Transformation with Psychedelic Therapy

Mistake: Hearing good things from a few friends, so you want to try it too. Not really sure about your own motivations, but you've heard it has benefits.

Recommendation: Spend the time and energy to research the subject ahead of making a decision. You are rewiring your neural pathways — this is very very serious work.

Mistake: Participating in a Retreat or a ceremony outside of the law (much like an Ayahuasca Retreat in the USA).

Recommendation: Seek countries with decriminalization of these Medicines. Costa Rica, Mexico, and Portugal are the best countries for this healing.

Mistake: Hoping that everything will be just fine and ignoring the group size of the retreat you're considering.

Recommendation: Ensure you go through a high quality medical screening. If in doubt, ask to speak to the people you'll be supported by.

Mistake: Book a retreat, read the emails they send you, and jump on a flight for the retreat.

Recommendation: You'll get out what you put in. We recommend preparing for weeks ahead, and to do the necessary mental and emotional work to get the most out of the retreat experience.

Mistake: Doing it alone, without a coach or therapist.

Recommendation: Work with experts who have coached hundreds or thousands of people. They'll guide you to break through and integrate the lessons.

Mistake: Check out a few websites, read a few reviews, and book a retreat.

Recommendation: It's really difficult to know what good looks like. Find an expert who does know, and can guide you towards a high quality experience.

Mistake: Underestimating the challenges that can arise when working with plant medicine.

Recommendation: These experiences can be incredibly powerful and challenging. Every experience is unique, so it's best not to have any expectations, and to be mentally prepared for anything, and that you have the right support around you.

Mistake: During a ceremony, it's common to forget about your intentions and goals and get carried away by the experience itself.

Recommendation: Finding the right balance between surrender and working towards your goals.

Mistake: Having an Ayahuasca experience, not being able to make sense of it on your own and therefore end up dismissing the entire ceremony.

Recommendation: Remain curious, humble, and open, and take ownership for the experience. Work with a coach or therapist to unpack potential significance.

Mistake: A bunch of really important things happened, but I don't really remember much.

Recommendation: Find the right balance between allowing the experience to unfold, and remembering the significant lessons (e.g. maybe writing in a notebook).

Mistake: Feeling like a million dollars at the end of a retreat, and then feeling like you're back to square 1 a month later.

Recommendation: Focus on integration. When back home, set time aside each day to review the commitments you made to yourself, and how you are tracking against them. Rewiring decades of ingrained thinking patterns and behaviors is not easy work.

Mistake: Life has returned to normal, I think it's time for another retreat.

Recommendation: If the last retreat didn't substantially improve your life, think about why that might be the case, and adjust ahead of attending another. Work with experts.