How is Ketamine Different Than MDMA?

13 mins

MDMA has become a beacon of psychedelic medicine advancement recently, and for good reason. Largely due to the work of MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Science) pushing MDMA for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through clinical review trials, and it is currently moving through Phase 3 clinical trials with a “Breakthrough Therapy” designation from the FDA.

The early results and potential have many potential psychedelic therapy candidates asking what the difference is. Why might someone choose MDMA over ketamine for psychedelic medicine work? What are the subjective and biological differences between the experiences and the compounds?

This resource will explore the differences between Ketamine and MDMA when used in the context of psychedelic therapy and as psychedelic medicines.

Exploring MDMA

MDMA is known as “Molly” or “Ecstasy” in recreational circles, and “3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine” in the scientific and clinical communities. It was first synthesized in 1912 by Merck laboratories, and subsequently popularized and released by Sasha Shulgin, a legendary chemist, biologist, and early pioneer of MDMA and other psychedelic compounds. Before becoming a Schedule 1 substance, it was used therapeutically under the supervision of clinicians/therapists from the mid 1970’s-80’s.

MDMA is often included in the list of psychedelic therapy medicines, though it may be better described as an empathogen or entactogen. This means focused on emotions, feelings of empathy, and/or connection with self, others, and the world. This is because the subjective experience of MDMA differs in kind from the traditional definition of a psychedelic medicine, and does not include the hallmarks of a psychedelic/mystical experience.

MDMA comes with its own list of contraindications and considerations, as any psychedelic medicine does. There is ongoing research and study into the neurotoxicity of MDMA, though when working within clinical and therapeutic contexts, this does not seem to be a major concern. MDMA carries a body load, or physical sensations, and has implications for heart health, blood pressure, and resting heart rate when screening candidates.

The experience someone has with MDMA varies based on the set, setting, intentions, and dosing protocol that is used. MDMA has gained a reputation in the recreational party/rave scene, but as new science is showing, it also has profound potential when used to help individuals heal, turn inward, and cultivate new levels of self-love and respect.

As it stands at the time of this writing, MDMA is currently an illicit, illegal, and scheduled substance in most of the world. However, clinical trials are underway to prove the efficacy and potential of MDMA when combined with psychotherapy, particularly directed towards the treatment of PTSD.

MDMA Neurobiology

MDMA works primarily in the brain by acting on the serotonin system, activating these pathways and preventing the reuptake of serotonin. By increasing the levels of serotonin (and also norepinephrine) in the system, this leads to the subjective and hallmark experiences of MDMA: increase in energy, increase in empathy, mood elevation, and altered sensory experiences such as more vivid colours and sensitivity to physical touch.

It does have an impact on the 5HT2A receptor, which is classically used to define psychedelic compounds neurobiologically, however it is not the central activating force, and this is why the classification of MDMA as a classical psychedelic is commonly debated.

Some of the effects of MDMA include:

Euphoria: general well-being and positive affect
Increased empathy towards self and others
Relaxation and reduced anxiety
Enhanced sensation, perception, & sexuality
Mildly altered sense of time
Dampened fear/safety response

Some of the potential side-effects of MDMA include:

Dehydration
Hyperthermia
Increased wakefulness (potentially insomnia)
Increased heart rate/blood pressure
Loss of appetite
Erectile dysfunction
Mild (and rare) auditory or visual hallucinations

Where MDMA becomes such a strong psychotherapeutic agent is its ability to help quiet down the fear and safety mechanisms of the brain, such as lowered activity in the amygdala, the fear centre of the brain.

When used in combination with traditional psychotherapy, this effect allows clients to revisit past experiences, memories, or traumas that may normally be blocked from accessing or feeling. They’re then able to and revisit these experiences with more compassion, more openness, and more love for themselves and others involved. This revisiting of pain and trauma allows individual narratives to be rewritten, for clients to come to a more holistic framing of the event, and determine the healing steps to take forward from there.

From the neurobiological perspective, the differences between MDMA and Ketamine become more apparent and obvious. They are separate compounds with different mechanisms of action, and with different impacts on neurochemistry, ultimately leading to separate and distinct phenomenological experiences.

MDMA Phenomenology

MDMA as an empathogen and entactogen is often considered “heart-opening.” It commonly leads to embodied experiences centered around compassion and empathy for self, others, and the world.

The experience does not contain most of the hallmarks of a classic psychedelic experience, such as distortions of time and space, out of body experiences, novel insights or connections.

The experience follows a predictable time arc, with first sensations noticeable around 30-45 minutes after ingestion, and in the psychotherapeutic containers a “booster dose” is offered after an hour or so. The experience tends to last about 3.5 hours, with a calm “comedown” window of a few hours after that. Individuals tend to be present and available throughout the experience, complimented by the amphetamine component present within MDMA.

This combination of presence, energy, openness, and compassion is what makes the MDMA experience conducive to challenging psychotherapeutic work. The client and clinician are able to explore territory that may previously have been inaccessible due to fear, regressions, or an emotional inability to revisit, discuss, and explore those experiences or memories.

