Psychedelic Integration: What It Is, 4 Types of Integration, and Why It’s Important
Psychedelics continually prove to bring therapeutic value, making them some of the most healing and life-altering tools for personal transformation. Historically, humanity has used psychedelics to alter their state of consciousness and even heal entire communities. Whether you’re completely new to psychedelics or have been participating in psychedelic therapy for years, it’s extremely important to have a step-by-step plan to apply what you learned during a psychedelic therapy session. This is when psychedelic integration takes place.
In this article, I’ll explain what psychedelic integration is and its different forms, and I’ll show you why it’s a vital piece of your psychedelic journey. Before getting into integration, let’s explore what exactly takes place at a psychedelic therapy session.
A Brief Overview of Psychedelic Therapy
To understand psychedelic integration, we have to first explore what psychedelic therapy is. Over recent years, there’s been immense buzz around the potential benefits of psychedelic medications. Research shows that psychedelics are effective at treating mental health struggles such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, and suicidal tendencies.
What exactly happens during a psychedelic therapy session? At the start of a session, clients will ingest hallucinogens such as psilocybin, Ketamine, or Cannabis and their altered state of consciousness will be opened. It’s common for clients to experience deepened senses of sight, taste, smell, and touch during a session. With a trained psychedelic facilitator present, clients will be guided before, during, and after the session. The roles of a facilitator include the following: prepare clients for a session by creating intentions, help them stay at ease during the process, and be there at the end to help clients process what they went through. After clients return to a normal state of consciousness, it’s time to integrate what they’ve just experienced through psychedelic integration techniques.
What is Psychedelic Integration?
Psychedelic integration refers to a range of activities that an individual participates in to fully understand and apply the therapeutic benefits of a psychedelic experience. After ingesting psychedelics such as Ketamine with a facilitator, it’s vital to process what you’ve experienced and the emotions that surfaced, and integrate new attitudes in your day-to-day life—this is what psychedelic integration promotes. Psychedelics push us past internal boundaries and have the potential to teach us life-altering lessons. With the right integration techniques, you’ll get the most out of your psychedelic experience. Below is what psychedelic integration promotes:
Making sense of your unique experience with psychedelics
Adjusting back to your normal life after a session
Make changes based on new insights you gained
Find ongoing support and a like-minded community
Gaining clarity on visions, emotions, or memories that surfaced
Before a psychedelic therapy session, you’ll have the chance to set intentions with a facilitator. Intentions may involve speaking up for yourself, forgiving yourself or others, gaining clarity in a difficult situation, or simply stepping into who you’re truly meant to be. Whatever the intention is, psychedelic integration is the process that turns these intentions into a reality. What if you could be who you’ve always wanted to be? Psychedelic therapy paired with integration is the stepping stone to the most whole and connected version of yourself.
4 Types of Psychedelic Integration
As a holistic health practitioner, I’ve seen the nuances of psychedelic experiences with each client. That also means the integration process varies greatly with each individual. It’s normal for your integration process to be unique to you depending on your energy levels, goals, and psychedelic session. However, there are a few common types of integration that tend to be useful for a majority of patients. Here are 4 popular forms of psychedelic integration that you can practice:
Journaling
Journaling is an integration method everyone needs to implement after a psychedelic experience. Writing down your experience is the perfect starting point for self-awareness and externally processing what you went through. Asking yourself questions, acknowledging emotions, and sharing your thoughts on paper is a connecting exercise that brings clarity following a psychedelic therapy session. Keep your journal closeby during a psychedelic session to ensure you’ll be able to quickly jot down a thought if it comes to mind throughout the event. Following psychedelic therapy, it’s recommended that you immediately journal your experience so you won’t forget what was brought up in your elevated state of consciousness.
Start with writing down everything you recall: emotional or physical shifts you felt, memories that came up, or anything that sticks out but may not make sense yet. Detailing your session can be a vital guide in the future to reference back to when working with an integration coach or setting intentions for what’s next. Journal prompts are an easy starting place to organize your thoughts. The following are optional questions you can ask yourself to clear the air and start the road to deeper healing:
What questions came up during the psychedelic session?
What are three key points or words that describe my experience?
Did I feel any intense emotions? If so, how did my body react to that?
Are there any physical or internal changes I’d like to make moving forward?
