Nestled in the heart of Southern California, the city of Riverside blends its historic past with the progressive present. Along with its historic charm, Riverside is the birthplace of the California citrus industry and plays a significant role in the state’s leadership in citrus production across the country.
The laid-back vibe of Riverside truly captures the essence of California living, and the recent passage of psychedelic laws certainly play a part in this.
While natural psychedelics aren’t decriminalized and psychedelic therapy isn’t legal yet, this doesn’t mean you can’t get your psychedelic healing journey started right now.
Today, we’ll provide you with the options you have for legal psychedelic therapy in Riverside, along with how you can find a psychedelic guide near you and what areas we service here.
Before we get into that, let’s discuss the differences between the various types of psychedelic professionals you can work with throughout your healing journey, what roles they play, and how they can benefit you.
We also invite you to check out our latest discussion on psychedelic therapy in California. Let’s jump right in!
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The Difference Between a Psychedelic Therapist, Guide, & Facilitator
With the emerging psychedelic realm, psychedelic therapy continues to evolve. Depending on your intentions for the journey and personal preferences, you have a few options for whom you can work with throughout your psychedelic journey.
The first option is a psychedelic therapist. A psychedelic therapist is a licensed mental health professional who integrates the use of psychedelics into their practice. These professionals may include psychologists, psychiatrists, or counselors.
The qualifications of a psychedelic therapist come from their extensive medical training and respective licenses. Additionally, they have undergone psychedelic training and hold certifications in this field.
With their knowledge and experience, psychedelic therapists also provide you with mindfulness tools that can help you throughout your healing journey, such as meditation, breathing techniques, and journaling.
Because psychedelic therapy isn’t yet legal in Riverside, finding a psychedelic therapist to work with can be challenging, as most are unwilling to risk losing their medical license. Even if you find one to work with, they may only assist in the preparation and integration phases.
However, not all hope is lost. Another option you have is to work with a psychedelic guide or facilitator. Psychedelic guides and facilitators have similar responsibilities, and these terms are often used interchangeably.
What makes a psychedelic guide different from a psychedelic therapist is the source of their qualifications. A psychedelic guide is knowledgeable about the world of psychedelics because they have undergone their own healing journeys and helped others through theirs.
Unlike a psychedelic therapist, a guide will accompany you through every step of your journey, including being present during your psychedelic ceremony. They also provide you with mindfulness tools that you can use on your journey and in your daily life.
What Is the Role of a Psychedelic Guide?
Now that we have a clear understanding of how a psychedelic guide differs from a psychedelic therapist, let’s get into the details of the role a psychedelic guide plays during your healing journey.
To start, it’s important to note that a psychedelic guide doesn’t actually guide your experience. Instead, they allow you to control your entire healing journey and will be by your side, offering support and assistance when needed.
To ensure you are well-suited for a psychedelic experience, your guide will first conduct a health screening. During this screening, they’ll review your medical history, as well as your family’s medical history, to ensure there are no medication interactions or underlying health conditions that could pose risks.
Once you’re given the green light, your guide will further help you prepare for the experience ahead by discussing your intentions for your healing journey, or in other words, the reasons you are seeking this journey.
Once your intention is set, your guide will assist you in creating the perfect environment for your experience. Being in a comfortable and familiar location when experiencing the effects of psychedelics greatly reduces the chances of having a “bad trip.”
On the day of your psychedelic ceremony, your guide will be there in person with you, offering unwavering support. They allow you to fully embrace the experience, even in the case of negative emotions.
Rather than distracting you from those emotions, they’ll help you navigate through them, fully understand them, and explore why they surfaced.
Once your experience is over, your guide will continue to work with you in the integration phase. During this phase, they’ll help you dissect your experience and explore how you can apply what you’ve learned and experienced to your everyday life.
How to Access Legal Psychedelic Guidance in Riverside, 2023
While psychedelic healing centers aren’t available in Riverside just yet, this doesn’t mean you’re out of options when it comes to getting your healing journey started now. Two options available to you include ketamine clinics and guided psychedelic journeys with Psychedelic Passage.
1. Ketamine Clinics
Since the pandemic, the prevalence of depression and anxiety has increased by 25% worldwide. This significant surge in depression and anxiety rates indicate that something must be done in order to
prevent and treat these conditions.
