Psychedelic Integration and Harm Reduction Therapy

Over the years I've learned that it's just not realistic to avoid and eliminate all harm from individual lives. Harm reduction is taking a stance that the path to wellness has to start with directing clients to things that will reduce the harm being done rather than aiming to eliminate it entirely. Cannabis, for example, is far less harmful than other substances such as alcohol or heroin. Psychedelics are substantially less harmful than so many of the other destructive things that people can easily fall into. Harm reduction approaches are essentially taking the stance that if a client chooses to use psychedelics, they are far less likely to resort to a number of other things. It's also more beneficial to clients when a therapist takes a nonjudgmental approach by supporting clients as they walk their own path and explore their own means to find wellness. Therapists can reduce the likelihood of people being harmed by psychedelic agents by giving them a safe and supportive environment as well as the means to process and understand their experiences when they choose to explore these options. 

My job, as a therapist, is to help clients properly prepare for their experience as well as to integrate their psychedelic experience into everyday life. These substances are known to cause drastic shifts in how a person perceives their lives and themselves. Psychedelic integrative therapy helps people prepare for their experience so that they can get the most out of it. Therapists can provide a safe and confidential place to share what they experienced while also helping them integrate their experience into their regular lives. Psychedelic experiences can be extremely impactful, a good therapist can help you through the process while offering support. 

Currently, I am unable to direct you to any psychedelic usage. If you choose to use these to help with your mental health and you would like my assistance, contact me and let me know that this is your desire and your intention. I will be happy to provide assistance however and wherever I can first by providing a safe and nonjudgmental place to discuss it. I prefer to get to know my clients and develop a relationship with them. A positive therapeutic relationship is extremely important and I prefer to put in the work upfront so that we can lay a foundation for the best possible experience. I can better assist you when I understand you and I better understand what you need help with and what it is that you're wanting to accomplish. When you specifically request psychedelic integrative services I will request that you agree to some additional screening and commit to seeing some steps through in order to help ensure that you have a safe and positive experience.

If you decide to use psychedelics to assist you in your mental health treatment is your responsibility to steer the ship. It's your responsibility to request help as you make your own choice to use these substances. While I am happy to help and assist you in asking the right questions, it's your responsibility to do your own research and to educate yourself. This is your journey and your mental health; knowledge is power and you will be far more likely to get more out of the experience if you properly educate yourself. You will want to research the different types of substances, what kinds and what size of the dose will be best and the potential risks. It's your job to know what risks might be involved and you will be responsible for any and all risks associated with it. I will do my best to provide you with educated decisions but I also believe that it's important for you to know yourself well as part of the process of empowering yourself to be in charge of your mental health. 

There are many elements that are important for helping to ensure that you have a positive experience with psychedelics. I will help to provide an in-depth mental health assessment which will help to determine what kind of experience you might have. A person with complex PTSD, for example, should do a lot of foundational work first. You must understand that psychedelics have a way of digging things up from the darkest and most hidden parts of your psyche. It's likely that you will experience intense emotions, sadness, pain and grief are all common emotions. You might also experience memories that have long been forgotten which can reveal some troubling truths about yourself and your life. My job is also to help provide a supportive place to work through them since it's always much more difficult when you have to face it alone. It's also my job to help you understand what you may experience since the psychedelic experience can be a strange and enigmatic one. 

Set and setting are among the most important aspects of preparing for a psychedelic experience. This refers to your mindset first. My job is to help lay down some of the emotional foundations for the experience as fear and anger can give you a difficult experience. It's extremely important to go into it with the proper mindset. Setting refers to where the experience takes place. A messy room, for example, can make the experience worse. It also can make for a difficult experience if you use them in a place where you have a lot of bad memories attached. These are just a few examples. 

It's also extremely important to learn to let go and release any and all need to control the experience. Letting go and surrendering to the experience is vital to getting the most out of it.