“The Importance of Community in Psychedelic Healing” with co-hosts Nicholas Levich and Jimmy Nguyen, covers an empowering discussion about integrating community into your psychedelic healing journey.
Nicholas and Jimmy begin by exploring the deep rooted practice of community healing with psychedelics. They explain why this model has been so successful for thousands of years–analyzing how a sense of community can help guide your psychedelic transformation.
Our hosts share personal experiences that exemplify the difficulty in navigating significant life experiences without interpersonal support. They highlight ways in which a community has significantly contributed to their sense of wellness and security, in the past.
How can community members serve as a healthy outlet for our internal world, and how can we ask for help while being mindful of our support network’s mental and emotional capacity? As the psychedelic healing paradigm gains momentum in America, so do the support systems available to us.
They share how you can find a community that fits your wants, needs, and intentions. To close off, our hosts name a list of well-established psychedelic support communities, describe the type of support these groups offer, and what steps you should take first.
Episode 44: The Importance of Community in Psychedelic Healing
Jimmy: Welcome to the Psychedelic Passage podcast. My name is Jimmy Nguyen, I’m joined here by my co-host Nick Levich. Thanks for joining us again this week. It’s been really amazing just to watch our listening community grow-
I have a sense and as we record these episodes, it really feels like we’re talking directly to a crowd or an audience. I hope that folks feel that intimate nature of how we hold these podcasts, which are just two best friends just talking passionately, maybe [crosstalk] sometimes.
Nick: Very little planning goes into these.
Jimmy: [laughs] For sure. But also, I think you can feel our care and our passion. It’s just great to be here with you for another week.
We always have an important topic for you, but this week it actually is a really important one because it is a central pillar of not only psychedelic use and sacraments and experimentation and engagement-
But also, just an important pillar of being a human, which is the importance of community. So, we’ll be talking about that today through the context or the lens of psychedelics-
But I also hope to drive across a point not only on why it’s important but also some of the dynamics that folks run into before, during, after psychedelic experiences.
As far as how that changes your community and how you engage with it and all that. We did an episode a couple of weeks back about how psychedelics impact your intimate relationships and-
I almost feel like this episode is an accompaniment to it because psychedelics also can impact your community and how you show up with it, or maybe finding a community if you’re not feeling plugged in or if you’re more of a lone wolf.
So, where do we start here, Nick? Where do you want to jump in with folks about this whole conversation on community and psychedelics?
Psychedelics’ Historic Role as a Sacred Communal Tradition
[00:02:07] Nick: Well, I feel called to acknowledge that traditionally these medicines were always used within a community container and so oftentimes–
Jimmy: You’re talking about historically, like over the past hundreds and thousands–[crosstalk]
Nick: Thousands of years. Psychedelics were inextricably linked from community. And so a lot of times what would happen is they would be centered around an initiation of sorts.
And so, the initiate would go off into the wilderness and sit with medicine or whatever the specific ritual is. There’s so many different variations, but the idea is that the community is holding them.
And so you’re embarking on this journey alone because you’re coming up against your own perceived limitations and you’re self-resourcing and you’re determining your own depth and strength and character. But you know that there’s still this thread that connects-
Jimmy: The tether.
Nick: -you to the longer– Yeah, to the community. When you come back from your journey, your vision quest, whatever it is, the community is there to hold you and to receive you and to welcome you back.
A lot of times the community can be a source of strength when you’re in your deep, dark moment of despair, presumably all on your own out there.
And so, you can see how intimately these two things are related and how crucial the role of community is when we’re embarking on these initiatory rites of passage.
Jimmy: Which is by the way, why we’re called Psychedelic Passage because of this respect of this initiatory process that is so lacking in [chuckles] our society here in America. And psychedelics become defaulted as to a pathway of these rites of passage.
Nick: We hear journeyers say this. Right? They’re like, “Oh, I’m actually stepping into my true sense of self now.”
Jimmy: By the way, I’ve seen that across all ages. I’ve seen people go through initiatory processes into being an elder, in their 80s. I’ve seen folks coming into adulthood in their 30s, [laughs] you know what I mean? And so, it really ranges.
