Psychedelic Preparation and integration

To prepare for a psychedelic assisted therapy session, it's helpful to look at your intentions as well as your expectations for the session. The experience can often be different than your expectations, and that's OK. Intentions are best when they are clear and simple and open ended. It's good to get really honest with yourself about your intentions at this stage. There are a few steps that are helpful to walk through for setting intentions.

Your mindset going into a session has a big impact on your experience. Classic psychedelics amplify what's happening in your mind and body. It is helpful to check in with your parts and see how they feel about going into a session. It's normal to have a part that is excited about the experience, sometimes a manager part that wants to get the work done, and it's very common to have a part that is nervous or scared. I recommend checking in and acknowledge these parts and finding appreciation for the roles they play to keep you safe and healthy. Finally it's important to make sure that all your parts are on board (even if there's some fear) before proceeding with the session.

There are some specific things to investigate before working with Bufo or 5-MEO-DMT, sometimes call "The God Molecule". It is more powerful and different than other psychedelics. A lot of people describe the experience as dying, experiencing the infinite, or nothingness, or both, and being reborn, or reformed. It's not something to try casually. It usually stirs up some big energy in your system, often traumas and experiences that were tucked away in your body. With the right facilitators, that energy can be processed during the medicine session, but some processing usually happens in the months after the session. Here are some things to check for before doing 5-MEO:

• Never do it alone if you are not experienced with it. With bigger doses you will not be aware of your body and your body will be doing some big energy processing with big sounds and movements. It's important to have someone there to keep you physically safe.
• Make sure your facilitator(s) do a thorough screening with you to check for medical contraindications, your intentions, and let you know what to expect. Good facilitators will meet with you before the medicine session and walk you through the process, get an agreement on comfortable touch, and answer all your questions. They will work with you to plan how you will treat yourself in the days after the session so that you get the best results. The experience will be much better if you feel safe, and trust your facilitators.
• Make sure your facilitators are planning for multiple doses during the session. Often the first dose will stir up some big energy. Subsequent doses are important to work through and process the energy. 
• Make sure all your parts are on board when you go into the session. If something doesn't feel right, listen to that part of you and see what it has to say.

After a large-dose session, it's normal to come away with new insights and perspective on your life and your relationship with the world. It's common to have an "afterglow" period for some days, a time of increased neuroplasticity. This is the best time to start integrating what you learned into your life. This can include implementing new habits or letting go of old ones. This is a good time to partner with a coach to support you in making the lasting changes that you want. This is the time when your new though patterns and habits tend to stick for the long run.