Many clients remain present and coherent throughout the experience, which when paired with a trained psychotherapist, create a calm, open space to discuss the individual’s life, and revisit and reframe historical experiences that may still be active in the individual at the moment.

The experiences often involve feelings of love, connection, and empathy, and sensory sensitivity to lights, sounds, smells, and touch.

Differences Between Ketamine & MDMA

There are a few core distinctions to make between MDMA and Ketamine in the context of psychedelic therapy. This is not a debate as to which medicine is better, but they are both uniquely suited to address specific conditions within appropriate treatment plans.

Some of the key distinctions include:

MDMA is a non-traditional psychedelic

Of course, the first is that MDMA does not include a classic psychedelic experience. There is value in the psychedelic experience, though it is not the only way healing occurs, oftentimes, the open-loving state produced by MDMA is sufficient to explore challenging or haunting memories/experiences and make considerable progress.

They act on different neurobiological mechanisms

MDMA, Ketamine, and other psychedelic medicines all have different neurobiological mechanisms of action. Ketamine largely addresses the Glutamate system, whereas MDMA works primarily on the Serotonin system.

MDMA is particularly effective for trauma/PTSD

As mentioned, MDMA appears to be uniquely well-equipped to help individuals, alongside a practicing therapist, to work through complex and deep-rooted PTSD. This is the medical and clinical application currently moving through Phase 3 clinical trials.

MDMA compliments traditional therapeutic modalities

Due to the length and accessibility of the experience, MDMA works well within traditional psychotherapeutic contexts. Unlike experiences with psilocybin or LSD, which can run anywhere from 6-12 hours in length, MDMA is more approachable, and indeed works better when combined with traditional talk therapy modalities. It can fit within standard working hours, and allows deeper progress to be made for both the individual and the clinician.

The discussion of distinctions between psychedelic medicines may seem trite or nuanced, but will increase in importance over time. Ketamine and MDMA are both powerful and healing medicines, and they come with their own lists of strengths, contraindications, and considerations.

Noticing these distinctions helps clinicians and clients maximize the healing process, and allows individuals to re-center themselves around their families, friends, and work that they love.

The Future of MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy

As mentioned, MAPS is currently spearheading clinical trials of MDMA for PTSD and is currently moving into Phase 3 trials —the final trial step before approval from the FDA to make MDMA therapy a legitimate and legal clinical treatment modality.

Given the ongoing support of the FDA (due to the “Breakthrough Therapy” designation), and the promising results from the previous Phase 1/2/3 trials, the landscape looks promising to have MDMA-assisted psychotherapy available for eligible clients by 2023.

This would be the second psychedelic medicine (after Ketamine) to be legally and clinically available to serve those in need. This in itself is exciting, and would mark a significant step forward in making psychedelic therapy available and accessible to those who need it.

An important point that Rick Doblin, founder of MAPS, points to is the fundamental importance of psychotherapy as the necessary and central part of this healing process. MDMA is used as a catalyst to open up in the individual, imbue a sense of trust and safety in themselves and with the therapist. But it is the psychotherapy that is the demonstrated driver of enduring positive change over time. An important clarification is that MDMA-assisted psychotherapy is going through clinical trials right now, rather than simply allowing individual dosing sessions of MDMA without additional support.

This is another beautiful potential for the future of psychedelic medicine and MDMA as a medicine overall: continued improvements, refinements, and new studies around the best dosing protocols, the right set & setting, and appropriate levels of ongoing integration and preparation support throughout the experience. Progress through research benefits the psychedelic medicine space, and the future of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy looks bright. MDMA is becoming a recognized medicine, along with bringing new information to the entire psychedelic therapy space at large.

Conclusion

As the field of psychedelic therapy grows, and the legality of psychedelic medicines increases, the discussion around which medicines are best suited to address which conditions and clients will become more pronounced and more nuanced.

What’s important is that individuals receive the right treatment at the right time. More of these medicines are moving through regulatory requirements, and doing what they do best —helping people heal.

MDMA is still a substance classified as illegal, but there is promise and hope that MDMA for PTSD will become a clinically-available treatment in the coming years, bringing hope and healing to those directly affected and in need of this medicine.

If you are considering psychedelic medicine and would like to get started, ketamine treatment is available, and you can determine your eligibility for treatment by taking our client intake survey.

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How is Ketamine Different from Psilocybin (a.k.a Magic Mushrooms)?

Psilocybin, or magic mushrooms as they’re more colloquially known, have been at the center of discussions on psychedelics since the first conversations happened. Psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, was one of the first classical psychedelics to be properly introduced to the West. This came after amateur mycologist R. Gordon Wasson’s visit to the curandera Maria Sabina in Mexico several decades ago.

The LIFE magazine article sparked conversation in many circles, with some individuals going off for their own experiences, and some starting to look into the West’s own historical and traditional use of psychedelic compounds.

In the clinical context, psilocybin has also made a name for itself through its efficacy in treating a host of conditions and ailments, as has been documented since psychedelic therapy studies first began. Psilocybin was used in the classic “Good Friday” experiment, the landmark smoking cessation study, and the mystical experience & psychedelics study. Psilocybin has a strong recreational, mystical, and clinical history behind it —and for good reason.

