One Question to Ask Yourself Before Taking Psychedelics
As a psychedelic preparation and integration counselor, I’m pretty thrilled that the healing potential of plant medicines and their synthetic counterparts is increasingly being researched and recognized.
Yet like many practitioners in this field, I am cautious.
When you bring psychedelics into a context in which people seek easy, instant solutions to pretty much any problem, you risk that these substances will be sold as quick fixes. Just pop a magic mushroom and your life will turn around overnight! And if that doesn’t work, just microdose!
Photo: Jr Korpa
Fortunately or unfortunately, taking psychedelics does not exempt you from doing the necessary work to get yourself out of whatever funk you’re in. They can support you in that process and, yes, sometimes the experience changes you overnight. Most of the time, however, you still need to do the work to apply insights from your psychedelic trip to your daily life. It might not be as sexy as your life turning around instantaneously, but it is worthwhile.
Before we launch into a psychedelic session, I think it’s important to know whether a part of us is looking to outsource the “difficult stuff” to a substance and absolve us of the responsibility of doing what is hard.
This is why I like to ask my clients “what are you asking the substance to do that you're not doing yourself? Either because you are unwilling or unable to?”.
Photo: Jr Korpa
The question cuts to the heart of our hopes and expectations, shows us where we might be a little unrealistic, or where we are perhaps looking to evade difficulty or seek the easy way out. Not everything has to be hard, but there’s a fine line between supporting ourselves and practicing avoidance by dodging discomfort.
I’m not saying we should turn to psychedelics only for things we can’t do ourselves (I think most of what is done through psychedelics can also be done in other ways). I’m just saying it’s good to be aware. When we know what our expectations are and what we are trying to avoid, we have more information to decide if substances are indeed the right way for us to go at this point.
That’s all.