So often, I hear professionals in the psychedelic field debate on if there is such thing as a bad trip? In my 20 years of experience in psychedelics, there are definitely deeply challenging situations that can transpire in a journey that can have a long-term destabilizing impact on well-being. Yet, I also believe that unpacking the nature of these trips can help mitigate their frequency and support the essential path of integration.

4 reasons for adverse experiences:

Inappropriate Setting: So often people ingest psychedelics without honoring the sheer power of the medicine- and take it in places that lack safety, support and coherence.  I.e. high dosing for a concert to amplify an experience – not realizing that yesterday’s big argument or the un-grieved loss of a friend may come surging to the fore. Instead of fractals of sonic bliss, the journeyer is grappling with existential fear, guilt and anger with the volume turned up to 11. This also applies to stepping into a facilitated experience where the guide is untrained, unethical, and/or lacks experience to support the highly vulnerable unfolding of one’s healing process. One can learn from such an experience, yet often at the cost of another trauma.

Facing the shadow: The harm we cause by our own hand and the injuries we’ve received by others can be difficult wounds to reconcile.  Resistance to the pain of traumas and shadow is also cause for a great deal of suffering. Yet it’s not always about willingness. Western culture teaches us near to nothing about the art of surrender as a path toward healing. Our skills in toiling often serve to more deeply entrench our wounds. While what these unintegrated parts need is compassion and acceptance.

Attachment to ideals. It’s great to have a powerful “Why” for a psychedelic experience. Yet it’s equally important to let go of the “How”.  Each journeyer is incredibly unique In the way they connect to the medicine. Yet so often, grace is overlooked by an inquisitive mind holding onto an expectation of how it’s “supposed” to be.

Ego dissolution: Letting go of the limitations of the personality self can be a blissful journey of remembrance to the soul – yet also a hellish unraveling of sanity for a fixated mind. The doula nature of guiding someone through this veil is a sacred charge where attunement, presence, experience and compassion are essential. This can be one of the most exquisite or disruptive moments in one’s life.

There’s a lot more nuance to all of this. And plenty of room for expansion. Yet I hope two things may come from this conversation.

1: Encourage speaking toward bad trips directly. (Please stop sweeping under the rug any caution for this powerful path)

2. Encourage the sharing of knowledge & best practices in the spirit of harm reduction. Psychedelics are here to stay. I believe it’s our responsibility to support a mature psychedelic culture. Not just for therapeutic and ceremonial use, but for the ecstatic frontier as well.