In this resource, we’re going to explore the subtle yet profound distinctions between ketamine and psilocybin, including the neurobiology of the compound and the phenomenological differences of the experiences.

Exploring Psilocybin

To begin, it’s worth noting that possession or use of psilocybin is currently illegal in most of the world.

As they are more commonly referred to, magic mushrooms are a Schedule 1 substance as classified by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), which means they are not formally recognized or approved for medical value, among other designations. Despite its DEA classification, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has designated psilocybin as a “Breakthrough Therapy,” an expedited approval process, which in the case of psilocybin is evaluating treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD) and treatment-resistant depression.

Psilocybin has become a central point in the discussions around psychedelic therapy and psychedelic medicine, largely due to its ability to systematically and reliably induce a psychedelic experience in an individual. Mushrooms do have some physiological benefits to them, but the true value of the experience for individuals seeking psychedelic therapy with psilocybin is the mental and emotional healing that it seems to accommodate.

The psilocybin experience itself is longer than other medicines like ketamine or other psychedelics like MDMA, generally lasting for about six to eight hours depending on the individual and the dosing protocol. Effects typically onset at about 45 minutes to one hour after ingestion, and booster doses are rarely used in practice.

A full psilocybin experience tends to include many of the classic hallmarks of a psychedelic experience. This includes distortions of time and space, out of body experience, an ineffable quality, noetic importance, and levels of visions, visuals, or hallucinations that accompany the subjective experience. In general, though not always, psilocybin experiences tend to focus on the natural world: the body, the environment, the people, and the planet. This is more pronounced than what is reported in a DMT (N,N-Dimethyltryptamine) or LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) experience, for example.

Psilocybin is often favored over other compounds like LSD in psychedelic therapy protocols due to the length of the experience. Whereas LSD experiences can be upwards of 10+ hours for the full experience, psilocybin/magic mushrooms tend to run about 6 hours for the complete experience. This accommodation helps the clinicians and researchers better accommodate and facilitate these experiences.

This is in juxtaposition to ketamine, where the experiences are often 60-90 minutes in length, with a rest and comedown period afterwards. While the ketamine experience does contain many similarities to the psychedelic experience, psilocybin experiences do not always provide the same level of dissociation as ketamine. This distinction can be important for the future if psilocybin becomes legally available to clients.

Psilocybin’s Effects in Comparison to Ketamine

As a classical psychedelic compound, psilocybin acts most directly on the 5HT2A serotonin receptor in the brain. This is largely responsible for the phenomenology of the experience, though there are other neurobiological mechanisms present in the psilocybin experience.

To a lesser extent, this includes increasing the presence of dopamine in the basal ganglia, while also inducing some region-dependent alterations in glutamate levels, which may contribution to the ego-dissolution experiences that are common with psilocybin and the psychedelic experience.

One of the core neurobiological correlates that happens with psilocybin is the dampening of the Default Mode Network (DMN). This also happens with ketamine. This is a significant neurobiological feature because the DMN generally creates the sense of self in the present moment. As activity here begins to quiet down, the subject-object distinction that most people live within begins to dissolve. A sense of merging with the world, or a more expansive sense of Self shines forth, and this brings in itself a level of healing and peace that is prominent in many client stories.

In some of the early psilocybin studies, participants rated the psilocybin psychedelic experience as one of the most important experiences in their entire lives, alongside their marriage, or the birth of a child.

Alongside the neurobiological effects, there are several physical effects that come from ingesting psilocybin:

Pupil dilation
Changes in heart rate (increase and/or decrease)
Changes in blood pressure (increase and/or decrease)
Nausea
Tremors
Increased energy levels

This presents many of the classic contraindications that would be present for individuals working with ketamine or other psychedelic medicines. A mental health screening, and a physical screening that include but are not limited to heart health and blood pressure are essential to ensure the safety of clients and efficacy of the experience.

One of the largest benefits to working with psilocybin are its low toxicity levels. Psilocybin’s LD-50 —the active dose that would be fatal to 50% of the population— is low compared to other compounds: 280 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg). Heroin, alcohol, marijuana, caffeine all have higher LD-50s. Psilocybin is matched in its low toxicity by LSD. It also has low possibilities for dependencies to form, despite the current Schedule 1 classification from the FDA.

With low dependency potential, and given the psychedelic experience’s ability to assist individuals working through addictive behavioral patterns, psilocybin seems positioned to be net-beneficial for individuals dealing with substance use disorders. Though more research will need to be conducted to demonstrate this.

Psilocybin Phenomenology

The phenomenology of the psilocybin experience aligns very closely with the hallmarks of a classical psychedelic experience. Indeed, it was through the use and study of psilocybin experiences that the original characteristics of a psychedelic experience were able to be distilled.

