Psychedelic Studies Intensive
with Zach Leary

Week Two – Client types, intakes and assessments

 

Working with a wide variety of clients is a good thing but it’s important to understand the various reasons why someone might want to undergo psychedelic therapy. Here we look at the common types of disorders that has seen successful treatment with the use of psychedelic compounds. We also explore in detail how a client assessment should work and the subsequent intake.

 

Week Three – Psychedelic compounds – various types, their histories and dosage protocols

 

For thousands of years, mankind has used a myriad of psychedelic plants and medicines. Being an effective guide means that you should be intimately aware of the medicines histories, indigenous culture use, modern cultural applications, the modern psychedelic research revolution and how best to work with them. This includes dosage protocols, contra-indicators, the importance of psychedelic compound purity and so much more.

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Week Four – Understanding the science – explorations in psychedelics effects on the brain, our neurochemistry and physiology

 

The past 20 years has gifted us with a near endless wellspring of revolutionary studies into how psychedelics treat certain disorders and work on the brains neurochemistry. In this module we explore many of the important studies including those from Imperial College of London, Johns Hopkins and others.

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Week Five – Client sessions – creating a blueprint, tips for holding space and infusing ritual and spirituality

 

I firmly believe that there is no one way to conduct a guided psychedelic journey and that the over standardization of the practice is detrimental to the future of psychedelics. Yes, there are agreed upon standards and practices for working with clients but there is no generic blueprint that every seeker should undergo. Exploring different client needs, desires and intentions combined with infusing your personal authenticity is worthy of much discussion. Additionally, holding space and infusing mystical ceremony is discussed here.

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Week Six – Part 1: Challenging Trips, what to do and not to do. Part 2 – Successful Trips and how to make sense of them

 

“Bad trips” are a thing of the past. Even when psychedelic journeys show us challenging parts of our psyche it is important to recognize why they are being shown to us and what to do with that information.

On the flip side, revelatory psychedelic visions can come in so many forms. Some of them may certainly stay true to your intentions while others appear as an abstract gift from both your subconscious and spirit. Knowing how to make sense of them so that they can be applicable to your everyday life is an essential skill set for an effective guide.

Week Seven – Role playing, guide and seeker exchanges and mock sessions

 

Here we take the past six weeks worth of knowledge and put it into preliminary practice by conducting mock client/guide sessions. As a student, you will find yourself in both roles – conjuring up the possibilities of what might happen and how best to deal with them in that moment.

 

Week Eight – Integration – Set, Setting and Sustainability methodology and why integration may be the most important element in psychedelic healing

 

After a journey is over, the worst thing we can do is to set the client on their way and hope for the best. It is essential that we change the focus that implies the journey itself is the only important part of the psychedelic experience by making sure an integration methodology is applied. This ensures the end-user that their psychedelic experience can be as long lasting as possible in turn reducing the harmful effects of having to “come up” and “come down.”

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