We are Jimmy Nguyen & Nicholas Levich, co-founders of Psychedelic Passage. Ask us anything!

Why does a community of guides/practitioners that is supposedly enlightened have a huge problem with understanding appropriate boundaries between patient & guide? the amount of reports of physical touching,consensual sex, and of course sexual assault is way too high for a practice that is supposed to be therapeutic.

You are absolutely right that practitioner abuse is a serious issue and, unfortunately, every line of service has a shadow side--even psychedelics. We even hear stories of therapists and psychiatrists engaging in sexual relationships with their clients or otherwise behaving unethically. One part of the issue is that psychedelic-related services have been unregulated for many decades, primarily offered through illegal "underground" services. There was also no regulating body to monitor facilitator practices.

Due to the potential legal risk of psychedelics, privacy was at the highest priority in the underground landscape; sometimes more so than the values of transparent practices or systems of advocacy for abused individuals. In the past, this not only made it extremely difficult for individuals to report instances of facilitator abuse in an effective way, but also made it difficult to identify abusers and bad actors in the space. What's crazy is that you hear about this type of abuse being perpetrated even in the MAPS trials.

Hopefully as psychedelic-related services become more mainstream and available, there will be commonly agreed upon ethics and standards of practice (a code of conduct) as well as more transparent systems of advocacy and support which will hopefully not only minimize instances of abuse, but weed out bad service providers. Even as state licensure becomes available in legal markets like Oregon and Colorado, the training requirements are minimal and lack any sort of a human component. Meaning the state's regulating bodies aren't screening potential facilitators for psychological issues, alignment of morals, or even a basic check of human reasonableness like an interview.

Another big factor here is the power dynamics at play. Often the clients seeking this type of work are suffering from mental/emotional illness meaning they are already in a vulnerable place and then you add in a psychedelic medicine that further increases vulnerability. That coupled with a facilitator who's "holier than thou" creates an environment that is ripe for facilitator abuse. This is why it's so important to vet your facilitator before engaging them for services. We actually recorded a podcast episode on this topic that you may find interesting: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2ABv0KF8k6lMTpicCip5ro?si=tZEyWda7Rbu9x5bLVNWhYw

Interestingly enough, this is one of the reasons why our facilitator network is structured like it is so that PP serves as an independent body that can moderate the network of facilitators who all have their own private practice. So in addition to vetting facilitators to gain admittance into the network, we're also tracking their performance in real time to ensure that our internal code of conduct and ethical standards are being upheld. Although we can't guarantee outcomes, we can ensure that any facilitator that fails to uphold those standards will be dropped from the network.

you might want to put statements on your website reflecting your policies. i think a form to report therapists is a good idea too.

Thank you! Yes, we are in the process of adding information like this to our website and are also creating methods to rate and report facilitators within our network. We're also in the process of a rebrand and website overhaul and this will be clearly stated on the new site. We appreciate your feedback!

What is the process of becoming a trip guide? I have been wanting to do this for a long time now but wasn't sure how to go about it. I have a fair amount of experience with multiple different psychedelics and experience guiding. I can't imagine a better job for myself. TIA!

The process is different for everyone, especially in states where there is no regulatory model. I think the first step here is to determine how you want to serve in this capacity. What I mean by that is that there are different tracks to accessing psychedelic care: the clinical model, international retreats, state sanctioned models, underground facilitation, etc.

Each of those tracks has different training and education requirements to become a facilitator. We have an article on How to Become a Psychedelic Guide, which offers more detailed insight! https://www.psychedelicpassage.com/how-can-i-become-a-psychedelic-guide-or-facilitator/

Thank you for taking the time to respond to me questions and giving me further resources. I appreciate it!

No problem! Let us know if there’s anything else we can help you out with.

Consent allowed- What type of psychedelics do you have experience guiding others in? If you were to pick one, what would be your choice for the best experience?