As everyone’s experience and healing process is unique, these may not apply to all individuals in all circumstances. Some broad categories or types of experiences are common in the psilocybin experience are:

Space/Time Distortion: The individual perception of space and time may distort or become unintelligible.
Ego Dissolution: A calming of the ego as the center of identity. A sense of merging with the environment.
Visions/Visuals: Geometric patterns, color gradients, or visual illustrations may occur while eyes are closed.
Entity Encounters: There can be a distinct experience of interacting with entities/beings that are not the individual.
Ineffable: It is extremely difficult to put in words and language what happened in the experience and why it was meaningful.
Noetic Quality: A sense of accessing a “more true” reality, or a world/knowledge that was previously inaccessible in regular waking consciousness.
Cognitive Distance: A sense of distance from the individual’s thoughts, identity, and body. Taking a 3rd-person perspective or getting a “view from above.”

The combination of these characteristics is what often generates the meaning and significance of the psilocybin/psychedelic experience. Clients have a direct, embodied experience of a new way of viewing themselves and the world. They may receive insights into personal patterns or traumas, and be able to reframe their life and tell themselves a new story moving forward.

This ability to rewrite narrative views of self, others, and the world is a profound potential present in all psychedelic therapy. When paired with trained clinicians and skilled practitioners individuals are able to make significant progress on their healing journey with the support of these compounds.

Important Differences Between Psilocybin and Ketamine

There are several distinctions that can be drawn between psilocybin and ketamine as psychedelic medicines. However, it’s worth noting that both are powerful in their own right.

Both have strong scientific and clinical evidence supporting them, and both compounds have countless client stories that demonstrate the healing and supportive power of these experiences.

When drawing distinctions between psilocybin and ketamine, there are a number of key differences.

Legality

Ketamine is a Schedule 3 substance as designated by the DEA and is available for on and off-label prescription. Psilocybin is currently Schedule 1, and is not available for prescription. However, there are studies moving through FDA clinical trials right now to make psilocybin a legal and accessible medicine.

Length of Experience

Psilocybin experiences can be significantly longer than ketamine experiences. Ketamine experiences tend to last around 90 minutes including a “landing” period as the medicine slowly dissipates, while Psilocybin tends to last several hours with a comedown period. This impacts accessibility for clients, and is a more significant undertaking for clinicians and facilitators who assist in the experience.

Mechanism of Action

There are neurobiological differences between the compounds and how they act. Psilocybin is largely active on the serotonin 5HT2 receptors, while Ketamine is most active in the glutamate system.

Matching Individual Needs

Depending on the condition and the individual, sometimes a more dissociative experience is needed, in contrast with a more mystical experience.

Ketamine has the distinction of providing a dissociative experience, whereas psilocybin does not as reliably induce this state. In the future if psilocybin becomes clinically available, matching the medicine to the individual’s needs will become more and more central in the discussions.

While there are several core distinctions to be made, at the time of this writing ketamine remains the only legal and accessible option for individuals seeking psychedelic therapy immediately.

There are several promising studies underway at various stages of the approval process for psilocybin, but this requires more time before it becomes clear what conditions psilocybin can be used for and whether it becomes a legal medicine.

Conclusion

There is hope that psilocybin can become a legal and available psychedelic medicine for individuals in the near future. Several studies addressing depression, eating disorders, smoking cessation, and other conditions have been conducted or are currently happening —and the early results have been promising.

There are several major institutions and organizations currently working on standardizing treatment care plans for psilocybin therapy, and the future looks bright for this medicine and treatment option.

Psychedelic therapy is gaining momentum, it is building legitimacy and proving its efficacy with each new client that works with it. The introduction of additional medicines like psilocybin, LSD, DMT, or MDMA can help expand the options available to clients while helping address the exact conditions and concerns each client has.

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Mindbloom’s Bloombox: Your Experience Toolkit

You’ve made the decision to move forward with your ketamine treatment and psychedelic therapy program here at Mindbloom. First of all, congratulations are in order! This is a big decision and a bold first step along your path towards healing and wholeness.

You’ve met with your clinician and are ready to kick things off. You may receive a notification from your Guide that your medicine and your “Bloombox” have been sent out for delivery and are on their way to you.

We’ll fill you in on what exactly a Bloombox is, and why you need one.

What is the Bloombox?

A Bloombox is your toolkit for everything you’ll need throughout your treatment program here with Mindbloom. Your medicine will arrive separately, but there will be a space in the Bloombox to place it in once it’s arrived.

Our team of psychedelic therapy experts have spent tons of time diving into the nuances of each product that is included in your Bloombox —each component serves a necessary and vital function towards the success of your experiences. You will walk through all of this with your Guide, but to get you started, we’ll cover everything included for you:

The Box

The Bloombox itself will hold everything you need in one convenient and elegant location. It is a physical symbol of the work you’re doing, and a home base for you to return to when preparing, running, and integrating your medicine sessions.

The Welcome Guide

You will receive your Bloombox before your first session, and your Welcome Guide will point you in the direction you need to go. It walks you through what’s included, the next steps, and advice from the team for you.

The Journal

Your journal is a powerful tool to use. It’s where you’ll write and keep your process and integration notes throughout your time with Mindbloom. You can record your intentions in it before a session, and take time to reflect and process the experiences as you have them.

Having everything in one journal is powerful, so that you can reflect on the progress you’ve made as you go through the treatment protocols.

The Blood Pressure Cuff

Safety is a core part of any good psychedelic therapy protocol, and the included blood pressure cuff helps ensure this for you.

