Interest in psychedelics is growing rapidly. More and more psychologists, coaches, physicians and other professionals are exploring how to facilitate psychedelic experiences. That is a positive development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nAt the same time, this development raises an important question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nWhen are you actually sufficiently equipped to guide someone through a psychedelic experience?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nIn our view, facilitating a psychedelic experience is not something you simply do on the side from time to time. Especially not when people come with deeper personal issues, or when working with higher doses and more intense non-ordinary states of consciousness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nWe see it as a profession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nAnd for us, that profession rests on a number of pillars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n1. You need to know the territory yourself \u2014 including what comes afterwards<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nYou can learn a great deal about psychedelics from books, scientific publications and training programmes. But as a facilitator, you are guiding someone through a fundamentally different state of consciousness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nIn our view, that also requires lived experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nYou need to have experienced what it means when your normal mechanisms of control fall away. How strong the urge to hold on can be. And why letting go of control and being able to surrender to whatever arises can be such an important part of a psychedelic experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nYou need to know what it is like when fear, grief, shame, anger, old memories or unexpected feelings arise. Not only from theory, but from your own experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nBut for us, personal experience does not end there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nYou also need to know the process that follows a psychedelic experience firsthand.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nWhat happens when an experience has revealed something you can no longer put away? When you have seen something about yourself, only to discover that insight does not automatically lead to change? When old patterns simply return? When you have to explore what an experience really means and what you want to do with it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nThat is integration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nFor us, personal development therefore means not only having had psychedelic experiences yourself, but also seriously engaging with what those experiences brought up. Being willing to look at your own patterns, triggers, fears and shadow sides. That can happen through therapy, supervision, bodywork or other forms of in-depth self-exploration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nBecause how can you help someone integrate a confronting insight if you have never experienced yourself how difficult it can be to actually apply an insight to your own life?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nWhy do we consider this so important?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nBecause as a facilitator, you bring yourself into the space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nWhen you become uncomfortable with someone else’s grief, fear, anger, silence or loss of control, there is a risk that you intervene because you<\/strong> cannot tolerate the tension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nA good facilitator needs to be grounded enough to remain present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nNot trying to direct the experience. Not trying to rescue someone. Not intervening because of your own discomfort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nYou need to be able to hold the space, especially when someone is in a completely different state of consciousness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nSometimes the most important thing you can do is simply be present and allow the process to unfold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nAnd when the experience is over, another part of the profession begins: helping someone explore how the experience can find a place in real life.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n2. Personal experience must go hand in hand with solid theoretical knowledge<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nLived experience alone does not make someone a professional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nA facilitator also needs to understand what psychedelics do, which psychological and physiological processes may occur, what the contraindications and risks are, how set and setting influence the experience, and how different psychological vulnerabilities may manifest during an experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nAnd just as importantly: you need to be able to recognise when a psychedelic experience is not<\/strong> appropriate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nThere are now various training programmes for this. Some are very comprehensive, such as programmes offered by ADEPT\/Open Foundation, IPI and the Experiential Training Institute. There are also shorter training programmes and courses, including those offered by RINO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nThis development is logical and valuable, but it has also created enormous variation in content, depth, personal experience, supervision and practical training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nAs a field, we will therefore increasingly need to learn how to separate the wheat from the chaff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nA certificate says something. But not everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n3. And then come the hours of practice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nTheoretical knowledge and personal experience provide a foundation. After that, you have to learn the profession in practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nUnder good supervision. Alongside experienced colleagues. And by spending many, many hours actually sitting beside people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nBecause no two psychedelic experiences are the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nSomeone may lie almost completely still for hours. Someone else may enter a state of intense grief. Memories or re-experiencing may arise. Fear. Resistance. Ecstasy. Confusion. Physical release. Or disappointment because the experience unfolds completely differently from what someone expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nAs a facilitator, you need to continually assess:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nWhat is happening here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nDo I need to do something?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nOr do I need to do nothing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nThat requires experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nIt also matters which substance is being used and in what context. Facilitating an experience with psilocybin-containing truffles has a different dynamic from working with ketamine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nIndividual and group facilitation are also fundamentally different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nBoth can be valuable, and both have their own advantages and disadvantages. With individual guidance, you can focus entirely on one person. In a group, a shared dynamic also emerges in which participants can consciously and unconsciously influence one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nThat requires a different set of skills from facilitators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nThat is why practical experience matters so much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n4. The experience is not the end point<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nPerhaps one of the biggest misconceptions surrounding psychedelics is the idea that the experience itself does the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nA profound insight can be meaningful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nSo can an emotional breakthrough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nRe-experiencing something from the past can bring a great deal to the surface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nBut then comes what we believe is the most important question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nWhat are you going to do with it?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nDuring an experience, you may see with absolute clarity that you are constantly crossing your own boundaries. But afterwards, will you actually dare to say no?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nYou may deeply feel how much distance has developed between you and your partner. But will you have the conversation you have been avoiding for months or years?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nYou may suddenly see how your own need for control is keeping you trapped. But what will you do the next time uncertainty arises?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nYou may feel how much grief, anger or fear you have been carrying for years. But are you willing to continue working with it after the experience?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nYou may experience what truly matters to you. But what choices will you then make differently in your relationships, your work or the way you relate to yourself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nAn insight during a psychedelic experience can arise within a few hours. Integrating it into your life can take months or even years.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nThat is what integration is about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nA psychedelic experience can make something visible or tangible that was previously difficult to access. But that does not mean it is automatically integrated into someone’s life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nIn a sense, that is where the real process begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nThat is also why we believe it is essential for facilitators to know that process themselves. Not only the psychedelic experience, but especially the sometimes long and confronting process of deciding what to do with that experience afterwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nHow we approach this at Magnolia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nThese principles also shape the way we have designed our different programmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nMagnolia Experience<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nAt Magnolia Experience<\/em><\/a>, we offer programmes with psilocybin-containing truffles for people who want to explore a psychedelic experience for personal development, curiosity or deeper self-exploration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nExperience explicitly does not constitute medical care<\/strong>. No diagnosis is made, and the programme is not intended to treat psychological or medical conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nThat does not mean, however, that we approach the experience as an isolated event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nThe programme includes screening, extensive preparation, a guided experience day and integration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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