Our network of guides has experience working with all types of psychedelics, including MDMA, LSD, psilocybin, ayahuasca, and DMT. Most often, clients choose to work with psilocybin. This is a typical preference because mushrooms tend to be much more easily accessible. Clients are also more inclined to work with psilocybin because it's a natural product, meaning there's very little risk of adulteration. That, coupled with more mainstream media attention onto psilocybin, is why clients most frequently work with mushrooms.

We wouldn't say there's a top pick in terms of a drug that'll elicit the "best" experience. We think that all psychedelics can contribute something unique to our human experience and that your choice should depend on your specific intentions for healing and past experiences with psychedelics.

Generally though, because of the predictability around determining dosage and length of peak experience, psilocybin mushrooms tend to be the most 'beginner friendly' and the easiest to assess potential medical contraindications with. If you'd like more info, check out our guide on How to Choose The Right Psychedelic Substance: https://www.psychedelicpassage.com/a-guide-on-how-to-choose-the-right-psychedelic-substance/

We also recorded a podcast with Dr. Giordano that explores the nuances of how to choose the right psychedelic substance for you: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2yF9C8aSRkeB5N8ut2IoWz?si=f83d475089d84f87

How do your clients actually get the substances? I know they are legal in some places but not everywhere.

Clients generally source from four different categories: 1) friends, family, people they personally know 2) growing their own medicine with a mushroom cultivation kit 3) finding a US-based online microdose retailer and 4) local stores, churches, and delivery services. It's worth noting that the local stores, churches and delivery services tend to be located in decriminalized areas like DC, Ann Arbor, and Oakland. More of these online and local vendors are popping up daily, and a quick Google search may help you identify your sourcing options. It's also worth noting that states like Colorado are passing legislation that includes communal gifting of psychedelic medicine, which will also increase accessibility.

Though we can't help with sourcing directly, an important part of harm reduction is making sure that the substance you have is the substance you think it is. That's why we suggest testing medicine using something like Qtests (https://qtests.org/ref/3/) to verify the amount of psilocybin the mushroom contains or a reagent kit for testing synthetic medicines. Additionally, we provide clients with harm reduction resources on how to source safely via a Sourcing Guide we sent to those who book a consultation call with our Concierge Team.

If you can't source it, I don't understand the service you provide.

There’s a lot more that goes into therapeutic psychedelic use besides just sourcing. In fact, many clients of ours have access to medicine, but don’t feel comfortable taking it without guidance.

Most clients seeking services like ours are desiring to work through personal, mental and emotional issues that have been suppressed for a long time (i.e. anxiety, depression, PTSD, addiction, etc.). The idea of releasing and confronting these parts of ourselves can be very intimidating, and often too uncomfortable to bear without external, professional support. Plus the logistics behind how to actually go about using psychedelics to heal and overcome these diagnoses are very unclear to most clients.

Our network of pre-vetted guides take clients through preparation and integration, as well as the in-person ceremony. Not only are they helping clients manage expectations, get clear on personal intentions, and determine logistics like dosage, setting, and other medication management, but they’re also helping clients hold themselves accountable for keeping up with their healing intentions, even after the actual psychedelic journey has concluded. We have an article that details the full psychedelic therapy process (https://www.psychedelicpassage.com/the-psychedelic-therapy-process-a-step-by-step-guide/) which, as you might note, is far more involved than simply consuming a psychedelic substance.

If you read our testimonials you’ll see that most people seeking to engage with these substances frankly have no idea what they’re doing without extensive guidance and support.