Your Guide will ask for these readings before/after your initial session, and it’s a helpful tool to use before and after your subsequent sessions to keep everything in check. As everyone is unique, you can connect with your Guide on functionality, healthy reading ranges, and how this fits into your ongoing treatment sessions.

The Eye Mask

Your Mindbloom journey is about turning inwards, and your eye mask will help you do exactly that.

If you’re comfortable, we recommend using your eye masks during your dosing sessions to aid the process of turning your attention inwards. This helps prevent unwanted or unnecessary external stimuli from interrupting or interfering with the experience.

The Medicine Case

Your medicine will ship separately from our partner pharmacies, and the Bloombox will include a covered compartment for you to safely and securely store your medicine for future sessions. We currently offer six dosing sessions per program.

Overall, your Bloombox helps set the stage for your dosing sessions, and will give you everything you need to prepare your set and setting, and to be well equipped for safe, effective, and powerful sessions with the medicine.

Why Is the Bloombox Important?

As you may have seen from our other articles on preparing for your experiences — the (mind)set and setting you find yourself in for your dosing sessions heavily influence the nature of your experiences. They are important considerations regarding your safety, efficacy, and intensity of the medicine sessions.

We want to do everything in our power to assist with this process, and the Bloombox goes a long way to helping us achieve this end. Having the best tools of the trade available to you can help set you up for success, provide a feeling of safety and security, and help bring out the best of the medicine sessions and the integration periods that follow.

What If I Don’t Have One?

If for some reason you are approaching your first dosing sessions and do not yet have your Bloombox —or if you have your prescription medicine without the Bloombox— the best thing to do is to reach out to your Guide and inquire.

The Bloombox does contain one very critical component for your introductory sessions: the blood pressure cuff. Having these readings before and after your first dosing sessions is a requirement in order to be able to move forward with the first session, so we must ensure that you have a blood pressure cuff available.

If you have not received one, it’s outside of the expected shipping window on your shipping notice, or have any questions at all about your Bloombox, feel free to message your Guide and they will help you sort it out.

Do I Need it All the Time?

We would recommend using your Bloombox throughout the entirety of your treatment and programs with Mindbloom. All of these items have been included for a reason — they are assets to the psychedelic therapy process, and each session is just as important and has just as much potential as any other sessions.

You should approach each session with the same level of care and attention as you do the first one, and this includes using the tools available to you that are provided in the Bloombox.

Taking your blood pressure, using the eye mask, journaling your intentions and your experiences/learnings afterwards, all of these add up in small increments to create powerful healing experiences for you.

Conclusion

In closing, it’s worth revealing that your Bloombox also serves another, but just as important purpose for your psychedelic therapy program — it is a physical symbol, a beacon of that work you’re doing here.

Simply coming back to your Bloombox throughout this process can be powerful for you — a tangible marker of your commitment to your growth, your healing, and your overall well being.

It is courageous, and powerful work to show up for yourself in this way, and become the best and brightest version of yourself possible. Your Bloombox is a totem, a recognition of this work. It’s something you can come back to, use throughout, and have as an ally on this process and program.

If you have any questions about the Bloombox, how to use it, where it fits into the process, or any questions at all. reach out to our team or to your Guide. We’ll help you along your way.

Enjoy the beginning and the rest of your therapeutic journey here with Mindbloom!

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The Latest on Ketamine, Psilocybin, and MDMA FDA Approval (and Other Psychedelic Advancements)

How and why we engage with psychedelic compounds is quickly changing, thanks in large part to a plethora of ongoing medicinal research and shifts in policy. Compounds once known for their recreational use —such as psilocybin and MDMA— are being closely examined for their potential in various treatments related to mental health.

Here’s a summary of the latest news regarding research, trials, and advancement of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals for a number of psychedelic medicines.

Ketamine Research, Legislation, and Approval Tracks

Ketamine is currently being used off-label in clinics across the U.S. to help treat mental health conditions and chronic pain.

In 2019, ketamine derivative esketamine (Spravato) was approved by the FDA to be used as an intranasal spray for those with treatment-resistant depression. Since then, there have been more approved clinical trials to examine the efficacy of ketamine for a number of conditions.

Earlier this year, the administration approved PharmaTher, a clinical-stage psychedelics biotech company, in a Phase 2 clinical study with ketamine to treat Parkinson’s disease.

In early August, the same company was granted a special status known as “orphan drug designation,” to research ketamine treatment for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Additional ketamine research was published in the September/October issue of the Harvard Review of Psychiatry, including a study on ketamine’s impact on various cognitive processes. It found that the use of ketamine and esketamine had no adverse effect on memory, attention and other cognitive functions.

“Ketamine and esketamine do not seem to exert significant deleterious neurocognitive effects in the short or long term in individuals with treatment-resistant depression. Results suggest neuropsychological functions and brain areas commonly impaired in treatment-resistant depression may especially benefit from subanesthetic ketamine infusions,” the report concludes.

Psilocybin Research, Legislation, and Approval Tracks

Positive progress has been made in the U.S. related to medicinal applications of psilocybin, which is known colloquially as “magic mushrooms.”