The other interesting thing of what you bring up, what comes up for me is that there’s this parallel, especially in these initiatory rites of passage through tradition and culture and lineage, depending on the ancestry, depending on all of that.
There’s a parallel to what that looks like and the psychedelic journey. And especially if you’re using psychedelics as a sacrament as a part of that. But if you’re looking at traditional cultures that engage with psychedelics as a sacrament, there usually were elders-
Or there usually were a council, or maybe somebody in your family had a lineage as a medicine keeper and a holder. And so, these things were just embedded into society and culture, as you’ve heard us say on past episodes.
And then when you take it to the concept you’re talking about, which is that psychedelics can serve as these initiatory rites of passage, you can see quickly how our community, structures, and society works very differently here in America.
How then do we account for that? How then, do we create a sense of community and things like that? Because, look, like psychedelics, you probably were not talking about it as a child, adolescent, or a teen in any meaningful way besides–[crosstalk]
Nick: Other than Dare.
Jimmy: Yeah, drug propaganda. Exactly. And then for many folks, even if they do engage with psychedelics, most of the time they’re keeping it in secret. It’s not that socially acceptable across the entire country.
Nick: Well, and now is perhaps the most socially acceptable time to bring it up. But man, imagine if you had a life-shifting journey 5, 10 years ago. You would sound like a crazy person if you start sharing that in the wrong circles.
Jimmy: Yeah. Let me back up a little bit to say that we humans are just social creatures. That is how we have evolved over time to work in community. The same way that we use tools, the same way that we use critical thinking and pattern recognition, all that.
It’s built into our DNA to be social creatures. I acknowledge that there are people who probably fall more on the solo, lone wolf side of the spectrum. And then folks who really just, community building comes naturally to them.
But it’s tied to our human experience, it’s tied to mental health, it’s tied to fulfillment, it’s tied to a sense of belonging. And I just acknowledge, we’re talking about psychedelics and the importance of community, but I just know how much that’s lacking in our society nowadays.
Nick: Community, even without psychedelics, is powerful and healing and important. And so– [crosstalk]
Jimmy: I mean, look at this pandemic that we’ve been through in the past couple of years and what that did to folks in isolation and community and like all of that stuff.
And so, I just know that it’s hard, but we’ll be talking about this in the context on why it matters in the psychedelic world.
Nick: For sure.
Jimmy: Yeah. As a part of that, you can see then, how psychedelics are so related and empowered by community. I want to talk through a little bit on the reasons behind that.
I think the first thing that you and I always say, and maybe you can go into this a little further, is to never do the work in a vacuum. And so, can you explain to folks a little bit on what we mean when we say that?
Why is a Community so Integral to The Psychedelic Experience?
[00:08:17] Nick: [laughs] Yeah, I think it’s really easy to feel like you’re going crazy when you’re just in a place of isolation, moving through a process, whatever that process is. It’s really, really easy to feel like you’re losing your marbles.
If you don’t have someone there to say, “You know what? This is okay. This is a normal part of the process. This is to be expected after a powerful journey like that. And, hey, maybe I’ve even been there myself.”
And just to know that you’re not alone in what it is that you’re going through can be so, so, so, helpful because when we think we’re alone and we’re unique and we’re different and we’re isolated in whatever it is that we’re experiencing, it makes it so much harder.
Jimmy: Yeah. With psychedelic experiences, particularly just even knowing that what you went through is okay, whether it’s challenging or beautiful or blissful or terrible. [chuckles] Likely there’s somebody else who’s been through something similar to that and that’s a lot of weight to carry-
Especially if you go through a significant psychedelic experience and you feel like, I have no outlet, nobody’s going to understand. So, then what do we do? We then bottle it up and we bury it, and don’t talk about it.
Nick: Or pretend it didn’t happen, not real.
Jimmy: Dismiss it, we invalidate it. And that’s a lot of weight to carry. Have you ever held a secret that you would like just cannot hold and you’re like– [crosstalk]
Nick: And then the multiplier effect is that it’s a life-changing secret.
