Psychedelic Integration

What Is Psychedelic Integration?

As humans, we are not only physical and psychological beings—we are also spiritual beings. 

Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness (NOSCs), which usually occur during a psychedelic journey, are often complex, multilayered and have psycho-spiritual content, that is, they have psychological and spiritual relevance. These NOSCs often take us into transpersonal states in which we move beyond the limits of our own personal identity. Psychedelic integration offers individuals who have NOSCs through the use of psychedelics the opportunity to shift their psychedelic journey from a stand-alone event, to an experience that changes how they experience themselves, their relationships, the world they live in, and their connection to the Greater Something (Spirit, God, the Divine, the Universe…)—it can cause major psychological and spiritual transformation. 

For thousands of years, native cultures have used psychedelics as a curative sacrament. Natural plant medicines—such as psychedelic mushrooms, peyote and ayahuasca—have long held the power to alter human perception and heal psychological and spiritual wounds. There are now psychedelic chemical compounds, such as ketamine and MDMA, that share the therapeutic effects of plant-based psychedelics, which are increasingly being used by mental health professionals to target treatment-resistant forms of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, addiction, and the existential issues that arise with terminal illness. 

Due to the many clinical trials showing the efficacy of psychedelics in addressing a wide variety of mental health issues and distress, psychedelic materials, such as psilocybin (magic mushrooms), ketamine, and MDMA (ecstasy) are becoming more prevalent in clinical therapy. Psychedelic integration is a fundamental component of psychedelic-assisted therapy—it prepares clients for their psychedelic journey and gives them a chance to process and integrate their experience afterward (whereas psychedelic-assisted therapy is the process of a guide sitting with a client as the journey takes place). 

Other than ketamine-assisted therapy, psychedelic-assisted therapy is still widely illegal, except for psilocybin and MDMA which may be used in a number of clinical trials. While these laws are beginning to change in some locations (Oregon, for example)¹. I cannot legally provide psychedelic-assisted therapy where it is illegal to do so. 

A significant number of people are also using psychedelics on their own². Sometimes those experiences can be wonderful—other times they can be disturbing and distressing or even traumatic. Psychedelic Harm Reduction and Integration (PHRI) holds the understanding that, in spite of the legal status of psychedelics, people are using psychedelics and we have an ethical obligation to assure that a client using psychedelics encounters the least amount of harm to their body, psyche, and Spirit possible during their psychedelic experience. 

At Center for Embodied Spirituality, I believe that all forms of emotional distress are, at their core, spiritual issues. I also know from my own lived experience that healing doesn’t happen by talking “about” our issues, instead, it comes most profoundly through Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness. There are many paths that can lead us to those states such as Embodied Meditation, Internal Family Systems, Authentic Movement, and psychedelic journeys.  

I offer holistic, transpersonal coaching, spiritual counseling, and, when needed, psychedelic integration to those who are using psychedelics and are seeking to reap the full benefits of their use. 

How Does Psychedelic Integration Work?

Most psychological wounds can be distilled down to the root issue of disconnection—disconnection from the Self, our relationships, community, the Earth and the Divine. A commonly reported experience associated with psychedelics is a sense of oneness with the Universe.  These “oneness” experiences can be profound and deeply life-altering, changing our perception of ourselves, humanity and our place within the larger context of Life. 

Studies show that one of the ways psychedelics work is by interrupting the brain’s Default Mode Network (DMN), an area of the brain that provides us with a separate sense of self. Perseveration/ruminations, obsessive-compulsive thought patterns and depression are all associated with an overactive DMN. This interruption allows the psyche to have new responses—in essence, “rebooting” the brain and spurring new neural connections³. By using psychedelics to temporarily decrease the function of the DMN, clients can effectively decrease emotional distress and change their thought patterns to create more self-affirming beliefs⁴.  

Psychedelic integration is comprised of both preparation and assimilation. Preparation includes a component of harm reduction – providing the client with information about psychedelic medicines they are intending to take such as potential risks and known interactions with other medications they may be on. 

Psychedelic Integration preparation allows clients to work with a trained professional who can help them cultivate the appropriate “set and setting” for their psychedelic experience. “Set” refers to the specific mindset from which a client approaches a psychedelic experience, while “setting” refers to the optimal environment (people, place) for a client to feel safe to surrender to the psychedelic experience.

