What is psilocybin?

Psilocybin is the active ingredient in “magic mushrooms”. These are naturally occurring mushrooms that are cultivated for their psychedelic effect.

Why do people take magic mushrooms?

The mental health benefits are becoming clear in a growing body of research: significant and lasting relief from depression. Other psychiatric issues are being studied, but the benefit to depression lasts many months or perhaps even permanently.

How many times do you need to take psilocybin?

Published research indicates that we have it only appears to take one or two sessions with psilocybin to achieve lasting benefit. This is quite unlike the current conventional use of anti- depressants that requires daily dosing. Individuals may decide to take more than one or two doses, but we recommend that you wait four to six weeks between sessions to assess the impact and support integrating the insights and changes into your life.

How long do these sessions last?

This depends on two things-the amount ingested and a person’s sensitivity to the mushrooms. In general, the time frame for a session is typically four to six hours. A small dose might only last three hours and a massive dose might last eight hours. Your therapist is scheduled to remain with you up to 6 hours. If you wish to do a larger dose please inquire about scheduling for a longer session.

How do you select a dose?

At Wholeness Center we believe that everyone who wants to deeply journey with psilocybin to benefit a psychiatric issue should be cleared by a prescriber (psychiatrist or psychiatric nurse practitioner) before they journey. We do this to assess the interactions with medications and provide some oversight to this process. As part of this the provider will share educational materials from our aligned non-profit (Caregivers for Psychedelic Responsibility) about dosing and answer questions. The individual will then select the depth of the journey they would like and the dose they prefer. If needed a booster dose may be requested in the first two hours of the journey, if the intensity is less than desired.

What things make a person less sensitive to psilocybin?

People vary in their sensitivity to psilocybin. Certain psychiatric drugs, especially anti- depressants that affect serotonin reduce sensitivity to psilocybin. In the research studies people are weaned off these medications to improve their response to psilocybin. Please do not taper without medical or psychiatric supervision. Other chronically used medications like benzodiazepines (Xanax, Valium, Klonopin, etc.) and anti-psychotics (Zyprexa, Abilify, Risperdal, etc.) may also reduce the potency of psilocybin. Heavy use of cannabis blunts the potency of psilocybin. In these cases, the response to a dose of psilocybin is much less predictable and reliable.

What do I need to do to prepare for a session?

Meet with your therapist who will help to prepare you for this session. They want to build trust and a sense of safety. They do this by getting to know you, your history and building rapport and clear communication between the two of you. In certain circumstances your therapist may recommend a second therapist be present for the medicine session to support you more effectively. You should also begin to reflect on your life history, important events and the daily challenges that you face in your life. Keeping a journal is often very helpful, particularly after the session to reflect and record your insights. For a few days before the session we recommend that you avoid alcohol, cannabis and over the counter medications. These sessions often open us to deeper spiritual process and the more clarity that you possess, the more that you can bring back for processing. You should not eat on the day of the psilocybin session. Please limit your caffeine intake on the big day to the least amount that will not make you uncomfortable (i.e. do not stop for that day if it will give you a headache. If so, have a smaller amount then usual). Your prescriber will give you directions about your psychiatric medications. Do not taper these on you own. Finally, spend some time contemplating what you would like to gain from this inner work. These intentions must be held lightly as the psilocybin will take you to where you need to go, not necessarily where you want to go.

What should I bring for my psilocybin day?

We recommend loose fitting comfortable clothes. You can bring any items that carry deep meaning, photos of loved ones and any specific snacks that you might want at the end of day. Flowers are a nice touch too.

What about music?

Music is a central facet of the session with psilocybin. The music serves to free your attention and deepen the inner journey. Your provider will select a playlist for you unless you wish to create your own playlist. This involves working in Spotify (the platform that we work with at Wholeness) to craft a six-hour long playlist. You can also search playlists on Spotify using the search term Psilocybin and you will find a large number of playlists to sample and explore. We recommend that you avoid music that has English lyrics as these tend to direct your experience. We also recommend that you avoid music that you are overly familiar with as this will tend to possess memories that may also be too distracting for you. Music can be from a wide range of genres such as Ambient, New Age, Jazz, World Music, Classical, Electronic, etc. We find that playlists that contain a wide range of styles, tempos and atmospheres work best to support your experience. Talk with your therapist if you have specific preferences or questions around your music.

Why do you use eyeshades?

Eyeshades are used to bring the experience inside. Psychedelic experiences are often more externally focused with your eyes open. You naturally focus on the world around you. While this may be very interesting and unique, it misses the opportunity to go inside your inner world and explore. The psychedelic method employs music and eyeshades to carry you deeper inside and heightens the power of this work. You may take the eyeshades off periodically, but we encourage you to try eyeshades with your psilocybin journey.

I am scared about this session, what can I expect?

It is completely natural to be worried, excited and even scared about your upcoming session. Your body possess an innate capacity to heal itself. Recall what happens if you cut your finger with knife. It hurts, it bleeds, but it slowly heals and repairs itself over a week or two. This power to heal is something that everyone is born with. It not only occurs on a physical level but also on mental, emotional and spiritual levels. Psychedelics carry power for us as they typically remove barriers to healing. Just as a surgeon may be needed if a foreign object creates a barrier for an injury to heal. The surgeon removes the foreign object and the wound heals. The surgeon doesn’t heal the wound. She only removes a barrier so the body can heal itself. Psychedelics remove barriers to healing. It may be uncomfortable and even difficult. This is why you have a therapist in the room with you for your journey. We have found that while many journeys have difficult moments, they also tend to possess moments of great beauty, gratitude and joy. Expect a rich and varied experience that you will appreciate as an important step in your healing process. In a landmark psilocybin study 83% of study participants rated this experience as a Top 5 event in their life (along with events like marriage, birth of a child and the death of a parent). The bottom line is that the response rates to psilocybin therapy tend to be very positive, even if there are challenging moments. Your mind has the capacity to heal and we are there to support your healing and provide reassurance and comfort.