We also have a podcast episode and transcript that discusses the role of a psychedelic guide in more depth: https://www.psychedelicpassage.com/what-is-the-role-of-a-facilitator/

Hi. I have grown my own medicine but have never used it due to a myriad of reasons. I have come across your website in the past when looking for help getting started. I haven't made the leap as far as signing up yet. My question is this... for those naive to the experience and want to use it for personal betterment, is it a process one can get familiar with and use on their own in the future? If I pay for a guided (not inexpensive) experience, will the knowledge and experience gained facilitate using the medicine without a paid guide in the future? Thanks for the AMA

I would say yes, once you understand the process, you may feel comfortable moving forward on your own. However, I want to be clear this is going to be person and situation specific. Someone with a large amount of unresolved trauma for instance, likely wouldn’t want to do a high dose journey on their own even once they understand the process as there is a high potential for disorientation, discomfort and destabilization. Alternatively, if you already consider yourself to be well and looking for personal betterment, there’s a much higher likelihood that you could learn the ropes with a guide and then take those tools and begin implementing them on your own in self-guided journeys. We provide preparation and integration materials (PDF’s and video workshops) to help arm clients with the appropriate tools and frameworks to use when navigating altered states of consciousness. At the end of the day, it’s about ensuring you have the support you need to feel comfortable taking a plunge into the unknown. We’ve seen some clients explore on their own after their first ceremony and others come back to continue work with their facilitator.

- Will you build any relationships with programs providing training for Oregon (+future states).

- I get that you don't provide the medicine; is there any validation to ensure that the medicine is correctly potent and not adulterated? How does that risk fit into the process?

We aren’t affiliated with any Oregon training programs currently, and don’t have anything in the works at this point. Our main mission is to connect psychedelic-interested individuals to a pre-vetted network of service providers. We feel it’s ethically best that training programs operate separately from organizations like ours. We do our own independent vetting of those in our facilitator network, which include a review of any education, certifications, training programs, or apprenticeships completed. Likely, in the near future, some of those service providers in our network will have a facilitator license with the Oregon Psilocybin Services, meaning they’ve gone through a program with one of the state-approved training providers.

In any case, we acknowledge that the training, skillset, and expertise of licensed providers will vary, and always encourage people to do their research on their facilitator or guide, regardless of licensure.

Blog article on the topic: https://www.psychedelicpassage.com/what-to-look-for-in-a-psychedelic-guide-or-trip-sitter/

Podcast episode on choosing the right facilitator: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1lXavFKWBByDRDeD47pzoC?si=5492ecee6f7c4034

Podcast episode w/ our thoughts on what’s going on in Oregon: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2VJRAA5b0dPMP0OGeTu8bq?si=704dbd7a71d84c2c

As far as your second question, as a part of harm reduction we always recommend testing your substances if you’re unsure, both for potency and adulteration. We mention it in another response, but luckily there are products like Qtests (https://qtests.org/ref/3/) to verify the potency of the psychedelic or reagent test kits, like from Dancesafe (https://dancesafe.org/shop/r/PsychPassage/) for ruling out adulterations, including separate fentanyl test kits. Having this extra measure can give you peace of mind so you can focus on your intentions and navigate your psychedelic experience in a meaningful way.

Hey guys,

So some background: I'm 38, and a bar manager by trade. Lost my job during the pandemic and got into growing psilocybe cubensis to help pay the bills. I fell in love with not only the process of growing but was really in awe of the immense power these mushrooms have. Seeing that more and more states are green lighting psychedelic mushrooms for legal use I would love to switch careers into this field. Where could I start with finding work? I'm in NJ on the border of Philadelphia and as far as I know neither have opened the law yet to mushrooms but they've both legalized cannabis so it's only a matter of time. I'd be interested in either growing OR the psych side. I have a behavioral health degree if that does anything.

Thanks for sharing a bit about you. Whenever someone asks me how to get involved in the emerging psychedelic industry, I always ask them: what do you want to be doing? There’s no shortage of ways to get involved, it’s more about determining which ones meet your needs, skillset, and risk tolerance when it comes to a career.

There are a few potential avenues you could explore to find work in the industry. One option is to look for job openings at companies that are already established in the field, such as psychedelic therapy clinics, research institutions, or companies focused on developing and selling products related to psilocybin.

