A Psychedelic Journey Guide is a facilitator who assists individuals through the process of experiencing a psychedelic journey, offering support before, during, and after the experience. Their role is to create a safe, supportive, and structured environment for those undergoing a psychedelic experience, ensuring that the participant can navigate it with emotional, spiritual, and psychological guidance.
Several indicators suggest the use of psychedelics in a therapeutic setting are on the rise. Personal development trends have primarily included mental and physical health. Physical health and personal fitness training have gone through many phases and seem to be on the rise yet again. In recent years, thanks to the explosion in new tech and Artificial Intelligence, fitness apps and personal meditation technologies allow for a more individualized experience in personal growth activities.
Studies on Psychedelics and Health Behavior Change
Many psychedelic users achieve positive results by microdosing without direct guidance from a journey guide or therapist. A quick view of statistics based on recent polls and studies suggest users have seen improvements in multiple areas. While this article aims to focus on guided journeys it should be noted that many psychedelic users opt to use these substances on their own. There is no right or wrong here, just personal preference, based on the users decision to employ a Psychedelic Journey Guide or take a solo journey.
Johns Hopkins University has been at the forefront of psychedelic research, establishing the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research in 2019. Many experts believe we still in the very early stages in understanding all of the benefits and mechanism of action for psychedelics purposed for self-improvement and personal development.
Psychedelic experiences may be associated with life changes consistent with improved well-being and meaning, including:
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- Improved diet (36.0% of participants)
- Increased exercise (49.1% of participants)
- Reduced use of substances (caffeine, alcohol, tobacco)
- Improved sleep (28.8% of participants)
Future research may investigate the relationship between psychedelic experiences and changes in health behaviors, potentially leading to improved physical and mental health outcomes.
While it’s difficult to quantify the exact increase in personal development, these trends suggest a growing recognition of its importance and a willingness to invest time and effort in personal growth.
Role of a Psychedelic Journey Guide
The role of a Psychedelic Journey Guide goes beyond treating mental health conditions like depression or trauma. It also involves supporting individuals in their pursuit of personal growth, self-understanding, spiritual exploration, and even creative breakthroughs. The guide helps participants navigate their inner landscapes, offering them tools to integrate their experiences meaningfully into their lives.
A significant part of a Psychedelic Journey Guide’s work also involves helping people overcome addictions, process trauma, and deal with depression. Psychedelics have shown promising results in these areas, particularly when guided by a trained facilitator.
Responsibilities of a Psychedelic Journey Guide
Prepares individuals for the experience by discussing their intentions, setting, and mindset (“set and setting”).
Holds space during the psychedelic journey, offering a calm, non-judgmental presence. The guide ensures the person feels safe, supported, and grounded, without interfering unless necessary.
Helps integrate the experience afterward, assisting in processing any insights, emotions, or visions that arose during the session. This integration can include helping participants make sense of their experiences and apply insights to their everyday life.
Scope of Work for Psychedelic Journey Guide
A Psychedelic Journey Guide’s role is not confined to treating mental health issues like depression, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), or trauma, although these are common areas of focus due to the therapeutic potential of psychedelics. The job also extends to helping individuals with personal growth and spiritual exploration.
Psychedelic Guide Objectives Beyond Mental Health
Personal Growth
Many people seek psychedelic experiences for self-discovery, emotional healing, or to gain deeper insights into their lives and relationships. A Journey Guide can help them explore existential questions, creativity, and purpose, fostering personal development.
Spiritual Exploration
Some participants seek a psychedelic journey to explore mystical experiences, enhance spiritual practice, or connect with a higher power or consciousness. A Journey Guide helps them navigate these spiritual dimensions safely.
Creativity and Innovation
Certain individuals use psychedelics to enhance creativity, solve complex problems, or innovate in their work. A Journey Guide can help channel these experiences constructively.
A psychedelic journey guide is a trained professional who facilitates and supports individuals undergoing psychedelic experiences, such as therapy sessions or intentional psychedelic journeys. These guides help individuals prepare for, navigate, and integrate their experiences, ensuring a safe and transformative process. They are knowledgeable about the effects of psychedelics, psychological protectors, and the importance of set and setting.