Jimmy: Right.
Nick: One of the potentially most significant life events, short of like marriage, childbirth, whatever the key milestones are, and you can’t share it with anyone.
Jimmy: Yeah.
Nick: Or don’t feel comfortable sharing it with anyone. That is a challenging place to be. And our hope is that as you listen to this episode you understand why doing that is actually not that helpful-
And that there are alternatives that are significantly healthier and will rapidly accelerate the pace at which you can integrate and implement the changes that you seek here.
Jimmy: Twofold. If you’re a person where you’re hearing what we’re saying, you’re like, “Oh, that’s me.” This is a call to you to consider finding some community. The other part of this is, we’ll talk a little bit more tangibly on what that might look like.
I think the other benefit of not doing this work in secret or in a vacuum or solo is that, I have this effect all the time, where if I keep it all internal and I don’t have a good backboard to spring things off of or a second opinion or something.
Nick: Mirror.
Jimmy: I’m like in an echo chamber, and it’s hard to tell what things are valid versus useful versus not in my own processing of psychedelic experiences.
And so, that can lead me very directly to feeling stuck or second guessing myself, being out of alignment with my intuition and so–[crosstalk]
Nick: When you’re in isolation you can tell yourself the same story over and over and over and over and over again and it goes unchecked. And when you share that story with someone else, you then have a check against it.
A check of reasonableness, a potential ability to question it or to poke a hole in it or to challenge it. That can actually be very healthy if it’s done in a constructive way.
Jimmy: Yeah. I think what I see with folks, kind of two outcomes. Well, many outcomes, but I know that there’s a category of folks who come out of psychedelic experiences and they want to keep things very private-
And I want to talk about that as far as finding community while maintaining your privacy. The other broad category that I see are people who have psychedelic experiences and they want to shout it from the rooftops and they want to tell everybody.
But they also don’t have healthy ways of engaging in community beyond what one of my clients calls “proselytizing.” Preaching the good word of psychedelics. And so, let’s get into that a little bit.
Nick: I mean, those are two extremes.
Jimmy: Yeah. And then a lot of folks in the middle, for sure, and quite a spectrum of your needs. But that’s probably where it starts. What are my needs here?
Curating a Community That Suits Your Needs
[00:13:01] Jimmy: Well, when I think about community, but particularly around psychedelic support systems, I think about things in concentric circles.
And obviously, we have this term social circles. It depends on your needs and what concentric circle or social circle can fulfill that.
So, like if I need a personal deep dive into a particular section or content or thing of a psychedelic ceremony that I recently had, I get to decide whether I go to a best friend or a confidante or if that’s better served in an integration circle with 50 strangers or in another community or another sense.
So, when I think about these concentric circles, there are your immediate supporters that may be your facilitator, that may be your spouse, partner, best friend, emergency contact, family member, something like that.
And then I zoom out and I’m like, “Okay, who’s my immediate support around that?” And usually, that’s like five, six people who are maybe a part of your larger circle and maybe they don’t know as much of the intimate content and material of your psychedelic experience, but they know that you had one.
And they know that it was what it was and they maybe just have an idea of your status right now. Whether it’s challenging, difficult, you need space, you need community, you need care.
And then you can move out from there along these concentric circles, depending on your needs. Like you might just need to be in social settings of like-minded people who get psychedelics, but maybe you’re not actively working on integration or whatnot as well.
A little bit of a choose your own adventure, but I think it’s important to really think about who are within your close community, who’s within your larger social network? Who are your immediate supporters? What roles do each of these plays?
A huge mistake, not a mistake, but a thing that a lot of people don’t account for, this falls back to our intimate relationship conversation, but some folks may not want their spouse or their partner to be their primary supporter through psychedelic experiences-
And some folks will really greatly benefit from that. And so, you have a lot of options here. Would you add anything to my little rant here?
[00:15:42] Nick: Well, one thing that I think is really important is, at least from my perspective, community doesn’t just mean the person, it also speaks to their capacity or lack thereof to hold whatever it is that you need support around.
