Preparing for & integrating psychedelic experiences Beyond IFS

How to increase your chances of having safe & fruitful transformative experiences

Going Beyond IFS

This post is a taste of a new initiative we are bringing to the IFS Collective called Beyond IFS. Why go beyond IFS you might ask? We want to bring you more content and resources about more things that inspire us and that we find useful beyond IFS. Our Beyond IFS content and resources will explore and share about adjacent practices and tools that might supplement your IFS work, your meditation practice or just expand how you relate to the world.

In Beyond IFS we will also explore how IFS can inform other practices, and vice versa. This is already done by most well-established IFS practitioners, whether Bob Falconer with his incorporation of shamanism, Joanne Twombly bringing hypnotic language and coping skills, or IFIO (Intimacy from the Inside Out by Toni Herbine Blank) incorporating the Imago couple therapy work. We hope you enjoy us going Beyond IFS to support you!

Table of contents:

1. Intro: beyond IFS

2. Preparation

3. During

4. Integration

5. Disclaimers

The first piece in the Beyond IFS series is about preparing for & integrating psychedelic experiences.

Disclaimer: NONE of is this is legal or safe (more at the bottom of the post)

We do NOT recommend, suggest you to purchase, distribute, or use MDMA or other empathogens or psychedelic substances. If you do, reading this is a way to minimise risks and maximise the chance of good things happening.

Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

Why prepare?

If you are thinking about or planning on having a solo or group psychedelic experience (whether guided or not), we strongly recommend that you make your decision about that with as much information & preparation as possible. This guide aims to help you to do just that. Note that although doing the preparation and the informed decision making does increase the chances that the experience resulting in what you hope it to be and being useful, there are no guarantees or easy ways that an experience like that will improve your mental health and wellbeing. With psychedelics, as with coaching or therapy, doing it without actually showing up to do the work yourself can lead to not only disappointment but also addiction (some people keep doing psychedelics without integrating, and keep trying to press the magic button of healing or to reach bliss without addressing what is going on inside of them or in their life (e.g. let me take MDMA to open my heart more AND not resolve my staying in a toxic relationship)). As coaching & therapy can expose us to new information, psychedelics have a significantly higher risk of over-exposing anyone to more than they may be able to handle psychologically which is why making informed decisions, preparing and integrating are so important.

Preparation guidance

1. Basic preparation

• Test your substances if you’re unsure about your their source.

• Research the dosages, the risks, the potential benefits of whatever you are curious to or decided to take. Psychonautwiki can be a good place to start.

  • With some substances, it can be helpful to take supplements to support your system. Again, research those. 

• Read accounts of what other people have experienced with whatever substance you are planning to use. Note that this can be very informative while also potentially scripting/ influencing your experience, creating additional expectations or fears. You can find many accounts on Erowid etc. 

2. Set 

Set is what you bring into your experience from the inside - think mindset. 

Some of our suggestions for preparing yourself and your parts for a psychedelic journey include:

• Check with your parts if any of them are a no to you (and them) taking a substance. If they are, take time to listen to their concerns and see what they might need to feel safe in the experience. Know that if you don’t, you’re seriously asking for backlash and potentially having to do more work in the long run than you may be starting with. 

  • Consider checking for parts that may be pushing to take a substance. What are their needs and intentions? What do they need to allow you to make the choice instead of them doing it?

  • It may help checking resources, and letting all parts know how long the experience is expected to be. You can check if they could be OK trying this, knowing you will probably be back to normal the next day.

• Set clear and positive intentions for your journey. You can start doing this by journaling and setting 1-3 clear intentions that may focus on working with specific parts or areas of your life to which you may want to bring more self energy. 

  • More than 3 intentions can be a bit much. On the other hand, one of us likes to approach experiences with a laundry list of topics, and let them sort themselves out, eg: “out of 20, these 3 felt meaningful”. Not recommended but a possibility.

• Try to step away from consuming social and other media for 1-2 weeks before the experience to let your system be more spacious and not spend your experience infused by content that just isn’t yours.

  • At the very least, consider a positive media diet. Are there books or poems that you think could support you in the preparation period? 

• Consider using the MAPS Integration Workbook (we will probably create and share our own at some point soon in the future!)

3. Setting

This is about the place in space and time where we will be. On short: make sure it safe, not interrupted, and appropriate.

• Pay attention to timings. We recommend starting as early as possible - substances tend to keep our system less able to sleep for several hours after ingestion. Starting and finishing (if you’re re-dosing) as early as possible sets you up for better chances of doing better integration and/ or just enjoying the afterglow the next day(s) more. 