Last year, Oregon became the first state to approve the legal use of psychedelic mushrooms in licensed facilities. Earlier this summer, Texas and Connecticut followed a similar path, legally approving research into how psilocybin can help people suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Toronto-based company Revive Therapeutics announced this month that it was entering into FDA clinical studies with psilocybin to test the drug’s impact on those with methamphetamine use disorder and stroke. It’s partnered with University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Medicine and Public Health and School of Pharmacy, which holds a Wisconsin special authorization and DEA license to perform clinical research with psilocybin.

Meanwhile, Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research has a host of psilocybin-related studies underway. These include ongoing studies on anorexia nervosa, smoking cessation, depression, and Alzheimer’s Disease.

A study published in February looked at a large analysis of various psilocybin studies in order to offer guidance on optimal dosing practices of psilocybin.

In July, a study published in the New England Journal examined Psilocybin versus Escitalopram, the generic version of Lexapro, an SSRI, for the treatment of depression. It found that “secondary outcomes generally favored psilocybin over escitalopram, but the analyses of these outcomes lacked correction for multiple comparisons.”

MDMA Research, Legislation, and Approval Tracks

MDMA, known colloquially as molly or ecstasy, has been subject to research that suggests it can help with various mental health conditions. One organization making huge strides in MDMA research is the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).

Researchers at MAPS are working on a plan that would see MDMA-assisted therapy become an FDA-approved, prescribable treatment by 2023. The organization released the results of a Phase 3 clinical trial that determined that MDMA-assisted therapy may be a safe and effective treatment for PTSD.

The study, published this year in Nature Medicine, found that MDMA brought relief to participants who suffered from PTSD, when the treatment was paired with talk therapy.

MAPS is simultaneously researching whether MDMA-assisted therapy can help heal wounds from psychological and emotional damage caused by sexual assault, war, violent crime, and other traumas. They’ve also sponsored completed studies on MDMA-assisted therapy for autistic adults with social anxiety, and MDMA-assisted therapy for anxiety related to life-threatening illnesses.

Other Psychedelic Medicine News and Research

In other psychedelic medicine news…

In July, a U.S. House appropriations resolution, HR 4502, was passed with secondary guidance to contribute funds toward psychedelic research for treatments for PTSD, major depressive disorder, and other mental health conditions. The funding would focus on treatments with “Breakthrough Therapy” designation, which allows biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies an expedited review process for experimental drugs that are shown to have treatment advantages over existing therapies for diseases that are difficult to treat.

In late July, biotech company Mind Medicine Inc. launched a Phase 1 clinical research study on DMT, colloquially known as the ‘Spirit molecule. The compound has shown to have promising effects on issues like depression and anxiety.

The Psychae Institute recently opened in Melbourne, Australia. The multimillion-dollar research institute will develop new pharmaceutical-grade psychedelic medicine meant to target mental health disorders, and will be a collaboration from researchers around the world. It will study compounds such as psilocybin, MDMA and DMT.

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Intentions. One of the words that everyone mentions, but rarely has a deeper definition for when asked.

It’s a term anyone who has explored the psychedelic therapy space will be familiar with, whether hearing it from a friend, being asked for one from a Guide or Clinician, or reading about it on forums or social media.

“You need an intention.” “Set a strong intention.” “Hold your intention in your mind and heart.” “Be intentional with your use.”

Why are they important? What do intentions help you do? How do they contribute to the process of healing and assist psychedelic therapy protocols? What do “good intentions” look like?

This is an overview of the art and science of setting intentions for psychedelic therapy.

What is an intention?

Briefly defined, an intention is an aim or goal you are holding for the experience, for your healing, for yourself in your session, and for the treatment protocol overall.

‍An intention may be:

An outcome you want
An experience in the session you wish to have
Asking for insights or healing in certain areas of your life
Hoping to see or develop characteristics in yourself

Intention setting is the first step you take when showing up for the healing dialogue between you and the medicine, you and the experience, and/or you and your inner healing intelligence. It’s a demonstration that you’re taking the work seriously, that you have things you wish to work on, and an acknowledgment that you are up for doing the work within your control.

Everyone is unique, and the healing and outcomes that each person needs will be different. This applies to your intention as well.

What an Intention Shouldn’t Be

A few notes on what an intention shouldn’t be.

An intention isn’t a requirement for the experience: “Either I get this experience/sensation/insight or the session didn’t work.”

It’s also not an expectation for the experience: “This is going to come up!”

And it’s not a prescription for yourself: “I know this is exactly what I need.”

Once you set a firm intention, let go of it. You have done your part, and showed up for your end of the bargain. You put effort into the things you can control, and asked for what you would wish for.

It’s time to let go, trust the experience, and open yourself to what will arise.

What do Intentions Do?

There are a number of uses that intentions have before, during, and after your individual dosing sessions.

They help you to “show up”

As we mentioned, setting an intention is the first step in really “showing up” for this process.

Psychedelic medicine is not a “magic pill,” or a passive process. It is an active process that requires your involvement. Alongside setting up your set & setting, setting your intention is another example of this.

