Choosing the right setting and support for your journey
How to align your setting with your intention and spot red flags in a potential guide
This week, I’ve been getting ready to help out at another plant medicine ceremony on the weekend. I’m constantly reminded of how special it is to have found such a caring and safe community. I wish everyone had access to the quality of the container that I’ve been lucky enough to stumble upon, but I also know it’s difficult for various reasons.
So the next best thing that I can do is talk about how to find a supported setting that works for you.
As we hear over and over again, the set and setting of your journey will directly affect how much you get out of it. A huge part of the setting is the question of who you’re with during your journey, and I couldn’t urge you more to not take this topic lightly. During psychedelic journeys, you’re in an incredibly vulnerable state. It’s paramount that you have the right environment and support that can hold you in that tenderness.
So, let’s talk about what setting to choose for your journey based on your intentions, and what to look for (and avoid) in a guide.
Setting Is the #1 Factor That Will Determine Your Journey, Choose Wisely (Based on Your Intention)
If you already know what I’m going to say here, feel free to skip to the next section.
I want to reiterate why the setting is so important. Even if you’re in the right mindset and have carefully set your intentions, if the environment isn’t the right fit you may still not benefit from your journey. The same person with an identical intention will have a vastly different experience tripping at a festival versus in the comfort of their own home, laying down with eyeshades and supported by a guide or sitter listening to classical music.
That’s because your awareness of virtually all senses will be heightened, and your taken in information from your surroundings the way you never have before (that is, consciously). Boundaries may dissolve. For that reason, it’s impossible to separate you outer from your inner environment.
I’m not saying one is better than the other, what setting is the best fit for you depends entirely on what you want to get out of the experience.
Here are your main options:
1:1 session with a psychedelic guide
Solo session with a trip sitter
Small group in a calm setting in nature, e.g. camping trip
Small group in a more recreational, social setting, e.g. small daytime house party
Large crowds, e.g. rave or festival
So how do you choose which is best for you?
It all comes down to your intention.
If your intention is to explore and dabble in the world of non-altered states, small group settings in nature or chill social settings can be great. In order for this to be safe and beneficial, you need to keep the dose low.
If your intention is to heal deep traumas, this will require higher doses, and with that, a qualified guide — or at the absolute minimum, a trip sitter.
If you’re more experienced and your intention is to simply have fun, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Tripping at a festival is not for everyone, but it’s certainly for some. To determine whether it’s for you, I always recommend having experiences in calmer and smaller settings first. You’ll also want to get a feeling for your tolerance because a dose that’s too high is not fun in the wrong setting.
How to Find a Safe and Qualified Guide
If you decide that support will be required or beneficial, choosing who you will trust to support you is a key decision. Finding someone, to begin with, can be a challenge, but even if you’ve found someone, I recommend vetting them carefully. Don’t just go with the first person or place you stumble upon. Invest some time to do your research.
One of the biggest problems in the psychedelic space right now is sexual abuse. Even prolific, well-respected psychedelic practitioners such as Françoise Bourzat have recently come under attack. As mentioned, you’re incredibly vulnerable, and the wrong person may take advantage of that.
It can be hard to know these things in advance, but here are some red flags to watch out for. I encourage you to ask tons of questions to vet guides, you’ll find some specific suggestions below. Never go against your gut. If it’s telling you something is not right, trust that and find someone else
Red flag #1: Lack of experience
Unless someone has personally been working with plants for years, they should absolutely not be facilitating other people’s processes.
Their own work with plants will also be an indicator of whether or not their doing their own inner work. This includes both the plant medicine work itself and the integration.
What to ask: How long have you been working with this specific plant yourself? How long have you been facilitating? What’s been your most challenging experience, and how did you navigate it? What has your integration looked like?
Red flag #2: Inflated ego
Inflated egos are sadly quite common in the wellness and healing space, and the psychedelic space is no exception.
“Sometimes facilitators take the power of the plants and ‘wear it themselves’, which leads to problematic power dynamics”, as Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. and founder of a consciousness school in Berkeley, argues.