  • If you plan to re-dose, consider setting up an agreement with yourself about how many re-doses you want to have and at what time you stop ingesting the substance. Consider that when in an altered state your sense of decision making may get hijacked by parts wanting more to keep feeling the bliss, or, to get to the bliss spot or some other sense of resolution (neither of which are guaranteed outcomes of you taking more). 

  • Good sleep after a journey helps to minimise the chance of discomfort: sleep deprivation is hard on our systems by itself.

• Set up a comfortable and safe physical space for yourself. This will be helpful to show your parts that at least for the duration of the experience they are physically safe. Things like blankets, pillows, favourite cuddly toys can be supportive. 

  • Consider how are you getting home later if you will not be at home (especially if still in an altered state)

• Consider setting up an altar. An altar can be made up of objects that you find meaningful and or beautiful - think souvenirs, photos, nature bits (e.g. stones or feathers or seeds or a plant), jewellery. An altar can be a great reminder of your intentions, of what and or whom you care about or are cared for

  • If your parts cringe at “sacred” terms: set up a space with meaningful objects, reminders, or just something that you enjoy looking at. 

• Bring a journal (or at least paper) and if it calls you, art / craft materials. These can be helpful to remind you of your (pre-written if you did that) intentions and to jot down things as they emerge during the experience (more about that later).

  • You may enjoy using a phone to record voice notes, or maybe leave the phone to audio record the journey. But see below re trying to minimise phone use.

• Altered states can enhance our senses so prepare to indulge or soothe your senses

  • Make/ pick a playlist. We recommend ambient, soft and uplifting soundscapes to accompany you (e.g. the Jon Hopkins “Music for Psychedelic Therapy”)

  • Have pleasant lighting available

  • Consider having an eye mask and ear plugs

• Keep your phone off or in airplane mode, ideally not within your journey setting environment

• Unless you are very experienced, we recommend that you do not journey at a moderate to high dose without a coach, therapist or sober friend nearby who can provide a supportive, grounded presence. If (and only if) you are an experienced tripper and you decide to go solo, let a person you trust know in case you want or need any support during or after your experience. Whether with someone or not, you may wish to have a note with some support lines in case you need that (e.g. in the US timezone, Fireside provides such a service)

Other prep considerations

Prepping for a shared psychedelic experience

• Know that when you take substances you may feel more connected to or in love with anyone; this can be either a gift, or let you making choices that you could regret after the experience. Aim to talk about boundaries before taking a substance and hold an intention to not change the boundaries agreed beforehand during the experience or without taking some measures to really check if this is OK (meditate for some minutes/ have timeout / have a tea to think about it.

  • One of us strongly recommends against strong changes of plans mid flight. If you feel you changed your mind, consider landing first, reconsidering, and keeping that in mind for next experience.

• We do not recommend using this before the beginning of a reciprocal relationship. The hormones of “falling in love” are already strong enough drugs without making them stronger. Wait a little bit. At least a few months. Possibly 6 to 12, if you can.

During

Depending on the substance and your state, find a way to re-visit your intentions during or after the experience. It can be easy to get distracted (which can also be a trailhead). Here are a few activities you may consider useful and or enjoy during a psychedelic experience:

• Revisit your intentions while also allowing the experience to unfold 

  • A question that can be useful is “is there anything I should know or that I am not seeing right now?”

• Check for what parts are present and or invite any that you would like to get to know / bring self-energy to

• Write a letter to yourself. Is there a message you can send to the future-you to help them remember and integrate what you are learning or experiencing in the trip?

• Journal and or draw your experience. This can mean noting your insights or drawing the symbols or visuals you see to reflect on them later when you integrate the experience.

  • Alternatively, leave a voice note. Be careful with device usage, though

• Try moving your body mindfully - e.g. dance or yoga or simply being silly can go a long way. Our bodies can sometimes learn a lot when we move them in altered states of consciousness. 

  • One of us really improved their handstands and juggling and yoga during these experimentations

  • Be careful, though: the body still has the same limitations. The same one of us also incurred injuries that persisted MUCH longer than the experience.

• Take some time to allow your body and system to lie down and relax. Sometimes sitting up or moving can create tension that can obstruct some part of the process. What sensations in or around your body do you find yourself curious about?

• Try not to use your phone or devices during the experience

  • Make a point to wait before messaging people, if you have a phone around. Write a message down. Draft it. Wait to send until you can read what you wrote once you’re sober.

  • Above all, do not start using your phone or devices, unless you are really experienced

Integration post experience

Giving yourself time and space to integrate a psychedelic experience can be as important as prepping for it. As mentioned before, if we don’t integrate or build on our experience, we run the risk of diminishing our parts’ trust that we will tend to them or show up to carry on with our intentions when sober. This can lead to backlash and/or parts seeking more psychedelic experiences if that’s the only time they get heard or cared for. 