Did it feel like I let go of anything or any memories?
What do I need the most after this experience?
Is there anything that feels important to explore?
There is no right or wrong way to answer these questions as everyone’s psychedelic experience is different. The main goal of journaling is to recognize what meaning a psychedelic session holds for you. When you answer these questions and apply new actions, you’ll quickly come into alignment with the most whole version of yourself.
Movement and Exercise
Psychedelics shouldn’t solely be a mindful experience—they also can initiate a deepened mind-body connection. After a psychedelic session, you may want to set an intention to care for your body, release pent-up stress, or form a deeper mind-body connection. Below are a few ways you can practice embodiment after a psychedelic therapy session:
Yoga
Nature walks
Dance
Breathwork
Meditation
Perhaps hard emotions or traumatic memories were brought to the forefront of your mind during a psychedelic experience. Embodiment helps you tune into where these emotions or memories are being held in the body promoting self-healing and emotional regulation. Through self-awareness and intentionality, you can make sense of these mindful messages your body is trying to send you after a psychedelic experience.
2. Psychedelic Integration Circles
Community is a valuable resource for you if you’re trying to unravel and make sense of your psychedelic experience. To achieve personal transformation, you’ll be required to surround yourself with like-minded people who’ve also delved into the world of psychedelics. With care, support, and a safe space to open up, you’ll be surprised at how quickly you can see healing and growth take root in your day-to-day life. Having a place to share your story and unique experience while receiving empathy and understanding opens the door to empowered living.
Integration circles involve community in-person circles and online integration spaces, usually led by licensed therapists, psychedelic facilitators, and coaches. Integration circles include verbally processing your psychedelic experience, hearing others share, and receiving outside perspectives to help you integrate what you’d like following a psychedelic session. If you feel alone after a psychedelic experience and crave a like-minded community, psychedelic integration circles are a great place to start.
3. Psychedelic Integration Therapy
This is most likely the most powerful psychedelic integration tool. To gain ongoing support and accountability, it’s beneficial to hire a professional psychedelic integration coach. These licensed professionals specialize in helping with any psychological questions that may arise during your process. Psychedelic integration therapists can also help diagnose mental health issues, lead you to further resources, and help you stay on track with your goals after a psychedelic session.
Psychedelic integration therapy is perfect for those who are completely new to this form of therapy or those who’ve been participating in it for an extended amount of time. Think of these integration therapists as your #1 cheerleader during the entire procedure. From day one, they’ll be rooting for you, and they’ll give you practical steps afterward to ensure you get the most out of psychedelics. Psychedelic integration coaches pave the way for you to truly thrive and understand yourself.
Why is Psychedelic Integration Important?
Psychedelics foster a connection with your internal world, but you have the responsibility to initiate deep and long-term freedom in your life through integration. It’s up to you to take steps to study and apply all that you’ve been shown during a psychedelic session. These integration methods are a bridge between a psychedelic experience and the lasting impact you want to see take place. It’s possible to let psychedelic sessions change how you live your life, who you surround yourself with, and how you act from your psychedelic experience on—all you have to do is bridge the gap between psychedelics and reality. That’s where integration comes into play.
While a psychedelic experience will show you who you could be, integration practices will give you the building blocks to get to that desired destination. Having a single psychedelic experience is one thing, but allowing that session to continually alter your lifestyle is an entirely different journey. Without showing up for the hard work of integration, you’ll miss out on the long-term transformation psychedelics have to offer. Are you ready to become the most whole, healthy, and happy version of yourself? Don’t let this opportunity pass you by.
Work With a Psychedelic Integration Therapist Near You
Do you want to know how to start the integration process? Work with an integration coach to maximize the potential of your psychedelic experience and start creating the life you want to see for yourself. As a psychedelic integration therapist based in northern Utah, I champion all 4 elements of integration we’ve discussed in this article and more. With my help, you’ll be able to make sense of your psychedelic experience and create a tool belt of integration practices that equip you for lasting freedom and holistic health.
Integration can be difficult if you’re new to psychedelics. I’ve walked alongside clients as they entered into a different state of consciousness, and I’ve had
the privilege to supply support to implement all they discovered during a psychedelic session. Together, we can get you on track toward an enhanced life of fulfillment. Book an appointment with me to get started on your psychedelic integration journey.