They inform the medicine / experience / subconscious

The medicine and experiences are on your side, everything that happens is happening for your benefit, for your healing and your wholeness.

Through your intention, you can further assist this process by telling the medicine, telling the experience, and telling your body and inner healing intelligence what you think is most important to focus on right now.

They ground and recenter you

If at any point throughout your session you feel challenged, unsure, or otherwise resistant to the content or nature of your experience, coming back to your intention can help to ground and recenter you in the experience.

It can help you make sense of the content of the experience in the moment, and it gives you an anchor, a point of rootedness to return to should you ever feel the need.

They help frame the experiences

Sometimes the experiences and insights you have in a session connect directly and obviously to your original intention. Other times the connection isn’t as clear, but in recalling your intention, you can use this as a framing to help further explore and understand the nature of your experience. Intentions help the integration process by giving you the starting frame of, “If this session was helping me enact and realize my intention, why did the experience unfold as it did? What is it trying to tell/show me?”

Given the wide range of utility and value that intentions bring, there is a good reason why they so frequently come up in conversations around psychedelic experiences and psychedelic therapy.

The psychedelic experience is good at highlighting to us what exactly we can and cannot control in our lives. When it comes down to it, we can really only control our thoughts and our actions. We can’t dictate how the experience will go, we can’t control how others will act, but we can control what we do.

And setting intentions is firmly within our control. It is an input variable that we have access to. And if we can, we will! Setting intentions, alongside cultivating a conducive Set & Setting, are powerful levers you have in your domain to help steward your psychedelic experience in the direction you would like to go.

What Are “Good” Intentions?

As is so often the case with psychedelic therapy, the answer here is “it depends.” It depends on who you are, and it depends on what you need as part of your healing journey and experiences.

To begin, it’s important to note that just the act of thoughtfully setting an intention for your psychedelic therapy program, and your individual sessions, is itself an extremely powerful act.

The simple act of setting an intention is just as good as the content and specifics of whatever intention you will set.

Though it is possible to get more specific (without being prescriptive) on how you can form conducive intentions for your experiences. There are 3 core factors to this process.

Present Positive

If you are setting an intention, consider how you can make it relate to the present moment, and make it positively-oriented.

Examples of this might be “show me my power,” or “help me see the happiness inside of me.”

Because it is possible to have very direct experiences of your intentions, it’s helpful to avoid more challenging intentions around negative emotions or experiences. If you have the choice —and you do, it’s your intention!— choose positively-oriented intentions.

Make a Specific Ask/Request

There are two important components here: specificity, and asking. Remember, an intention is not a requirement, guarantee, or expectation.

It’s about coming to your healing discussion and asking the medicine, “This is what I’d like to experience, heal, or work on — what do you think? Can you help with that?”

Making it as clear as possible, and phrasing it as a specific question can assist you in making clear, powerful intentions. Sentence stems such as “Show me…,” “Help me…,” are easy ways to get started.

Get to the Root

Addressing the root of the problem, confusion, or trauma is helpful, instead of the surface level manifestations. The medicine works on personal behaviors and ideas and blockages.

Instead of asking “Show me how to make more money…,” you might try something like “Show me the peace and acceptance I already have.”

These 3 factors, when taken and combined together, can help you create clear, powerful, and direct intentions for each of your sessions. The more focused you are, the more you show up for the things within your control.

You know what you want or would wish for. You may not always get something that relates directly to this, but that is an outcome out of your control. What’s important is the practice of investing in the things you can control, and clear, direct intentions are one of them.

What If My Intention Didn’t Happen?

It is possible that despite your best efforts to put together a clear and direct intention, the medicine and the experience may have some other ideas. The experience may not have apparently related to the intention at all! It could be something entirely different, and this can be off-putting or upsetting within the session and during the integration process afterwards.

There are a few ways to approach this if this does occur for you:

Explore Deeper

The way your mind and the medicine communicates experiences and insights to you is not always straightforward. It’s not always a linear answer in clear language.

Continue to reflect and explore the nature of your experience, look for creative, cheeky, or alternative ways of interpreting your experience.

As an example, if your intention was “Show me what I need to heal,” and nothing happened in the experience, instead of thinking it missed the mark, that can be a way the medicine tells you that there is nothing to heal or you are not broken. Keep exploring the experience deeper.

Stay the Course

If you set an intention, a potential destination like “show me my power,” and it doesn’t happen, it might be because there are other milestones, or destination points that you need to arrive at before you’re ready or able to see that one.

Said differently, the intention you set might be Point D and the medicine first needs to bring you to points A, B, and C first.

Trust in the experience, and try to unpack what the message/lesson of each session was, trusting that it is all helping move you in the direction of your original intention.

T.L.O In Practice

The medicine, in partnership with your inner healing intelligence, is deeply intelligent. This is the Trust, Let Go, and Be Open (T.L.O) mantra in practice: trusting the experience, letting go of your intention, and being open to the fact that the medicine and the experience know what you need and how to help you.

The experience might be entirely unrelated to the intention you set, and this is okay. It is still moving you, always, in the direction of your own healing and wholeness.

Can I Use the Same Intention More Than Once?

Yes and no.