You could also consider starting your own business, whether it's focused on growing mushrooms, creating products, or providing services related to the psychedelic experience. Another option is to look for opportunities to get involved with advocacy and education efforts related to psychedelics, which could potentially lead to connections and job opportunities in the industry.

You touched on this, but it’s worth noting that the opportunities do vary based on geographical location. We’re certainly going to see more ways to get involved in states like Oregon and Colorado where legal, state-sanctioned treatment programs are coming online.

Additionally, you may consider pursuing further education or training in the field, such as through a certificate program or apprenticeship. Networking on Linked in is also a great way to get in touch with people in the industry who you may not otherwise connect with!

I’m interested in the legality around Psychedelic Passage. I’m aware of your disclaimer “you provide your own medicine” but does that then make it legal to sit with clients in all 50 US states? If this is the case, I’m curious why others don’t seem to emulate your model.

Do you often get harassed by the authorities?

Yes, it’s legal but that doesn’t mean it’s without risk. At the end of the day, this is totally uncharted territory and there’s little to no precedent set with how courts would handle a case where something goes wrong. Couple that with the fact that facilitators can’t get professional liability insurance and you have a situation that’s full of risk as a facilitator–even if you aren’t breaking the law.

Furthermore, there’s many facilitators who’d prefer to work underground to maintain anonymity. I’d also add that there’s not many people who have the level of expertise and/or desire to make this their full-time work especially in southern states for instance. The work is risky, and tends to be incredibly draining energetically. And no, we’ve never been harassed by the authorities.

Thanks for the response! Very much appreciate the work you do in beginning to normalize this type of model 🙏🏼

Thank you! We very much appreciate you sharing this question.

Given that psychedelics are federally illegal, how is this not just facilitating a drug transaction? What legal protections are provided to either end of this?

Because there are no drugs being transacted. As mentioned in this thread, we rely on a bring your own medicine (BYOM) model in order to operate legally, transparently and above ground.

In terms of legal protections, there are very few in the psychedelic space given that no legal precedent exists. All clients sign a harm reduction agreement with their facilitator that dictates the terms of their engagement.

I should be clear that anyone possessing a schedule 1 substance is taking a risk; however, that risk diminishes with each state that decriminalizes since most drug charges occur at the state level (not federal). States like Oregon now have state-sanctioned treatment programs coupled with decriminalization, which effectively means law enforcement isn’t concerned with personal use.

Which psychedelics specifically are you interested in?

Our network of guides work with every type of psychedelic. Our company doesn’t have a dedicated interest in any one specific type of psychedelic since our clients have the option to choose which substance they’d like to work with.

However, the majority of our clients choose to work with psilocybin mushrooms because they’re easier to access and there is more information available on the internet as compared to other psychedelic compounds.

How do you deal with the possibility of bad trips? I guess with mushrooms it’s possible to end it with sweets, is this something you’d advise?

The potential for a “bad trip” is an inevitable part of moving forward with any sort of psychedelic use. From our perspective, it’s important to separate out a “bad trip” from an adverse experience. A bad trip is typically defined as a challenging or difficult experience while being under the influence of a hallucinatory substance such as psilocybin mushrooms, LSD, ayahuasca, or even cannabis. Alternatively, an adverse experience is a truly traumatic event while under the influence of psychedelics i.e. facilitator abuse, neglect, sexual assault, violence, etc. As you can see, there is a clear distinction between the two.
That said, challenging or uncomfortable psychedelic experiences are often an integral part of the healing process. It’s safe to assume that any repressed or suppressed thoughts, emotions, or trauma can resurface during a therapeutic session. Hence the saying, “the only way to heal it is to feel it.” Which we find to be especially true in these settings.
The best way to mitigate the chances of a bad trip is to adequately prepare for the upcoming psychedelic experience. That starts by reframing what a bad trip is: “good” and “bad” are arbitrary labels we assign to our experiences. And generally, people use “bad” to describe discomfort or pain.
From there, we arm the journeyer with a series of tools, techniques, and frameworks to use when navigating altered states of consciousness. So if they do find themselves at a challenging inflection point during the journey, they have the resources to help themselves work through it. Obviously the facilitator is there to help as well. We’ll link two podcast episodes below that address this in more detail.
I’m not sure what you mean by “sweets” with regards to ending a trip so I’m afraid I can’t weigh in there.
Podcast mitigating bad trip episode 1 and 2:
https://www.psychedelicpassage.com/mitigating-the-chances-of-a-bad-trip-part-1/
https://www.psychedelicpassage.com/mitigating-the-chances-of-a-bad-trip-part-2/