Key Responsibilities:
- Prepare individuals for their psychedelic experience, including setting intentions and understanding the importance of mental and emotional state (set) and physical environment (setting)
- Facilitate the experience, providing guidance and support during and after the trip
- Help individuals integrate their experiences, processing insights and emotions, and applying lessons to daily life
- Monitor the individual’s physical and emotional well-being throughout the experience
Addressing Mental Health Issues
Facing and Overcoming Addiction
Psychedelic Journey Guides often work with people seeking to break free from addictions (e.g., alcohol, tobacco, or opioids). Substances like ibogaine and ayahuasca have been used specifically to treat addiction by helping individuals confront underlying emotional issues, trauma, and patterns of behavior. The guide supports the person during and after the experience, helping them integrate insights that can lead to long-lasting change.
Trauma and PTSD Counseling
Many guides work specifically with individuals dealing with trauma and PTSD. Substances like MDMA, psilocybin, and ayahuasca can help people process traumatic memories in a safe space, with the guidance of the facilitator ensuring they don’t become overwhelmed. This process can offer profound healing, allowing people to release repressed emotions and reframe their trauma.
Working Through Depression
Psychedelic Journey Guides also help people dealing with depression, often by facilitating therapeutic experiences that allow for emotional breakthroughs or shifts in perception. Substances like psilocybin have shown to alleviate depressive symptoms by promoting neuroplasticity and helping people break out of negative thought patterns. Guides provide support and tools for integrating these changes into everyday life.
Personal Growth and Optimistic Insights
While personal growth and spiritual exploration are important aspects of what a Psychedelic Journey Guide does, a large part of their work involves helping people heal from addiction, trauma, and depression. Psychedelic experiences can offer transformative therapeutic benefits, and the guide plays a crucial role in helping individuals navigate these powerful and often emotionally intense processes safely and meaningfully.
How to Become a Psychedelic Journey Guide
Step-By-Step Plan to Become a Psychedelic Journey Guide
- Gain relevant education and training: Pursue courses or certifications in psychedelic-assisted therapy, psychology, or a related field. Some organizations, like Alchemy Community Therapy Center, offer free guides and resources for individuals looking to become psychedelic therapists.
- Develop expertise in psychedelic substances: Study the effects, risks, and benefits of various psychedelics, as well as their potential interactions with medications and individual factors.
- Familiarize yourself with psychological protectors: Understand how internal mechanisms safeguard the psyche during psychedelic experiences and how to support individuals in maintaining psychological coherence.
- Cultivate emotional intelligence and empathy: Develop strong active listening and emotional regulation skills to effectively support individuals during their journeys.
- Gain experience in facilitating group or individual therapy: Participate in training programs or volunteer at organizations that offer psychedelic-assisted therapy to gain hands-on experience.
- Stay up-to-date with research and best practices: Continuously educate yourself on the latest research, guidelines, and industry developments to ensure your skills and knowledge remain current.
- Join professional networks and communities: Connect with other psychedelic journey guides, therapists, and researchers to share knowledge, best practices, and support.
Prepare for a Challenging & Rewarding Career
Remember that becoming a psychedelic journey guide requires dedication, education, and experience. It’s essential to approach this role with respect for the powerful and potentially transformative nature of psychedelics, as well as a commitment to providing safe and supportive guidance.
Which Psychedelics are Commonly Used at Retreats
Psychedelic retreats typically focus on plant-based and natural psychedelics that have been used for centuries in traditional and spiritual practices. Below are the most commonly used psychedelics at these retreats, along with their typical effects and uses below.
A useful resource in learning more about what each substance is most often used for is Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). Registered as a nonprofit, MAPS aims to provide education and resources for psychedelic therapy, research and policy reform. MAPS also offers workshops and conferences on psychedelic education.
Psilocybin Mushrooms
Common Locations: Jamaica, Netherlands, Mexico, United States (Oregon, Colorado).
Effects: Psilocybin mushrooms, also known as “magic mushrooms,” produce effects such as visual and auditory hallucinations, altered sense of time, enhanced emotional experiences, and spiritual insights. The experience can be introspective and is often described as mystical or deeply meaningful.
Use in Retreats: Psilocybin is commonly used for spiritual growth, emotional healing, and therapeutic breakthroughs. In retreats, participants may consume the mushrooms in a tea or dried form under the guidance of a facilitator. The focus is often on self-exploration, healing trauma, or achieving a sense of interconnectedness with the universe.
Ayahuasca
Common Locations: Peru, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico.
Effects: Ayahuasca is a brew made from the Banisteriopsis caapi vine and other plants, such as the Psychotria viridis, which contains the psychedelic compound DMT. The effects can include vivid visions, deep emotional processing, purging (vomiting or crying), and intense spiritual or psychological insights.
