6 Ways to Integrate Your Psychedelic Experience
So you’ve just come back from a psychedelic journey. Now what?
The healing potential of psychedelic medicines is not limited to the hours you spend in an altered state of consciousness. Much of the inner transformation takes place after you have returned from the journey. This period of integration unfolds in the subsequent days, weeks, months, and even years.
The integration process invites you to be an active participant in your healing.
Integration looks and feels different for each person. No one-size-fits-all formula exists. Various factors are at play: the psychedelic medicine(s) that you are engaging with, the context in which your experiences are happening, and your intentions and needs during this season of your life.
These are general tips that you may find useful as you land, process, and integrate.
In the hours & days after a psychedelic journey…
#1: Document your experience.
Jot down key takeaways — what you noticed and learned, what confused or intrigued you. Don’t worry about making sense of it all. Just get it down on paper, ideally within 24 hours of returning to ordinary waking consciousness.
If you don’t like writing, create an audio recording on your phone.
In the following weeks and months, you may choose to visit your initial documentation of the experience. The second time around, you might find yourself connecting the dots in a new way. A vision that made no sense at first may yield a deeper hidden meaning. As your integration unfolds, you’ll thank yourself for recording the key elements of the journey while it was still fresh in your mind.
#2: Rest.
Your mind goes through a lot when you consume a psychedelic medicine. Here is a depiction of the brain activity of an individual who has taken a placebo (left), compared to a brain on psilocybin (right):
No wonder it’s called a journey — you’ve just run a marathon through your own consciousness! You may feel more tired than usual after a psychedelic experience.
Give yourself time, space, and permission to rest. This might mean switching your phone to Do Not Disturb mode, sleeping in, taking naps, lounging around in comfy clothes, or pausing your to-do list for a few days so that you can just be. Rest is an essential part of integration. Emotional, energetic, and mental processing is happening during those quiet, still moments.
In the weeks & months after a psychedelic journey…
#3: Listen to music from your journey.
Many psychedelic medicine sessions are accompanied by a thoughtfully designed playlist. In ceremonial contexts, there may be icaros, chants, drumming, and other forms of sound healing.
During your journey, certain soundscapes may evoke states of self-connection, curiosity, awe, transcendence, joy, or compassion. Afterward, you might set aside intentional time to listen to these songs, or music of the same genre, again. This allows you to reconnect with the medicine and plug back into that resourced state of consciousness.
As the sound waves travel through your ears, you might notice yourself taking deeper breaths, feeling more expansive and curious, or releasing stuck emotions from the body. Through the practice of intentional listening, you get to continue exploring and integrating potent aspects of your psychedelic experience.
NOTE: It’s advised that you engage in this practice only if the music from your journey evokes positive or neutral states in your brain and body. If listening to the music causes distress or overwhelm beyond your ability to cope, this practice is not a good fit for you.
#4: Find a creative outlet.
You may struggle to find words that adequately describe all the sights, sounds, and sensations of your journey. As you integrate, it might make sense for you to process the experience through a medium that, like the journey itself, transcends human language.
Find a creative medium that speaks to you. Maybe you want to channel the images from your journey into a sketch or painting. Perhaps you like to dance out your feelings, or make music about them. For many, the experience of being in nature is a profound creative outlet. Look for whatever gets you out of your thinking mind and into a state of curiosity and flow.
Once you set aside verbal language for a bit, the intuitive, creative, and emotional parts of the brain come online. Powerful processing may unfold in your mind and body.
#5: Do your homework.
A psychedelic experience – be it with ketamine, cannabis, psilocybin, MDMA, or another medicine – can evoke insights and revelations that would otherwise take months, if not years, of traditional talk therapy. This doesn’t mean that a psilocybin mushroom is equivalent to a magic enlightenment pill, though. It’s important to apply the medicine’s teachings to your life. In other words, do your homework.
Each person’s “homework assignment” is unique to their life situation. For example, the medicine may help you become aware of unhealthy patterns in your personal relationships. Your post-journey homework might involve:
allowing yourself to feel your feelings
acknowledging your needs
making different and healthier choices in certain areas of life
learning communication skills
setting healthy boundaries
having honest and restorative conversations with yourself and others
There is no “due date” for integration homework. You move through the process at the pace that works for you.
#6: Connect with a psychedelic integration therapist.
You don’t have to do this work alone. If you’re not sure how to tackle the pile of “integration homework” that the medicine has handed you, you might benefit from another layer of support.
Psychedelic integration therapy provides a welcoming and non-judgmental space to:
unpack what the journey means to you
transform insights into action
process emotions and memories that feel like too much for you to hold alone
continue your healing process in a gentle and safe way, through brain-body modalities such as EMDR therapy
The experience of having your story witnessed by a supportive presence can be healing in and of itself. A therapist who specializes in psychedelic integration and trauma recovery is well-equipped to guide you through the challenging parts of medicine work.
The psychedelic healing process – from preparation to journeying to integration – is never all rainbows and sunshine. Some phases of the process may feel messy, disorienting, and difficult to move through, as if you’re wandering through a cave without a flashlight. During these times, therapy may be a valuable support for you — shining light through the darkness, illuminating your path back home.
If you’re seeking skillful and compassionate support on your path of psychedelic integration, let’s connect.
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Please note that I do not provide medical advice. I do not promote the use of psychedelics in illegal contexts or harmful situations.
About the Author
I’m Liz Zhou, a holistic trauma therapist (MA, LPCC, she/her). My work integrates teachings from psychology, neurobiology, multicultural awareness, and spirituality. I provide compassionate therapy for highly sensitive people across Colorado.
