Piaseski said:
i'm very lucky to know people who do this for a living so i'm going to be sitting as their second (i'll be providing the medecine) and learning.
Although my only experience is with the medecines and no healing expertise...so that's something to add to my skills before i can truly practice with people who aren't friends/initiated.
Wow, that's amazing. I work with a lot of counselors and therapists, but nothing related to psychedelics. It would really be an honor to be involved in something like what you have going on.
Piaseski said:I highly reccomend reading Getting Higher by Julian Vayne - quite short book but covers some interesting techniques and insights. He's also very modern and flexible in his views.
It's on it's way! Thanks.
Quote:
Piaseski said:For me i find live music to be very important, even if not skilled musicians (obv. Preferable) some simple drum and voice work goes a long way - pick some icaros and old medecine songs that vibe with you and practice them a bit.
So... I've thought about this. I don't know a whole lot about this kind of music though. I've been to shaman for personal reasons who do this and I agree with you. I just made a cigar box drum for this last night... maybe I'll test some of it out.
Quote:
Piaseski said:I take the view that we're facilitating inner work with outer placebos/tricks/guiding tools (whatever you want to call it) combined with the substances, so play to your strengths - if you speak well, formulate some stories or poems, word games, rhymes.
If music, make songs that speak to the truth you want to help them to find.
Drawing, painting, sculpting as a shared activity/goal could be useful.
Obviously the space plays a huge role, so consider how you can use what you have or find somewhere magical.
Are you doing the work in a shamanic/ceremonial way (consuming yourself, group work etc), or in a therapist/sitter sense?
There's so much to guiding a journey, i think the most important thing is doing it in a way that is honest to your own strengths and understandings.
I generally agree with the inner work being done mostly by the person/medicine itself. I am not taking the role of shaman, and unlikely to ever call myself by that name for cultural reasons (I'm as white as white comes), but I've debated on consuming along with folks. I don't think it would do me much good though as the rate that I do this work I'd get no effect.
I generally try to guide/sit for people by setting their expectations, using forms to have them bring forth their main issues they want to work on, then administer medicine (I like to have them cut up the mushrooms for tea and have them say little prayers over the fruits beforehand), then do reintegration afterwards.
I've had a few professionals (therapists) look over my "intake form" that I use to make sure that I've covered all my basis. I tend to go over this form with the client before the session and just ask them to expand on their issues. This usually puts them in a space to work on those issues in the trip. I also have some eye covers that I bring for folks to use to just lay there and go into closed eye visuals only with music playing.
Quote:
Phenotype said:
This guy has developed several good playlists for psychedelic-assisted therapy sessions: http://mendelkaelen.com/experience.html
Yes he has! OMG Thank you!
feevers said:
I'm a trained psychotherapist and huge proponent of psychedelics, but the only real benefits I see to "professional" psychedelic therapy is providing a sitter and access to the substances.
Transference is already one of the biggest influences to psychotherapy outcomes, add in something that makes someone extremely suggestible (psychedelics) and it's murky territory.
I like to think of the psychedelic itself as the therapist. It keeps its mouth shut mostly and often does a hell of a job nudging you towards where the problems are.
I could certainly see the use of something like a "Psychedelic Trauma" specialty in therapy though. "Bad" trips happen and are often some of the most beneficial, so having someone guide you out of one may not be as ideal as it seems. Having someone to go to if there are lasting negative effects would be nice though.
Yeah, I try to be very cognizant of these things as best I can. I do not pretend to be a therapist. I call it "Psilocybin Therapy" and try to ensure that the people know that I am not here to be a therapist, but a faciliator for the "therapist."
I feel like people are putting a lot of faith in me, and I for sure don't want to be meddling around in their heads. I make sure to inform people this is not my aim, and that they'll be doing the majority of the work themselves.
So far I have had one person to have a "bad" trip. And boy was it bad! I just kept telling myself "My job right now is to act calm, and ensure that they know this is normal and they're fine." I spent the first half hour after leaving crying though. It was super tough. I was talking with a therapist about this recently and they said "You really want to ensure that you have the capacity to hold [potentially] a lot of other people's pain, and know how that will effect you."
I feel decent about that part, but was kinda not expecting it. Don't know why I thought I could provide a service that would be trauma-free, but I didn't take it fully into account. I do a couple different training for professionals about self-care, trauma informed care, and harm reduction... but it's pretty different when you're feeling/seeing it day in and day out.
Anyways, that bad trip I did my 24 hour follow-up with them and they were so thankful for the experience and how much it helped them. I was kinda shocked at the change of mood, especially since I left them in a state of "OK at best" when I had to go to a different appointment.
tyrannicalrex said:
I've been called an "urban shaman" by a friend before.
Yeah, same. It's kinda nice to know that people think of me this way. I sort of fell into this (or was called to it by something larger, who knows), so its good to get feedback like this where people recognize the hard work you put into this.
tyrannicalrex said:
Maybe try processing what you have learned so far before going deeper. I don't really know you. I do know that to err on the side of caution is better than "freak out". I myself have never gone past 5-6g and I've only done that twice in my 40 years of doing psychedelics on and off. I've read too many negative stories on erowid and seen a few people have a bad time resulting in ambulances and police to say just obliterate your ID. I think you can add a gram or 2 within an hour or 2 and still get them to work, but then the peak will last longer and if it hits and you don't want that strong of a trip it will just keep coming, unless one has a xanax or etizolam etc...
Totally agree with this. I've found that keeping a journal to be super helpful when doing this work alone. I like to set up a journal where I will write down the questions I want to ask myself during session, and try my damndest to write down thoughts and answers while in the journey.
As for the xanax, be careful! I've heard many cases of fentanyl found in street/illigit xanax. Get a kit and test that shit.
I've also thought how it would be beneficial to carry drugs to counter the effects some, but all I have/bring is pot. I find that pot can help people, but only if they're familar with the drug, and people who don't smoke often may not be a good candidate.
|
Threaded
Previous
Index
Next
Spores for European Microscopy 
Mono Tub Substrate 
North Spore Mushroom Grow Kits & Cultivation Supplies
Some of these posts are very old and might contain outdated information. You may wish to search for newer posts instead.
ShaperDreaming 
Phenotype 
Edit 
Reply 
1 2 all )
Apollyphelion
danlennon3
the_Landotter
LacunalSense
Legalizeshrooms
MOTH