And so, I often share this with clients that I work with, is like, if you feel called to share your experience, please do. But be really mindful of who you’re choosing to share it with because if they can’t hold it, it often does more harm than good.
And so, there’s another layer to community here which is like just having another human isn’t enough. It’s is that human, are they emotionally, mentally, and spiritually mature enough to hold what you’re about to share with them?
Jimmy: Do they have the capacity?
Nick: Exactly.
Jimmy: Mm-hmm.
Nick: And so, it’s not enough to just have a person, because think about something like soliciting advice. It’s really easy to take advice from someone who has the result that you want.
But then if you ask for the same advice from someone who hasn’t achieved what you’re looking for advice around, you’re far less likely to put weight in that. And so, the same thing goes here. It’s like how adept are they at handling what it is that you need support around?
Jimmy: Yeah. Are they projecting onto you their own fears, concerns, limitation, biases? Or are they seeing you and normalizing and validating and just witnessing you, your process in a non-judgmental way?
I’m thinking of one client in particular where they’re like, “I’m really close to my brother, but we don’t have these conversations. We don’t have these conversations about our traumas and dramas and demons,” [chuckles] and whatever.
Nick: Right. And so that person plays a role in community, but it’s not going to satisfy all your needs. And so, that’s maybe one of the concentric circles that you were talking about, but it’s not the right circle to deposit certain things into.
Jimmy: Or, how about you’re one of those folks who knows a lot of people, you’re a social butterfly, but maybe you don’t have a lot of core people in your life.
Like, you might have 20 really solid relationships, 50 really solid relationships, but none of them go into a level of depth that you need. And so, a part of this is identifying, what are my needs? What in my community is serving and fulfilling those needs? And also what’s missing as well?
That kind of denotes these two ends of the spectrum here about, okay, I also see many clients like this where they have a yearning for friendship or connection or they know that they’re naturally isolating and whatnot.
They’re like, ah, I wanna like, go out and make friends and just be and probably, maybe, feel like they have a lot of barriers in between then and there. And I know that can be extremely uncomfortable for folks.
But that’s all good content for learning and for growth. Those can be great teachers to even realize, “Oh, I need community, and now I got to go out and build it.” You were about to say something?
Nick: Well, that’s the dynamic that I see the most often is within 0 to 48 hours after the journey, the journeyer goes, “Man, I don’t know that I have anyone in my life I can share this with. Like, no one will get me. No one will understand what it is that I have to share.”
And so, their next question is, like, “Man, who do I share this with? How do I go about this process of finding a peer group, finding integration support, finding somebody that can help me with this?”
Jimmy: Yeah. Or a version of what you’re saying, I find folks who do have very close people in their life, and they’re like-
“Ah, I haven’t been building this into my relationship with that person where we can go this deep where we can talk about this stuff.” And so, it can also be a calling to further and deepen relationships with people as well.
Nick: So, I think we should talk about the two extremes because we didn’t quite finish there, right?
Jimmy: Sure.
Nick: So, we’ve got one person who’s like, “This is so personal and private. I don’t want to share with anyone.” And then you’ve got the person that wants to shout from the rooftops. I’m happy to speak to my approach for shouting from the rooftops.
Jimmy: Yeah, go for it.
How to Manage & Examine Your Expectations
[00:20:39] Nick: Which is, we as humans, we like to be inspired, we don’t like to be told what to do. And so I often find it’s a much better approach if you embody the change that you experienced that was so magnificent and so profound and the exact change that you want to shout from the rooftops, just embody it.
And then people will go, “Hey, something’s different about you. What’s going on?” Now you have an open invitation to share about how you got there and the psychedelic component.
But shouting from the rooftops is a lot of like the telling people what to do energy, which oftentimes doesn’t land the same way.
I find if we can reorient towards inspiring others as opposed to telling them what to do, it’s a much better outlet for the desire to like spread the good word, so to speak.
Jimmy: Yeah, totally agree. And I’ll also add, it’s related to what you said before about people’s capacity to hold this content and I also will add their perspectives and opinions on it.
