Integration – and its role in a psychedelic therapy
Have you ever had psychedelic experiences that have been effortless to integrate insights from, while having other psychedelic experiences that you couldn't get your head around? Have you been exploring psychedelics for a while, or are you completely new to the world of alternative healing?
Integration is a topic that has caught my interest lately, as I've wanted to optimize the outcome of my psychedelic experiences – but also to increase the impact I can offer my clients. When it comes to integration and experiencing a positive outcome, it is essential to begin with understanding its role in psychedelics.
Understanding the process.
Investing time and effort in understanding the process of a psychedelic experience can bring you lots of benefits. One of the primary reasons to do your due diligence is to minimize the risk and avoid adverse effects. Understanding the process is also crucial for having a "successful" psychedelic experience and maximizing the potential benefits.
A psychedelic experience is divided into three levels: 1) Preparation, 2) Session, 3) Integration. The first two steps are essential to laying out the fundamentals for the last step of the process, integration. Investing in the first two steps doesn't grant a guarantee for successful integration, as difficult psychedelic experiences can be more complex to integrate than a positive experience.
Level 1 – Preparations.
Preparations can metaphorically be thought of as the foundation of a house and have three primary purposes: Screening, the specific preparation of the participant for the location, and lastly, building rapport between the client and "trip sitter," which facilitates the psychedelic experience.
The primary motivation for the screening process is to get to know the client's personality and story. In addition, it is essential to map out any potential red flags that might harm the client.
Before proceeding to a session, it is essential to know your expectations, learn about potential reactions, and map out how a psychedelic experience might unfold. The location also plays a critical role in the outcome and, in addition to making an emergency plan.
Building rapport and trust between a client and the "trip sitter" is often underrated but is often a determining factor for a successful psychedelic experience. A high level of trust makes it easier to "go with the flow" and surrender to the non-ordinary states of consciousness.
Level 2 – Session.
Several factors are involved in predicting the outcome of a psychedelic session, such as the dose given, personality, current state of the experience, previous psychopathology, previous psychedelic experiences, and the context of the experience.
The client's current state will be the most influential determinator. However, embracing the psychedelic journey with an open mind and a set of positive but realistic expectations is also likely to impact the outcome.
Follow the links below to learn more about how a psychedelic session might evolve. The more thoughtfully the first two steps are taken the better the framework for successfully integrating a psychedelic experience.
Level 3 – Integration.
Integration is easy to describe as gaining a higher level of understanding of our psychedelic experience. With proper application of the insights and lessons learned from it, we can apply them to our daily lives. The objective of integration is limited and restricted to the problem or challenges that led the client to seek help in the first place.
The client's case and its complexity must always be considered. However, this might involve a severe amount of homework in many instances, so expectations should be set on the foundation of realistic expectations.
In cases involving Complex-PTSD, it wouldn't make any sense to consider the underlying content to be solved in a single psychedelic session – as it might require an extensive amount of dedication and work. Planning and approaching this with interim goals and checkpoints would increase the chance of maximizing the potential.
On the other hand, some cases are quickly resolved and integrated without much effort.
How do I define a correct integration?
You shouldn't perceive any adverse effects, regardless of whether a psychedelic journey was pleasant, smooth, or complicated. We should be left with emotional stability, regardless of the predominant emotion, and an absence of anxiety and physical symptoms.
Integration can be distinguished into two main periods: The first period immediately follows your session, and the second is related to the long term. As for the facilitator of the experience, our focus will be mainly on the physical and emotional domains. After having a psychedelic experience, it is essential to rest and recover our physiological and psychological baselines. The psychedelic substances should completely dissipate through rest, hydration, and nutrition until the individual is back to "normal." The "trip sitter" as the facilitator should never leave the location until this has been accomplished.
It is important to note that the absence of symptoms doesn't necessarily indicate success in a psychedelic experience. Many experiences fade over time, and their positive impact on our health dissipates. In situations where adverse effects appear after a psychedelic session, it is commonly after a particularly challenging psychedelic experience where the content has been disruptive for the individual involved.
The best approach to maintaining positive changes in our health is to honor the insights we've gained in our psychedelic journeys. I like to think of this process metaphorically as the saying: Rome wasn't built in a single day. Lasting change takes time. Allowing ourselves to embrace the journey, with its successes and failures, is a natural part of the process.
“You shouldn’t perceive any adverse effects, regardless of whether a psychedelic journey was pleasant, smooth, or complicated. We should be left with emotional stability, regardless of the predominant emotion, and an absence of anxiety and physical symptoms.”
Source: Psychedelic Integration - Psychotherapy for Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness - Marc B. Aixala
