Insight
Evaluating psychedelic retreats: how to find the right one for you
Justin Townsend, CEO of MycoMeditations, explores what to look for when evaluating a psychedelic retreat if you are considering attending – from what models to consider to which medicine to work with.
Why are you considering attending a retreat?
Maybe you have read Michael Pollan’s book “How to Change Your Mind” or have seen the accompanying documentary on Netflix, one of a myriad of increasingly popular shows that are helping to bring psychedelic-assisted therapy mainstream.
If you are considering attending a retreat, here are some considerations: What are your reasons or intentions for attending such a retreat? Mental health, spiritual, personal or corporate self-development, or wellness?
Shamanic, wellness or therapeutic model?
As psychedelic-assisted therapy continues to grow in popularity, the variety of retreat options available to choose from can seem a little daunting.
A psychedelic retreat can not only help to potentially relieve mental health symptoms; it can also prove to be one of the most profound experiences of your life, up there alongside the birth of a first child or getting married.
With mushrooms in particular, there are three key potential mediators to the psilocybin experience:
1) Cognitive insights
2) Emotional breakthroughs
3) The mystical experience
What are you drawn to? For some, a western contemporary therapeutic model is most relatable while for others the shamanic approach is desired. Ensure you understand the differences between the two.
Which Psychedelic medicine and why?
Which medicine will I be working with? Whether psilocybin mushrooms, ayahuasca (N,N-DMT), bufo toad (5-MeO-DMT), peyote (mescaline) or San Pedro cactus, these are but a selection of psychedelic substances potentially available at retreat centres worldwide.
Some of these substances can confer more or less the same benefits as each other. The vast majority of modern research to date has focused on the benefits and outcomes of Psilocybin Mushrooms and MDMA (a non-classic psychedelic).
Both Psilocybin and MDMA have been granted “Breakthrough Status” by the FDA.
In particular, psilocybin mushrooms have what is known as “transdiagnostic advocacy” – this translates to potential efficacy for a range of mental health conditions including but not limited to depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), addiction, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), migraine/cluster headaches and fibromyalgia, to name but a few.
Legality
Despite increasing popularity, these medicines are currently legal in only a few countries worldwide.
Some countries, and states (especially in the USA) have gone so far as to decriminalise psychedelics. Retreat centres do operate in a grey zone of decriminalisation in some countries, but this is not without risk.
Guest application process and screening
Psychedelics are powerful substances and are not for everyone.
In particular, if you have a personal or familial mental history of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or psychosis then be extremely careful, as psychedelics are known aggravate these conditions, potentially triggering hypomania, mania or psychosis.
Unfortunately, anyone applying with these conditions must be denied – a lot more research has to be undertaken yet.
Any psychedelic retreat centre should have a lengthy and detailed application form and screening process ideally including a telephone or video interview screening with a mental health professional.
Retreat cohort size
How many other guests will be a part of your retreat cohort? Some retreat centres can host up to 50 or 60 participants in one medicine session – this is not for everyone.
For psilocybin a cohort size of up to 10 to 12 guests seems to be the norm – once you go above this number of participants, the experience and outcomes can be less than ideal.
Ratio of therapeutic staff to guests
A psychedelic retreat is very much a high-touch, oftentimes intense experience.
Ensuring that there are enough facilitators to adequately attend to each guest’s needs in a timely fashion is essential.
Retreat centres can have staff-to-guest ratios of 1:1.5 to 1:5 and sometimes even higher. For a retreat centre focused on guest safety and optimal outcomes, select one with the highest ratio of facilitators to guests.
Qualifications and experience of staff
(Education alone vs Extensive Practical Training and Education)
Competent individuals from all professional backgrounds and walks of life can make excellent psychedelic facilitators. This can include mental health professionals such as fully licensed therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and MDs to yoga instructors to nurses and everything in between.
Do your research and ask these questions.
There is a huge difference in experience between a psychedelic facilitator that has attended a predominantly online/digital educational programme versus one that has attended a practical training programme and earned their spurs in the trenches.
How many retreats have they worked and with how many guests? What are their licenses, qualifications and most importantly their actual experience (measured in hundreds if not thousands of hours)?
Does the retreat centre have an on-call psychiatrist and medical doctor and medications available quickly in the event of an unexpected mental health or medical crisis?
Therapeutic modalities
Which therapeutic modalities are available across the facilitation team? An eclectic selection of approaches is necessary including IFS (Internal Family Systems/Parts work) to Somatic Experiencing to Acceptance & Commitment and others.
Team members that are experienced in trauma-informed modalities and therapy for childhood sexual abuse are also key to the complete skill set of a facilitation team.
Testimonials
Check out platforms such as Trip Advisor or Google Reviews for guest testimonials.
Preparation
Adequate preparation for a psychedelic journey including psychoeducation is foundational for a productive and safe medicine session. What does your pre-medicine retreat preparation look like?
Note also that anti-depressant medication (SSRIs) are well known to substantially dampen the impact of psilocybin and tapering off these medications under the guidance of a licensed medical professional is necessary.
How many doses
This will largely be dependent upon which psychedelic you are working with and whether you are attending for wellness or mental health reasons.
Dosing amounts and number of doses will be essential to optimising outcomes. The retreat leader and therapy team will be able to advise on the correct dose for you.
Integration therapy
Integration therapy, whether individual or group, is core to optimising the best long-term psychological outcomes for retreat participants.
Whilst sitting in a group and sharing experiences is not insubstantial, this is not group therapy. Working with a trained and experienced licensed therapist that is leading a group integration is going to substantially improve your experience (and outcomes).
Post-retreat support/Therapy
After you arrive home from your retreat, the work continues.
Ideally, there will be some ongoing group therapy via Zoom that enables you to reconnect and check in with your original cohort and therapy team and continue to help you progress.
About Justin Townsend
With experience as an advisor to start-ups, most recently in the healthcare space, Justin brings a blend of business acumen, leadership skills and a nose for futuristic health models to the MycoMeditations team. As CEO and also a retreat facilitator, Justin has overseen psilocybin sessions for over 1000 individuals and has administered thousands of high doses (consistently in the range of 5-15g) in group environments of 8-12 people.
With a deep understanding of psychological frameworks—transpersonal and depth psychology—as well as holotropic breathwork, Justin is able to facilitate cathartic experiences through high doses, group work, and severe cases of trauma, depression, anxiety from individuals.
As a direct result of Justin’s expertise, MycoMeditations is able to assist those with severe cases and offer a solution that would otherwise not be available to these individuals.