Where psychedelics are really polarizing, substance use in general is very polarizing. There’s political components, there’s religious and belief components to it. This can be divisive.
You bring this up at a dinner party thinking, “Oh everyone’s going to be excited about this.” And then you got half the table pissed off that you’re some drug user or whatever. And so you got to be really thoughtful as well around that.
And another thing that comes up for me is if you do have this feeling of wanting to share, of wanting to really let people know how important or significant this process is for you, which is very common, I really urge you to think about your motivations around that.
And then it can be a mix of things. You may want to be supportive to other folks and share your story. You may also just like the attention or you may also just think psychedelics are really interesting and you have [crosstalk] curiosity around it.
Nick: Or maybe that ego just needs a stroke.
Jimmy: Uh-huh. Maybe you do feel this need to just be acknowledged and seen and validated. I’m not saying any of these things are wrong, but the clearer you are with it, then the more you can fulfill and meet that need.
And so, if you’re wanting to just share your story and have some people listen to you, then maybe a larger integration group is helpful.
If you’re looking to deep dive and really share intimate details with somebody who’s close in your life, then that’s a whole different environment of context.
So, getting really clear on why you want to share and what manner can also help there too. So, let’s shift over to maybe the other scenario that I talked about which are folks who want to keep these things more private or closer to the hip.
And my best recommendation is to have at least one person who’s your main go-to for– I mean we are each other for this but then also people’s facilitators, maybe there’s one close person or spouse or somebody.
Nick: And even a therapist, it really doesn’t matter who, as long as they can hold it and you feel comfortable with them. But it’s really important. Like an important part of processing is vocalizing and verbalizing and giving language to this thing you just went through.
Jimmy: And then defining what you need from it, defining what you need out of that really close relationship. Is this a thing where you want to chat regularly about it or is it that you just need them for that immediate need for just sharing your experience right after a ceremony?
Or is this somebody who has a specialty or knowledge or background or whatnot? So, there are ways to keep your process very private while also getting your needs met within community.
And then I’ll also share that not everybody in your community needs to know that you went through a psychedelic experience. Maybe just being around each other or playing a pickup basketball game or–[crosstalk]
Nick: Going for a hike, painting, whatever.
Jimmy: That might just do it for you as far as feeling that connectivity and community, in which you can still hold it, this thing sacred and deep and close to your heart while also still being present and within community.
What else would you share with folks who are really private or maybe another scenario of this is maybe somebody who had a really challenging or difficult experience and then we know that they need community. But maybe there’s some–[crosstalk]
Nick: Yeah, one of the interesting things that I’ve found is sometimes, and this may sound counterintuitive, but sometimes it’s easier for folks to get deeply intimate with a stranger than with someone who has preexisting beliefs and connotations around them and that relationship.
The Benefits of Working With Strangers
[00:26:08] Nick: I facilitate men’s groups and I see this all the time where guys will come into the group and they’ll go, “Wow, I went deeper with a group of strangers here than I’ve gone with anyone else in my life.” And the question why always comes up.
And it’s like, well, there’s not the same level of preexisting beliefs, connotations, relationship dynamics. Like you get to start on a clean slate. This person knows nothing about you and you get to set the tone for what you share and how you present yourself.
That’s why I think these peer integration groups can be very helpful because they don’t know who you are and you don’t know who they are. There’s not this preexisting image of how you need to be showing up.
Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, exists in our interpersonal relationship dynamics. If you show up differently in our friendship container, I’m going to notice.
Jimmy: Yeah. We show up differently at work, then we do at home, then we do with our friends, and different social contexts and settings.
I love this phrase that there are like thousands of yous that exist and it’s the perception of you in everybody’s minds that you’ve ever met.
And that does hold true because that does shape our behavior like you’re saying, shapes the way we show up, what we share, what we talk about, what we don’t talk about.
Nick: So, I’ve had clients that come out of a journey and they’re like, “Well, do you have any past clients that are maybe a similar age and have also gone through a divorce that was spurred by cheating?”
