (IRI), which fosters biocultural conservation and the autonomy of Indigenous communities. 

Along with my private practice, I belong to the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (UK) and have professional memberships with The Institute of Psychedelic Therapy (UK), and the OPEN Foundation (NL).

  • PgDip Integrative & Humanistic Psychotherapy — The Link Centre (UKCP) 2026

    PgDip Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy — Awarded by The Institute of Psychedelic Therapy, UK

    PgCert in PHRI - Psychedelic Harm Reduction and Integration — Awarded by NUMINUS, CA

    PgCert Integrative Psychedelic Therapies— Awarded by Modern Spirit USA

    PgCert in Somatic Attachment Therapy — Awarded by The Embody Lab, USA

    PgDip Transactional Analysis Psychotherapeutic Counselling — United Kingdom Association of Transactional Analysis (MBACP, UKATA) 

    Master's Degree in Fine Arts — Awarded by University of the Arts London (UAL) Central Saint Martins 

    Diploma in Photography — Awarded by Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) Milan

  • Continuing Professional Development:

    GTT Mandatory Module - THE POWER WITHIN - The Practice of Holotropic Breathwork w/Sitara Blasco —Holotropic Association EU (Italy)

    Certificate in Foundations of Therapeutic Music — Wavepaths, UK (2026) w/ Dr Mendel Kaelen

    Certificate in Indigenous Studies — University of Alberta, Canada (2025 • in progress)

    GTT Mandatory Module Spiritual Emergency w/Dr Tim Read —Holotropic Association EU (Italy)

    Mescaline and the use of psychedelics in the creative act and as treatment for psychiatric disorders — w/Catherine Bird and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience of King’s College London. 

    Soul Retrieval: Psychedelics, Depth Psychology and Reclaiming the Importance of Soul w/Dr Ido Cohen — The Integration Circle (USA)

    Psychedelic Intersections 2025 — Harvard Divinity School Cambridge, MA (USA)

    Buddhism & Deep Ecology w/Sanghasīha — London Buddhist Centre (UK)

    Indigenous Shamanic Knowledge Systems, Art and Creative Processes — Chacruna Institute, California (USA)

    Cultivating Connections: Ecological Medicine Meets Psychedelic Therapies — University of California, Los Angeles (USA)

    Healing the Soul Wound with Dr Eduardo Duran — Naropa University Boulder, Colorado (USA)

    Bridging the Worlds: The Confluence of Indigenous Wisdom and Psychedelic Science —University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (USA)

    Sacred Ceremony in Psychedelic Therapy: Ancestral Teachings of the Americas w/ Dr. Joe Tafur — Modern Spirit (USA)

    Holotropic Breathwork in Practice w/Dr Tim Read — Institute of Psychedelic Therapy (UK)

    Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy for Healthcare Providers w/Dr. Joe Tafur — Modern Spirit (USA)

    Psychoanalysis: Winnicott and Object Relations — Freud Institute London (UK)

    Eating Disorders w/GF Pace — The Link Centre (UK)

    Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy, Mindfulness & Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness w/ Dr Ronald D. Siegel — ISC (Italy)

    The Neurobiology of Attachment w/ Dr. Allan Schore — NICABM (USA)

    Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy, Mindfulness and Compassion w/ Dr Chris Germer — FCP (Italy)

    Vagal System and the Treatment of Trauma w/ Dr Stephen Porges — NICABM (USA)

    How To Work With Shame w/ Peter Levine, PhD — NICABM (USA)

    Intensive Trauma Treatment w/ Bessel Van der Kolk — NICABM (USA)

    Mindsight, Attachment & Clinical Integration w/ Dr. Dan Siegel — NICABM (USA)

My Approach:

*Psychedelic harm reduction and integration (PHRI) does not involve the administration of any psychedelic drugs as these substances are currently illegal in the UK. Please do not contact me with requests for illegal psychedelic assisted work.

My work is grounded in an integrative, depth-relational approach that brings together attachment-based, somatic, developmental, and psychospiritual perspectives. I draw on the Depth Relational Process, Somatic Attachment Therapy, and Psychedelic Harm Reduction & Integration (PHRI), alongside my training in integrative psychotherapy and my background in the arts, where I have long supported people to express what can be difficult to put into words.

At the heart of the work is the therapeutic relationship. A strong, trusting alliance creates the conditions for inner experience to come into focus and for meaningful change to unfold. Our sessions are collaborative and exploratory: we may work through conversation, but we also attend closely to what is happening in the body, in emotion, and in the space between us. I weave somatic and attachment-informed practices into the work so that insight is not only understood, but felt and integrated.

Our psyche carries traces from early life that were never fully met or made sense of at the time. We listen carefully for these implicit, preverbal, and relational patterns as they emerge, moving at a pace that supports safety and regulation. My approach is trauma-informed and grounded in moment-to-moment presence, with attention to affect regulation so that even intense material can be approached without overwhelm.

I also support meaning-making through transpersonal and archetypal perspectives, with sensitivity to spiritual emergence and the risks of spiritual bypassing. Where relevant, we may explore intergenerational patterns and the wider ecological and relational contexts that shape your experience. My practice is informed by time spent in dialogue with Indigenous communities, held with cultural humility and respect, rather than appropriation.

This integrative, depth-relational way of working aims to support greater self-understanding, restore connection—to yourself, to others, and to the wider living world—and help you live in closer alignment with your own physis: your innate movement toward wholeness and individuation.

Frequently asked questions