The Good, the Bad and the Challenging Experience

Could learning about the types of psychedelic journeys help us navigate these times?

I am happy to report that I’ve graduated (finished?) my first official course, Navigating Psychedelics for Therapists and Clinicians. During the eight weeks of study we covered everything from practical stuff like pharmacology, safety and harm reduction, to psychological and transpersonal frameworks to guide and integrate an experience. It’s been quite the journey. And with this a glimmer of an idea was born, that I may perhaps specialise in psychedelic integration coaching - supporting people in preparing for a journey, and then unpacking and mindfully integrating the lessons into their lives. Just typing this makes me feel all giddy inside. There’s still a lot more to learn, but damn if it isn’t nice to have a compass again.

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Lately I’ve been gravitating a lot to Tara Brach’s guided meditations. The gentleness and efortlessness of her guidance is just what I need on mornings when I feel like all the joy is locked away somewhere very far from me. My favourite one, and the one that gave me the hope and courage I lacked to finish this newsletter today, borrows its title from a poem by Rumi. If you’ve never meditated before, maybe this sweet breath-by-breath meditation will make sense to you.

Which leads me to the subject of this newsletter. Good trips and bad trips.

Over the past few weeks I’ve heard many people say that these times feel psychedelic. I guess they meant that it kind of feels like we’re both individually and collectively having a bad trip: the madness of isolation, the lack of control, the fear of death sitting with us at the dinner table rather than hiding in its usual spot under the rug. A lot is coming up, along with a new sort of FOMO that we aren’t making the most of this time to become the fittest, happiest, most productive versions of ourselves (a pig in a cage on antibiotics?).

And it made me think of the times I’ve despaired recently, and how the things that helped me resurface have been the navigation skills I’ve learned for handling difficult psychedelic states. To emerge out of bad trip territory back into a space where difficulty melts not into blissful ecstasy, but into a deeper understanding and acceptance of myself. Which led me to ponder this question:

If we are indeed having a bad trip, could knowledge of psychedelic states helps us make it through better?

Nothing like an emboldened rhetorical question to transition into the juicy part of this newsletter. Let’s have a look at psychedelic trips and all the forms they inhabit.