And I’ll do my best to link them up as pen pals, assuming everyone’s consented because you get this beautiful synergy of you’ve both been through a similar trauma or past life history-
You both went through a journey to work through it and you have no preexisting beliefs about each other. You get to start off on a totally clean slate.
Jimmy: I find that that’s one of the positives of group settings and group containers, retreat settings, or larger group, psilocybin, ayahuasca primarily is done in groups. That’s one of the cool benefits of that as well.
And then also just know that in those developing relationships, friendships, support bonds that there’s this commonality.
And then also you continually need to be checking on whether your needs are met, whether this is the right person to support you, vice versa. What state that you’re in when you’re engaging with this person?
There are folks who have met after group ceremonies and I feel a really strong connection and bond with them and then after a couple of weeks, it does fade a little bit as well. And so, just keep in mind that it’s all contextual on what you might need there.
Real-Time Support Groups & Communities for Psychedelic Healing
[00:29:17] Nick: For sure. I think the last thing we should leave folks with is just an opportunity to explore what resources are out there for community because there are a lot of integration circles-
A lot of them are free, there’s men’s and women’s circles, there’s a lot of different community-oriented support systems that exist. Just know that whatever you’re looking for is out there.
But step one, and we talk about this all the time, is to be clear on what kind of support you’re seeking.
Jimmy: There are psychedelic communities based on region and location. There’s a lot of different cities and towns who are starting psychedelic-oriented societies and clubs.
I know here in Colorado, The Nowak Society, there’s the Psychedelic Club of Denver, and then there are more affinity-based groups. Psychedelics in Recovery is one for folks who deal with substance issues.
Nick: It’s essentially a 12-step fellowship that honors the intentional use of psychedelics. There’s clubs at most schools now, nearly every state and most large cities.
There’s also just communities that exist out there that’s their main driver if you will. Like, I think about the empathic health community and a couple of these others centered around getting groups of psychedelic curious or interested people together.
Jimmy: Yeah, Heroic Hearts Project, they are more oriented and focused around veteran services, but they also have community initiatives there. I think about autisticpsychedelic.com which is a psychedelic community focused on autism.
There’s a few others. I’m actually pulling up a list here as well. And you may not want to find an affinity-based group and whatnot. We’re just using these as examples to just show where the progression of community initiatives are.
Nick: And we’ll see more come online. There’s only going to be more.
Jimmy: Yeah. My really good friend has started Asian Psychedelic Collective. There are a number of BIPOC groups, Ancestor Project does a number of these. And so it’s really cool to see that there’s more community initiatives.
Tam Integration, they also do integration support, weekly, Altered States Integration ran by some of my friends. They do some really great work–[crosstalk]
Nick: I mean, we’ve even seen groups emerge on Telegram, Signal, Facebook. There’s also digital community offerings.
And so, this is what we mean about, there’s all these things that exist and you need to choose kind of whether you’d benefit from in-person intimate or large group sharing or digital is preferable.
It’s all available. You have to get clear on what those concentric circles of community that you’re seeking are.
Jimmy: This ebbs and flows. When I’m coming out of a psychedelic experience, immediately I’m like, “I’m going to take some time to myself.”
And then usually after a couple of days and a couple of weeks, I’m like, “Okay, I need to emerge back into community.” It’s actually great because I’m wearing a Zendo Project shirt-
Nick: Yeah.
Jimmy: [laughs] -as you saw, and that’s one of my most favorite and near and dear communities in the psychedelic and harm reduction support space. And so, you have to go out and seek this. It’s so important.
Nick: Yeah. It doesn’t fall in your lap.
Jimmy: Yeah. You can sit all day and talk about, “Oh, I need community and I need connection, and I would thrive,” and all of that.
You can just sit there and do nothing or you can take a step, which I know is a courageous step. I know it’s got a whole bunch of stuff to put yourself out there.
Nick: Exactly. It comes along with putting yourself out there, and for a lot of folks that are coming to a journey, they’re coming because they have an issue that’s preventing them from doing that.
I’ve seen this with clients where they’ve acknowledged their isolation and then they come out of a journey and they don’t want to be isolated anymore, but they’re scared to take that first step and I don’t blame them. It’s a new way of doing things.