This happens when guides lead you to believe that the insights you’re having are a function of their facilitation, rather than a function of the plants themselves.
They may attempt to translate your experience for you, rather than helping you make meaning yourself.
Practitioners with integrity will always acknowledge that they’re a conduit, a “sous-chef”, as Isa says.
What to ask: When a guide talks about their work, pay close attention how they speak about what they’re doing vs. what the plants or fungi are doing. Ask them what makes them qualified to guide your process and screen their answer for signs of an unhealthy ego or unsubstantiated promises (miracle cure language is also a big no-go).
Red flag #3: Spiritual superiority
Related to an inflated ego, another thing you’ll want to look out for is “know-it-alls”.
This speaks to a concept that the New Yorker podcast “Cover Story” goes into detail when exploring misconduct in the space. Reporters are specifically critiquing a concept inherent to psychedelic guidance, namely surrender. While surrender is critical in navigating psychedelic journeys, especially challenging ones, there’s a threshold.
Guides that continue to hammer “just surrender” into you without truly listening do so because they believe they know better what you need than you know yourself.
That’s problematic because psychedelic journeys operate on the whole paradigm that you have an inner healing intelligence. The guide should always assist you in finding your own inner guidance, rather than providing theirs. Yes, sometimes this means reminding someone to let go and surrender to the moment, but this can take many different shapes. Above all, they should make you feel safe, cared for, and seen.
What to ask: How do you help others navigate challenging journeys? How do you view your role when it comes to the process? How does your guidance interact with the guidance of the plant or intuition of the journeyer?
Red flag #4: Lack of boundaries
From your perspective, boundaries will dissolve during your journey.
Boundaries between time and space, your conscious and your subconscious, boundaries between you and other people. It’s part of the process, it’s partly what makes psychedelic healing so profound.
However, under no circumstances should boundaries dissolve for the guide during facilitation. A common phenomenon in therapy is transference, where you project feelings onto your therapist. The same happens in psychedelic therapy, and when it happens, it happens in a much greater magnitude. That’s why your practitioner needs strong boundaries.
Boundaries in the realms of psychedelic healing are not as clearly defined, however. That’s because certain actions like physical touch and “holding people” can be deeply therapeutic if done appropriately.
What to ask: How do you incorporate physical touch in you facilitation? Where do you set personal boundaries? Have you ever been romantically or sexually involved with anyone you guided? How do you determine what’s appropriate?
Red flag #5: Gatekeeping
As illustrated in the past few paragraphs, you should be prepared to ask your potential guide a ton of questions.
If, at any point, you sense the guide’s reluctance to answer any of your questions, that’s your final red flag.
They should not only share openly about their qualifications, experiences, and approach but also encourage you to ask all the questions necessary to make you feel at ease. They should welcome your questions and make sufficient time to answer them. And they should absolutely never make you feel uncomfortable for asking so many questions.
What to ask: All of the questions above, plus — anything else you want me to know that I haven’t asked about?
I hope this was helpful. This is such an important topic, please let me know if you have any questions/concerns/comments.
I know the term 'guide' has been in use for about 60 years. I dislike the term. Words help define objects but they also help to define relationships. Terms like helper, experienced person, assistant, coach, even teacher, etc. seem less of an "I will show you the way" type of thing.
Some people are not ready for intense experiences. I think a good coach will also screen (assess) for that. If that doesn't happen I would question the skill level and/or motivation. I also think it is good to become familiar with each other over a few one and half to two hour non psychedelic sessions at minimal before moving on to deeper stuff. And then starting the deeper stuff with a relatively low amount, having sessions to process, moving on deeper - the speed of which is different for each person.
Another term I'm not fond of is 'boundaries'. I prefer the term ethics. Ethical standards should be laid out in advance. They can be simple and should include clear prohibitions on any type of exploitation.
I think that sloppiness in the 60's and 70's help set psychedelics back quite a bit. While there has been some recognition and improvement of that there is still a way to go.
I enjoy your posts Julia. Keep shining on.