Is there plans to grow outside of the USA?

What is the process of becoming a trip guide? I have been wanting to do this for a long time now but wasn't sure how to go about it. I have a fair amount of experience with multiple different psychedelics and experience guiding. I can't imagine a better job for myself. TIA!

Yes! We’ll likely be expanding our network into Canada next; however, our primary focus currently is on ensuring we have facilitators located throughout the majority of the US.

R u opening a branch in Australia anytime soon?

Our current focus is to ensure we have facilitators located across the U.S. Likely, our next international expansion will be into Canada. I think we’re still a ways out from Australia at this point.

A few questions regarding your network of facilitators:

How many do you have?

How experienced were they when they started with you? On average how many trips have they sat for?

Do they work full time for you or still have their own side practices?

We have 21 facilitators located around the country. All of them had a minimum of 2 years of professional facilitation experience and/or 20+ journeys facilitated. The network has sat for over 750 people since inception in 2019. Some facilitators have sat for over 200 journeys. All of the facilitators in their network have their own private practice, and some do the work full time and for others, it’s part time.

Do you deal with ayahuasca?

We don’t deal with any psychedelic medicine ourselves. As mentioned in other comments, we rely on a bring your own medicine (BYOM) model in order to operate legally, transparently and above ground. That means that clients would need to source ayahuasca themselves which very few people have the capacity to do. Many of our facilitators are well versed in working with that medicine, but ultimately the hurdle becomes the client’s ability to source.

Is there any financial assistance for people that are disabled and living below the poverty line? Many of us don’t need to be crippled by our trauma

Another comment I saw said there is financial aid.

True they claim to have financial help for BIPOC low income. But even one is forced to pay $49 for a scheduled phone call.

I don’t want to waste $49 to find out that their financial aid is a 10% discount. Not to mention that I’m still 500 miles away from the nearest cluster of sitters.

I’ll throw harm reduction away and DIY. Harm reduction is only for the living and trauma has forced me to isolate for decades. I don’t have anyone irl other than therapists

I’m sorry that you feel forced to isolate yourself. Many of the clients that approach us are in very similar situations. Ultimately, how you choose to move forward is up to you and if you feel comfortable doing it on your own, it’s your human right to do so. I’m not here to convince anyone to use our services. That said, I do think it’s worth acknowledging the risk that comes with unstructured psychedelic use, especially when consuming large doses.

You don’t have to waste $49 to find out our financial assistance options. You can simply email us using the contact form on our site and we’d be happy to share what that process looks like and what your options are. In addition to discounts on programs, we also have past clients who’ve elected to pay it forward by sponsoring the cost of services for those who are less fortunate.

I’m not sure where you are located but if you send us an email, we can confirm where the closest facilitator is to you (the map on the site isn’t accurate, it’s in the process of being updated). We do our best to increase accessibility and we encourage you to reach out if finances are what’s preventing you from moving forward.

Consent allowed: what substances do you offer and what is your “advice” to a patient for which substance to use?

How does a person become part of this network? As in becoming a facilitator. What qualifications do they have to have? Can anyone become one? How much experience is needed in whatever qualifications you set?

How do you keep it anonymous enough for state and federal (even local) law enforcement to stay out of what you are doing? Since in the U.S. all of these substances are still illegal.