Jimmy: Yeah. I see a world where there’s going to be all types of different societies. There’s probably going to be the soccer mom psychedelic club.
I want to see more community around folks with disabilities and accessibility needs and we’re starting to see more folks who are engaging in psychedelic services like that. It’s a really, really exciting space where 20 years ago we did have to do all this in secret.
There’s coffee shops and little micro cafes and little plant cafes opening up, especially here in Colorado. So, we’re starting to see this build into the fabric. Maybe you’re actually wanting to contribute to a digital community.
Maybe it’s like Nick said, a Signal thread or a Reddit community or an info-sharing community here and there, or there’s so many different ways for you to get engaged. And I’ll also just disclaim again, it doesn’t have to be psychedelic-specific.
Nick: Right.
Jimmy: You may just think like, “Oh, I’m just going to go to a pottery class once a week,” or, “I’m going to go to a cycling class three times a week and that’s my sense of getting back out there and getting into community.” So, whatever floats your boat in that area.
Nick: Connection, that’s the key here. You got to cultivate a form of connection.
Jimmy: Yeah. People talk about what are some of the ways to make the effect and benefit and meaning of psychedelic experiences last. It’s what we’re talking about here. This is a huge one. In addition to integration and doing the work and staying clear to your intention.
Nick: Well, what’s one of the common themes that people get time and time again. Interconnectedness. And if we don’t continue to live at that intersection of interconnectedness when we’re not actively journeying, we find ourselves back in isolation.
Honestly, that tends to be one of the things that’s most directly linked to depressive states and depressive tendencies is a lack of connection.
And so, it’s really, really, important that we find some outlet to nurture that sense of social connectivity, especially if we’re going to be doing intentional work with psychedelics.
Jimmy: Yeah. Even if it’s just peer support, it doesn’t have to be a professional or somebody who’s held 900 ceremonies or whatnot-
Just somebody who’s a peer and who can hear you out and be there with you and acknowledge you, it goes a really long way. Goes a really long way. What else would you share as we wrap up this episode here?
Nick: Well, for anyone that listened to the Spiritual Emergence versus Emergency episode, this is the antidote. Support is the antidote to the feeling like you’re losing grasp on reality and not sure who you are anymore and not sure what your place is in society.
Community is the antidote to that. Intentional support that can hold you through that process is critical, and so I just want to draw that connection.
Jimmy: Yeah. It brings up what you were saying before about the traditional use of psychedelics as initiatory rite of passage and that community container where when the journeyer came back from that they weren’t expected to show up to work on Monday.
The community held them and gave them time and supported them and took care of their needs and slowly integrate them back into themselves and into society and all that.
We just don’t have that here. You may have a couple of vacation days. One of the unfortunate aspects of our society is that this stuff has to overlap.
Like you do have to go back and likely continue on with your normal responsibilities and tasks and daily things and that makes community all the more important, knowing that it all kind of has to happen at the same time.
Thanks for listening to us. That wraps up this episode here. It was really great to just spit out our thoughts about all things community and psychedelics. So, you can download episodes of the Psychedelic Passage podcast.
Look for our episodes anywhere you get podcasts by searching Psychedelic Passage. That could be Apple Podcast, Amazon, Spotify, IHeartRadio, and anywhere else. And look forward to connecting with you all next week.
Explore How it Feels to be Connected
Feeling connected to something greater is something we yearn for in life, and often sense during psychedelic healing sessions. While it may feel fleeting or hard to pin down, communities are out there, waiting to welcome newcomers with open arms.
At Psychedelic Passage, we’re no different. Part of our mission is spreading resources as far as they’ll go, to reach anyone who needs support.
If you are looking for support or are ready to embark on a therapeutic psychedelic journey, we empower you to book a consultation with us. Our network of pre-vetted psychedelic professionals has been built to serve your individual needs.
Interested in doing a little more independent research? By all means! Our resources page has plenty of educational articles and podcasts to support you on your psychedelic journey. As always, stay safe, be mindful, and radiate love.