Once the psychedelic journey has taken place, the assimilation and integration process continues with the client reflecting on their experience in follow-up therapeutic sessions. Therapeutic models, such as Internal Family Systems, can help clients weave between ordinary and Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness, thereby facilitating the integration process. Intentions of ongoing sessions are to elongate and enhance the new neuron growth and new ways of thinking so that the changes brought about through the psychedelic journey can affect the client’s day-to-day lives, rather than being an isolated event that occurred during the psychedelic journey. Psychedelic integration works to deepen people’s understanding of their psychedelic experience and to be profoundly changed by that understanding. 

How I Approach Psychedelic Integration 

My own healing journey has been deepened via my spiritual practices and Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness. There is no magic pill that can help us heal wounds—there are only tools we can use to enhance our healing, change our mindsets, and create a deeper connection with the Divine. Psychedelics are one such tool—gifted to us for the purposes of our own evolution—fundamentally rooted in a oneness with the Mother Earth. (Note that while I personally believe and am fighting for the legalization of all psychedelics, I cannot legally condone or encourage illegal acts).

Though psychedelics have often been viewed on a cultural level as simply fun or promoting a high, I believe that psychedelics have the power to cultivate unparalleled healing and awareness. I find that psychedelic integration is most effective when my clients are sufficiently prepared for a psychedelic experience, meaning that their internal “parts” are in alignment and that they’ve established a sense of trust and surrender to the experience. 

That is why I use Internal Family Systems (IFS) to help my clients align their inner parts. IFS is a psychospiritual model that views individuals as being made up of a Grounded, Whole and Wise Self along with a combination of subpersonalities. Though my approach is more spiritual than traditionally psychotherapeutic, I find that working with client’s parts allows my clients to tap into Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness more readily during psychedelic experiences and to integrate those experiences in meaningful ways.

On that note, while I am a licensed psychotherapist, I identify more closely as a neo-shamanistic transpersonal coach and spiritual midwife. I practice more in a context of holistic medicine, spiritual direction, and coaching than within a patient-therapist relationship. I do not pathologize nor do I diagnose, as psychiatric diagnoses have been shown to be scientifically meaningless and deny the Wholeness and the Essential Self of the individual⁵.

I also work from a somatic point-of-view, which centers around the understanding that all human experiences are mediated via the physical body. While our minds can distort our perception and understanding of the world, our bodies never lie—and, in fact, the body is the doorway to the divine. As such, Psychotherapeutic Touch™ is a pillar of my practice which may be incorporated with psychedelic integration when I am working face-to-face. Because the root of our pain is some kind of disconnection, loving and skilled touch has incredible power to decrease the isolation and lack of belonging we often feel.

For many decades, I have honed my spiritual practices and established a profound sense of self-awareness through my own experiences of Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness. I have been a psychotherapy client and now a psychotherapist—I know that traditional clinical approaches cannot come close to the healing and transformation that is available through psychedelic journeys and the integration of those experiences. While I have been practicing psychedelic integration for several years, I have recently completed one of the first ever Psychedelic Integration Certification programs through Fluence⁶. I am committed to being of service to those who are seeking healing and transformation.

Through ancient times and into the present, native cultures have harnessed the transformative power of psychedelics to deepen the lived experience of their community. But our modern society has moved us further and further away from understanding the truth of our interconnectedness and the understanding that we are human and spiritual beings. One of the doorways that leads to the decrease of our suffering and isolation lies in psychedelic integration, which gives us an opportunity to reconnect with nature, each other, our Selves and that unnamable essence which is greater than ourselves.

A Safe And Sacred Way To Heal

If you are an individual looking to target distress using psychedelic integration, or a mental health professional interested in incorporating psychedelic integration into your practice, I offer consultations. For more information about how I can help, I invite you to contact me. 

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Additional Resources On Psychedelic Integration

Articles:

Movies: 

  • Fantastic Fungi (dir. Louie Schwartzberg, 2019) – available on Netflix
  • Have A Good Trip: Adventures In Psychedelics (dir. Donick Carey) – available on Netflix

Books:

Resources

¹ https://psychedelicinvest.com/psychedelic-laws-in-oregon
² https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3917651/
³ https://news.yale.edu/2021/07/05/psychedelic-spurs-growth-neural-connections-lost-depression
⁴ https://psychedelicstoday.com/2020/02/04/psychedelics-and-the-default-mode-network/
⁵ https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190708131152.htm
⁶ https://www.fluencetraining.com/certificates/postgraduate-certificate-in-psychedelic-integration-therapy/