Member-only story
I wanted healing. What I got was a carefully crafted funnel built on my longing to belong.
When Vulnerability Is Turned Into a Product
A Look at the Transactional Tactics Behind “Transformational” Work
Author’s note: This experience took place a few years ago. What follows is my honest account, shaped by time, reflection, and conversations with others who’ve had similar journeys. I am no longer affiliated with these retreats or their organisers.
Not every retreat is sacred. Some are simply seductive, and not in a good way.
I went in hoping to deepen my connection to self and spirit. I left feeling more untethered than transformed. And it wasn’t the plant medicine that did it. It was the people holding the ceremony.
In spiritual spaces like the one I attended, harm doesn’t always look like abuse. Sometimes it looks like adoration. Like love bombing. Like an intimate gaze from someone calling you “beloved” before they push you to relive your worst trauma with no support.
This isn’t a hit piece on spirituality. It’s a call to look closely at what’s being sold as spiritual healing, and the subtle, insidious tactics being used to sell it.
