Arica training (Ichazo)

Domain XIV · Western esoteric, divinatory & new spiritual movements · Oscar Ichazo · 1971 · Arica, Chile

What it is

Arica is a body of trainings founded by Oscar Ichazo (1931–2020), a Bolivian philosopher who taught in Chile from the late 1950s and ran an intensive months-long group in the town of Arica, northern Chile, in 1970–71; the Arica Institute was incorporated in New York in 1971. Ichazo called his…

Format

• Origins (1970–71, Arica, Chile). A group of about 50–57 people, many from the Esalen Institute, did a residential programme of roughly ten months; Naranjo and the neuroscientist John C. Lilly were in the first group and both left before the end. Lilly described it in The Center of the Cyclone…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Two frameworks matter to you: how Arica structures its trainings (so you can locate your client in it), and the clinical arc of your own work (before / during / after).
• The Arica trainings as published and described:
• New York (1971–72). A three-month training at the Essex House hotel ("New York One") and the founding of the Arica Institute; sources report an early fee figure of about US$2,000 and marketing language promising enlightenment. Shorter "40-Day" and "Advanced" trainings followed in several cities.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• vague answers from the organisation; pressure to decide immediately; consent treated as a one-off signature.
• no plan for the comedown; no booked follow-up. Working when the client can state their anchors without prompting.
• depersonalisation/derealisation, absorption that worsens intrusive thoughts, or meditation-related adverse effects.
• being pulled into the training's frame; escalating distress by text. Working when contact stays small and steadying.
• blurring of roles; your own enthusiasm or skepticism leaking in. Working when the client is clear you are their therapist, nothing else.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.