Psychedelic Integration Therapy Isn't One Size Fits All

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See the full story here: Psychedelic Integration Isn't One-Size-Fits-All | DoubleBlind (doubleblindmag.com)

As I’ve worked with plant medicine and psychedelic therapy over the years, facilitators have emphasized to me over and over again that what matters most is not the experience itself but how I integrate it—that is, how I apply the lessons from the psychedelic experience to my everyday life. The recommendation usually given to me has been to speak to a mental health professional who specializes in a burgeoning field of therapy called psychedelic integration. But over time, my personal definition of what it means to integrate a psychedelic journey has become much broader than that.

Integration, to me, at different points has looked like writing poetry based on insights I gleaned from the experience, reaching out to specific people who came up for me during the journeys, watching movies that popped into my mind soon after, and buying new clothes to suit the new me that was emerging. And despite the common advice to wait until I’m done integrating one journey before going on to do another one, sometimes it’s been in subsequent ceremonies that I’ve recalled and processed what came up in prior ones.

This made me wonder: What exactly does it mean to integrate a psychedelic journey, and how do you know when you’ve successfully done that?

In its most basic terms, integration is “a process of figuring out what were the messages or lessons or takeaways from the psychedelic experience and figuring out how to apply those to your daily life,” says Juliana Mulligan, ibogaine treatment and integration specialist and Psychedelic Program Coordinator for the Center for Optimal Living. “It’s also about processing all the underlying emotional stuff that gets brought up by the psychedelic experience.” This can include journaling, meditation, breathwork, and talking to a therapist or coach.