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Ethical Guidelines
The legal restriction of psychedelic plants and the lack of guiding principles in this newly emerging field of psychedelic assisted therapy creates a fertile ground for unsafe practices and self appointed shamans and therapist. As a result safety is a major concern when you embark on your plant medicine healing path.
In this article you will learn what to watch out for and how to discern a safe healing space with integrity from places that lack expertise, experience and ethics and can be potentially unsafe for participants.
SAFETY
The basis of safety is setting clear boundaries. Clear boundaries define the container, the roles, duties and responsibilities of each participant in order to provide a safe space for deeper healing and exploration.
Physical safety
Physical safety means providing a safe environment free from any hazards for participants during their psychedelic experience, plant medicine retreat and pre/post integration process. When you are provided with clear rules about how to use the shared space, you can avoid confusion, anxiety and potential harm.
Mental, emotional safety
Creating a safe, supportive and judgement free space for emotional expressions and deep exploration of the mind is crucial in the psychedelic healing space. Psychedelic integration is vital for processing and integrating the insights and experiences from the psychedelic journey and incorporate them into your daily life.
Spiritual, energetic safety
It is vital to create an energetically safe container especially around the psychedelic experience when you are in a more open, expanded and also more vulnerable space.
One of the most common cause of spiritual emergencies in the psychedelic healing space is an unsafe, unprotected spiritual healing space. Indigenous shamans are specifically trained how to set up a safe and protected sacred space and clear intrusive energies for healing and spiritual exploration. Even though this protection is invisible for most people’s eye, this is the most important element when we are talking about the safety of the psychedelic healing experience.
HOLISTIC HEALING
Holistic healing means working with the whole being of body, mind, heart and spirit and acknowledging the interconnectedness of our nature.
Trauma informed approach
In almost all cases the root of the issues can be found in past traumatic experiences. To uproot your suffering you have to deal with the root of your issues and this certainly requires a trauma informed approach.
Emotional healing, healing the heart
Releasing suppressed emotions from the past is a vital part of the psychedelic healing process. A professional integration guide can help you to learn healthy emotional expression and facilitate emotional healing and growth.
Somatic processing
Your issues are in the tissues, the body keeps the score, all these statements are true. When you embark on a deep healing journey you will have to include your body in it. Everything is connected. Various types of bodywork, movement practices and somatic experiencing are great tools to support your body to let go and rewire.
How to change your mind
Unconscious programs, limiting beliefs and dysfunctional patterns are the main cause of suffering in life. These are the blind spots that are hard to see but easy to repeat and suffer the same consequences! A big part of healing is about changing your mind to be more aligned with your heart. And this is a big undertaking. Psychedelic therapy is an excellent way to uncover and transform these hidden beliefs and to let go of a great deal of pain and suffering.
Spiritual reconnection
One goal of psychedelic assisted therapy is to help you remember that you are a spiritual being having a human experience. This reconnection with your true nature is what most people call a transcendental experience. Psychedelic therapy helps you to cultivate this connection and expand it into your every day life resulting in a deep sense of peace, calm and joyful appreciation of your experience.
CONSENT
Informed consent is the cornerstone of a safe healing container.
Informed consent
You must be fully informed about the contraindications, risks, benefits, and potential outcomes of psychedelic therapy before consenting to treatment. This include medical intake, contracts, waivers and agreements.
Consent is an ongoing process that continues throughout the healing journey. You have the right to withdraw consent or modify their consent, and these decisions have to be respected.
Voluntary participation
You have the right to make autonomous decisions about your treatment, including whether to proceed with psychedelic therapy and the right to refuse any treatment or procedure.
Ethical guidelines
In psychedelic therapy when we enter into non-ordinary states of consciousness to heal, boundaries can seem different or dissolve. Therefore more attention is needed with regard to ethical issues, self reflection and supervision. Make sure you ask your provider about their best practices and ethical guidelines before committing to deeper healing work.
Learn more and read our Code of Ethics and Best Practices for Ayahuasca professionals
Closing
Safety, healing, and consent are foundational principles in psychedelic therapy to achieve positive outcomes for all participants. By upholding these principles therapists create a safe and supportive environment for individuals seeking healing and transformation through psychedelic assisted therapy.
Best questions to ask your shaman, retreat center, facilitator and integration therapist!
Shaman, ceremony facilitator
What kind of training, lineage, experience do you have to create a sacred, safe space when working with sacred plant medicines?
Have you ever dealt with a spiritual emergency? What did you do?
What are your criteria to select, approve plant medicine ceremony participants?
What are the contraindications for working with plant medicines?
What kind of preparation is needed before participating in a plant medicine ceremony?
What are your main values and ethics you work by?
Plant medicine retreat center, organizer
Where is the ceremony space, what kind of facilities it has, how many people are on the staff, how many participants in the group, is there a medical professional present?
Who is leading the ceremonies and what are their credentials?
Have you ever dealt with a spiritual emergency? What did you do?
Are there trauma informed therapists on your staff?
Do you have written ethical guidelines that you work by?
How do you ensure informed consent and voluntary participation?
What are the contraindications and preparation guidelines for your retreats?
Can I get a copy of your client, medical intake form?
Psychedelic integration therapist
What kind of training and experience do you have as a therapist and also working with plant medicines?
What kind of tools, methodologies do you use to facilitate physical, mental, emotional and spiritual healing and psychedelic integration in specific?
Have you ever dealt with a spiritual emergency? What did you do?
Are you trauma informed?
Do you have written ethical guidelines that you work by?
How do you ensure informed consent and voluntary participation?
Can I get a copy of your client, medical intake form?
How long is your therapeutic container, how many sessions and how often?
What happens during a therapy session?