Integration guidance

Psychedelic, transformative, and special experiences (including meditation retreats, festivals, even holidays or hikes in nature at times) can lead to what is commonly known as a comedown. Our current understanding is that with most psychedelics, including MDMA, this is NOT necessarily happening at the "chemical/neuronal level". There is a decent amount of recent research supporting this (Andrew Huberman’s podcast episode about this is a good resource to start with, with lots of links to the current research). What we understand is: if it was neurons and chemicals, the blues would happen right away, not 2-3 days later. Give yourself the time and the space and the care to be present as you and your parts transition back to the “default” world and living and mental state. A period of rest after the experience may be the most compassionate gift you can provide to your system.

On the other hand: play on the safe side. We all have just one brain (and probably just this one life), and possibly all the neurons we are ever going to have: do not go overboard, try not to leave permanent damage. We are just saying that it is possible you do not NEED to have a comedown, the blues, a hangover, apart from some level of tiredness and openness to the world the next few days.

Also: good sleep maximises the chances of NOT having a comedown. Yes, we will keep on repeating it. Sleep is an amazing medicine.

While journeying you may get insight, realisations and clarity about yourself and your life. This can be right and feel great and it may lead parts of you that have been stuck to want to take action asap to follow the momentum. This can mean things like quitting a job, leaving a relationship, shaving your head, getting a tattoo, you name it. Making decisions is great; we also strongly recommend that you allow between 2-6 weeks before you take action on your newly found clarity about what might be right for you. If it’s right, it will still be right 2-6 weeks later and those weeks can give you and your parts the time and space to really prepare for the action you take in the most graceful and effective way. 

• On another hand, if you feel ready to act on something that you have been wanting for a long time or that is clearly a lifestyle improvement (e.g. quitting smoking, or starting to exercise), go ahead and give you and your parts the space to experiment with those changes, ideally gently. Use the momentum of “this is new”. You may want to give yourself a couple of weeks to try something like that and then re-asses. Lifestyle changes take time and persistence to implement. How can you try and explore them in the most sustainable and gradual way?

• Above all: avoid permanent decisions for 2-6 weeks. Wait a bit before writing that email to your boss, filing for divorce, gifting all of your belongings and going living in a cave, going for a pregnancy, that sort of stuff. If it the insight is real and the decision a good idea in 2-6 weeks, it has better chances to stay so for longer. 

Keep in mind that you are integrating an intense experience. It can have been revelatory, it can feel more real than real: and yet, it was one experience. Is there a way you can integrate it into your day to day life? Do some reality testing.

• How do you integrate “we are all one” when paying your taxes or being at the supermarket?

• How do you integrate “time and space is a construct” when crossing the road?

In some mystical traditions, there is the idea of “different rules for different realms of existence”. Try things out and stay safe. In some strands of Buddhism, spiritual attainments (i.e. levels of enlightenment) have to stand some reality testing for one year and one day before being accepted.

Take time to reflect on the experience. Here are some questions and prompts you may enjoy using after a psychedelic experience (we will very probably publish more tools for reflection in the coming weeks):

• What did you learn in this experience?

• What parts of you did you connect to? What did you learn about them and what they need from you? What felt different or can be different with them in the future?

• How did your intentions shape your experience and what is it like to look back at them? What feels clearer now?

Also useful for integration

• Make space for mindfulness practices. Meditation, yoga, gentle walks, time in nature or any other practices you enjoy can all help to integrate. 

• Journal for the days and weeks following the experience

• Consider having an integration session with Alex or Pau

DISCLAIMERS & WARNINGS, aka what you probably should read especially if you are new to or hesitant about doing substances

Disclaimer: NONE of is this is legal or safe 

Neither this guide nor we recommend, suggest you to purchase, distribute, or use MDMA or other empathogens or psychedelic substances. 

The guide exists on the grounds that for those of you who already decided to use it, it’s better that you have extra information about how to do it safely, and, for those of you who are in the process of deciding, it’s good to get extra information to make an informed choice. 

We (nor anyone else) should or can promise you that taking any psychoactive/ psychedelic substance is safe, or that it will be productive, or healing, for you. 

Additional note regarding legality:

MDMA and other psychedelics are illegal practically everywhere. Others (empathogens and psychedelics) are instead in some sort of grey area, as “research chemicals” (you can check wikipedia to find out more). 

Please keep in mind that “not illegal” does NOT mean safe or safer: research chemicals tend to have little history of human use (and therefore little or none applied research/ studies or safety profiles), and should be considered a bit as a “are you feeling lucky?” territory.

Note that when when somewhat legal, they're generally sold as “strictly not for human consumption”.

Finally, If you have more questions or want to have some prep & integration support, consider booking a session with Alex or Pau.