Psychedelic
Integration
What is Psychedelic Medicine?
Psychedelic medicine refers to hallucinogenic substances - some naturally occurring and some synthetic - that create altered states of consciousness. These medicines have been used around the world since ancient times, often for spiritually transformative purposes. In our modern world, they are being increasingly used for therapeutic purposes (such as combatting addictions, healing PTSD, and so on), though this activity still remains in a legal grey-zone. Some examples of psychedelic medicines include psilocybin, LSD, ayahuasca, and MDMA. Click here to read more about the current research.
The Integration Process
Psychedelic integration is the process of coming to accept, understand, and embody the experiences and lessons you have learned while on a psychedelic journey. Integration is of the utmost importance when it comes to using psychedelic medicine therapeutically: if we want the medicine to influence us, we must continue to open to its wisdom on a daily basis. Psychedelic medicine points us in the direction of the change we need, but actually enacting that change is up to us, and requires commitment. As your integration therapist, I do not administer the psychedelic medicine, but rather assist you in unlocking the enduring benefits of trips you have already had, or in preparing for upcoming trips. This process can include conversations to parse through insights from your journey, journalling, meditation, developing new routines, and somatic & emotional processing of the experience.
For a good place to start learning about integration, check out this guide.