How much does one “journey” cost? And going back to law enforcement on this one: how do you vet this person wanting a journey? (So you know it’s not an undercover NARC).

To be clear, we don’t actually provide any psychedelic substances–we rely on a bring your own medicine (BYOM) model in order to operate legally, transparently and above ground. We answered a question above on how our clients actually go about sourcing psychedelic medicine. Our advice for most clients is to start with psilocybin because it is relatively safe, predictable, effective, and has very few medical contraindications (more on this in one of our other answers in this thread as well).

In order to become a part of our facilitator network, facilitators must:

Must complete a facilitator training program or apprenticeship Must pass a criminal background check Must have personal experience journeying with psychedelics themselves Must complete a series of interviews to screen out potential psychological issues Must have 2+ years professional experience or a minimum of 20+ ceremonies facilitated Must be actively engaged in their own healing process (i.e. therapy, coaching, etc.) Must complete an application to verify their standard operating procedures Must submit two letters of recommendation from professional colleagues Must submit two client references that we independently verify Must commit to the North Star Ethical Pledge Must commit to being independently reviewed by clients to ensure standards are upheld Must agree to leave the network if service standards aren't upheld

I hope that simultaneously answers your question about what their qualifications are. In general, the network consists of professional facilitators with a variety of backgrounds such as:

PhDs in Psychology Psychotherapists Retreat facilitators Rehabilitation counselors Doctors of Acupuncture Certified psychospiritual coaches

At this point, law enforcement isn’t concerned with what we’re doing because we aren't breaking any laws. We don’t provide or touch any controlled substances and all of the facilitators in the network are partaking in legal harm reduction services. Truthfully, I think they have bigger fish to fry considering the amount of people openly selling drugs online at the moment.

All potential clients who want to engage with services must undergo an extensive screening & intake process to ensure that they are fit for a psychedelic experience and good fit for the facilitator. Ultimately, we have no way to prove for certain that it’s not a NARC but I think most facilitators get an intuitive hit when things feel off during the screening process.

With regards to cost, all of our facilitators operate on a tiered pricing structure with the intention of making psychedelic services available to people across all different backgrounds and socioeconomic levels. It’s also worth noting that financial assistance is available to those that qualify. You can learn more about our pricing model here: https://www.psychedelicpassage.com/our-services/

Thanks for the reply!

For sure, thanks for your question!

Do y'all donate to MAPS?

No, we don’t donate to MAPS.

Do you personally think psychedelics peek beyond a veil of physics we are yet to understand or is that just a "dysfunction" of the human mind under the influence?

How do you help someone when they have a bad trip?

What causes people to get stuck and loops and how do you get them out (or should you)?

Can you share any grounding techniques (under the influence of not)?

Consent allowed- although I might be too late in the ama ):

Personally, yes. I believe psychedelics confirm the basic principles of quantum physics. Although I acknowledge that there are multiple ways to interpret what’s happening while under the influence of a psychedelic substance. For me, I’ve found the spiritual framework to be especially helpful when integrating altered states of consciousness. However, as you might imagine, not all clients are open to that way of thinking, and so facilitators often tailor the frameworks and word choice they use based on the clients.

With regards to a bad trip, I wrote out a very detailed reply to this in the AMA thread already and for the sake of time, I’m going to point you there.

I can’t say for sure what causes people to get stuck in loops but I will say that it’s very common when under the influence of a psychedelic. I view it as a natural form of processing, even if it’s not conscious. Therefore, I usually encourage clients to complete their process–even if it’s centered around a particular loop. As facilitators, we’re there to hold space for whatever is happening, not to control it.

Some grounding techniques that I really like are:

Holding a physical object (i.e. a stone, stick, hand, etc.) Conscious and intentional breaths Changing or removing audio inputs Changing environment Using a weighted blanket Taking a drink of water Eating nourishing food Movement (moving out of the head and into the body) Smelling essential oils