While ketamine has been used in the treatment of depression for decades, its popularity has increased dramatically over the past few years. It might seem like ketamine is just another treatment similar to antidepressants, but in reality, ketamine works in a completely different way.
While SSRIs increase serotonin in the body, ketamine works with the glutamate system instead by blocking NMDA receptors to increase the release of glutamate. This promotes neuroplasticity and the formation of new neural connections in the brain.
Due to this mechanism of action, ketamine induces dissociative effects, causing an alteration in perception and a sense of detachment from yourself and surroundings. This unique feature allows you to view your troubles from an unemotional, detached third-person perspective.
Especially for those who haven’t found relief from other forms of treatment, ketamine therapy can certainly be life-saving for individuals with depression. Unfortunately, ketamine therapy isn’t as accessible as you might think when it comes to recommendation and cost.
To become a candidate for ketamine therapy, you must demonstrate that you’ve tried and failed at least two other treatments for depression, and your doctor must determine if it’s the right choice for you.
One of the biggest obstacles in ketamine therapy is its cost. Typically, six sessions are required in ketamine therapy and these sessions can cost hundreds of dollars each. With insurance not always covering it, you may have to pay for it out of pocket.
Therefore, it’s important that you thoroughly research the ketamine clinics near you to find the one that’s the most affordable and offers all the additional services you desire.
2. Guided Psychedelic Journeys With Psychedelic Passage
We understand how overwhelming it can be to begin your psychedelic healing journey, as we’ve been in your shoes before. At Psychedelic Passage, we aim to simplify your journey so you can focus all your energy on your healing intentions.
To make this a reality, we will connect you with our network of pre-vetted psychedelic guides and help you find the perfect match based on your needs, preferences, and location.
Our network of guides span the country, allowing them to travel to your chosen location for your psychedelic ceremony. You have the freedom to select any location for your experience.
Additionally, you can choose from a variety of psychedelic substances for your journey, as our guides have extensive experience working with a wide range of them. They can also assist you in determining the proper dosage.
As you may have noticed by now, we take pride in allowing you to fully customize your healing journey, which is why we offer a 5-week ceremonial program that puts you in the driver’s seat of your journey. This program includes:
- Two 60-minute preparation sessions
- Eight hours of trip-sitting
- Two 60-minute integration sessions
- Resources on preparation and integration
- Microdose coaching
- Resources on microdosing
- Text and email support
In addition to being able to personalize your journey, if you want to have your psychedelic experience with your loved ones or prefer to have multiple facilitators, your psychedelic guide will work with you to make that a reality.
If you are only seeking microdose coaching instead, we also have a program for that, which includes:
- Four 1-hour long microdose coaching sessions
- Resources on microdosing
- Text and email support
In the end, cost shouldn’t deter you from having the healing journey you deserve. That’s why we’ve worked with our network of guides to offer pricing for our programs based on income, ensuring everyone has equal opportunities for this transformative experience.
Connect With Professional Guides From Every Major Riverside Area
- Downtown Riverside
- Arlington
- Canyon Crest
- La Sierra
- University
- Grand
- Orangecrest
- Mission Grove
- Wood Streets
- Magnolia Center
- Alessandro Heights
- Victoria
- Hawarden Hills
Get Matched With a Local Psychedelic Guide Today
Hi there! We sincerely hope that you’ve found valuable takeaways that resonate with your current intentions. To explore research-based education, stay updated with psychedelic news, and benefit from practical how-to articles, we encourage you to head over to our resources page.
If you’re seeking personalized advice and are prepared to take the first step toward a therapeutic psychedelic experience, we invite you to book a consultation with our team of experienced psychedelic concierges.
This consultation is more than just a conversation; it’s an opportunity to be matched with a trustworthy local facilitator. You’ll be seamlessly connected to our rigorously vetted network of psychedelic guides, ensuring potential matches align with your needs.
Psychedelic Passage offers confidence and peace of mind by alleviating the burden of having to guess who’s right for you. If you want to discover how Psychedelic Passage can help you, we empower you to learn more about our services and check out client testimonials from those who’ve gone before you.
Your healing path is uniquely yours, and our commitment is to serve you at every juncture. Psychedelic Passage: Your Psychedelic Concierge — The easy, legal way to find trustworthy psilocybin guides, facilitators and psychedelic assisted therapy near you in the United States.
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