Use in Retreats: Ayahuasca is traditionally used by indigenous shamans for healing and spiritual rituals. Retreats usually center around ayahuasca ceremonies, led by experienced shamans or facilitators. Participants often seek healing from emotional traumas, mental health issues, or spiritual enlightenment. The ceremonies are accompanied by chanting, music, and a highly ritualized atmosphere.
San Pedro (Mescaline)
Common Locations: Peru, Mexico, Ecuador.
Effects: San Pedro is a cactus that contains mescaline, a psychedelic compound. The effects are often described as heart-opening and can include visual distortions, euphoria, feelings of connection to nature, and profound emotional experiences.
Use in Retreats: San Pedro is used in traditional Andean ceremonies and is sometimes consumed in group settings as part of a spiritual or healing journey. The experience is often described as milder and more gentle compared to other psychedelics, making it suitable for those seeking personal growth, emotional healing, or connection with the natural world.
Peyote (Mescaline)
Common Locations: Mexico, United States (some Native American Church ceremonies).
Effects: Peyote is another mescaline-containing cactus, similar to San Pedro. It produces effects like vivid visual hallucinations, emotional release, and a deep sense of connection to spirituality and nature.
Use in Retreats: Peyote has been used for thousands of years in Native American spiritual ceremonies. Retreats that offer peyote are often focused on indigenous traditions and may include rituals such as prayer, chanting, and meditation. The experience is seen as a path to spiritual healing and self-understanding.
5-MeO-DMT (Toad Venom)
Common Locations: Mexico, some underground retreats worldwide.
Effects: 5-MeO-DMT is a powerful psychedelic derived from the venom of the Bufo Alvarius toad or synthesized. The effects are rapid and intense, often described as a “complete dissolution of the ego,” leading to mystical or near-death experiences.
Use in Retreats: This compound is often used in smaller, more specialized retreats. The experience is short but profound, typically lasting 15-30 minutes, and is said to provide deep spiritual insights, sometimes described as a direct experience of oneness or the divine.
Iboga/Ibogaine
Common Locations: Gabon, Costa Rica, Mexico.
Effects: Iboga is a powerful psychoactive plant from Africa, traditionally used in Bwiti spiritual ceremonies. Ibogaine, derived from iboga, has strong psychoactive effects, including vivid visions, deep introspective journeys, and physical detoxification. It is often used for addiction treatment, especially for opioids.
Use in Retreats: Ibogaine is commonly used in retreats to help individuals recover from substance abuse or to gain spiritual insight. The experience is often intense and physically demanding, requiring careful supervision.
DMT (Dimethyltryptamine)
Common Locations: Used in conjunction with ayahuasca (in South America), or standalone in underground retreats.
Effects: DMT produces powerful, short-lived hallucinations, often described as entering another dimension or encountering entities. The experience is rapid and can be incredibly profound, but typically lasts only 5-20 minutes.
Use in Retreats: While DMT is a component of ayahuasca, it is also smoked or vaporized in other settings. Retreats or underground circles offering DMT provide participants with a direct, often otherworldly experience that can be spiritually transformative.
MDMA (Ecstasy/Molly)
Common Locations: Used more frequently in therapeutic settings and clinical trials, especially in the U.S. and Europe.
Effects: MDMA induces feelings of empathy, emotional openness, and well-being. It does not produce traditional psychedelic visuals but is known for enhancing emotional connection and trauma processing.
Use in Retreats: MDMA is primarily used in therapeutic settings rather than traditional retreat centers. It is being researched for its effectiveness in treating PTSD, depression, and anxiety. Some retreats may incorporate MDMA into their therapy sessions under controlled conditions.
LSD (Lysergic Acid Diethylamide)
Common Locations: Less common in retreat settings but may be used in therapeutic and underground settings.
Effects: LSD produces powerful alterations in perception, including vivid visuals, changes in time perception, and heightened emotional awareness.
Use in Retreats: LSD is occasionally used in therapy or personal growth retreats, particularly in regions where it has been decriminalized. It is often used to promote creativity, emotional breakthroughs, and spiritual awakening.
Conclusion
The most commonly used psychedelics in retreats include psilocybin mushrooms, ayahuasca, San Pedro/mescaline, and 5-MeO-DMT and other substances listed above. These substances are chosen for their capacity to facilitate deep emotional, spiritual, and psychological transformations. Each psychedelic offers a unique experience, and retreats and guided journeys are typically tailored to help participants safely journey through these powerful experiences. The emerging popularization of the use of these substances in therapeutic settings may offer new hope to those struggling with depression, addiction and certain behavior traits. Many experts on the field seem to believe we are only in the early stages of this research and the future is bright.