To address the idea behind the “no,” you are constantly changing. The person you are now is different from the person you were a year ago, a month ago, a week ago, even a moment ago. As a result, it’s fitting that your intention should grow, shift, and evolve just as you grow, shift, and evolve moment to moment.

The idea behind the “yes” is that you can keep the same theme, or the same area of focus. It can be helpful to try your best to set a new intention, whether the particular focus, the emphasis, or the wording is different. Just as psychedelic medicine is not a magic pill, it is not a “set it and forget it” process. It requires active involvement throughout the entire protocol and process.

The intention you have for your first session can and should be different from the intention you have for your third and fourth sessions. Even if you are still working on the same core material, the same core theme — trying to adapt your intentions to get more specific, more pointed, is part of continuing to show up for the process.

Conclusion

Intentions and intention-setting deserve the importance and the praise that they receive throughout the psychedelic and psychedelic therapy worlds.

They are a critical part of the process that you have direct control over and influence in. They have value and benefit across all stages of the therapeutic program (pre-, during, and post-sessions), and they can be powerful drivers of your healing process.

As such, doing your best to show up and take this seriously, give it your time and energy is powerful and important. Direct, positive, clear requests addressing foundational areas of focus will take you far.

Here’s wishing your next sessions have strong intentions and positive outcomes.

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What Do I Do After My First Ketamine Therapy Session?

Congratulations on completing your first, or one of your healing sessions. The window of time after your session is a highly conducive opportunity for continued healing, integration, and growth to occur. It’s natural to want to use this time wisely, and get the most out of your neuroplastic integration window. This piece explores how to approach the window of time after your latest ketamine treatment session.

What to do Directly After / Day-of Session

If you have just completed a session, the rest of the day should be oriented around rest and recovery.

There are significant experiences, emotions, and insights that can arise after a session. Though it can be tempting to immediately get to work, or take courageous action, it’s important to give your mind and body the time to properly rest and recover. Consider this a break after a good day of work and self-care.

Also, keep in mind the medical and clinical requirements after a session:

Do not operate heavy machinery or drive a car.
Do not consume alcohol or other substances.
Do not make major life decisions and act on them, as you are still under the effects of the medicine.

Beyond the basics however, this is a wonderful opportunity to practice taking care of yourself. Reward yourself with space, silence, and stillness. Even if it feels like nothing happened, there are still many unfolding events under the surface in your body and your subconscious that need continued space to deeply root themselves.

Taking some time to journal about your experience is a powerful practice. Although you may not be able to fully articulate the experience, as they tend to be indescribable, writing about your current mental, physical, and emotional state helps this process.

Doing activities that you enjoy, such as reading a book, speaking with a loved one, or taking a walk or a bath, are all generative to this process and assist your healing journey and the recovery process. If you feel called to eat, rehydrating yourself and eating whole, nourishing foods is a helpful step in this rest process.

In the day after your session, find space, stillness, and silence. Let the medicine continue to work, let the lessons and experiences settle down, so that you can come back strong and composed in the days that follow for your remaining integration work.

What to do During the Integration Period

The integration period is where the real healing happens. This is when you begin to materialize the insights, experiences, and emotions you had during your session in the world and in your life directly.

You can think of the session itself as a glimpse of what is possible. The actions that you want to take, the emotional states you can experience, the beauty that is available all around you. It provides the embodied recognition that this is all possible, but it doesn’t yet make it real in your life. Integration is the process of acting on these experiences and grounding them in your day to day life and behaviors.

There are a few helpful ways to approach your integration window.

Clarify the experience

Continued journaling, meditation, or self-reflection on the experience will help you clarify and crystallize the important parts of your experience. This will help you create an overview of action steps, behavioral changes, or areas to focus on during the integration period.

Build momentum

Some integration actions can be quick and straightforward, like cleaning your living space. Others can be more ambiguous or larger undertakings, such as big health changes, important conversations, or rethinking your future life plans.

It’s helpful to start small, and build momentum. Take care of the small, actionable steps first, so you can immediately see the fruits of your labor and build personal confidence. You can then carry this feeling with you as you take on some of the bigger integration tasks.

Be Gentle With Yourself

The sessions themselves are only one aspect of your healing journey, and the healing process will continue in the days, weeks, and months that follow. If you miss a day or two, or if you find yourself tired or challenged in any way, this is okay. It is part of the process. Be gentle with yourself, maintain your self-care habits and normal routines, and as mentioned before, start small, do what you can in the moment, and build momentum over time.

Join an Integration Circle

As part of your Mindbloom journey, you have the opportunity to join integration circles. To discuss your experiences and your process with a trained Guide, and to learn and grow from the wisdom and experiences of other clients. Being witnessed in your process, and joining into community are powerful tools to assist your integration period.

Use Your Support

Working with a therapist, or discussing what arises with your Guide/Clinician, are resources you have available to help understand the nature of your experience and create an integration plan for yourself. You are not alone in this process, and have support available, use it.

The important point with your integration period is that integration is an ongoing process. There is no deadline for your integration work. You are not judged on it afterwards. These are steps you are taking for yourself, for your life, and for your future. If you have the motivation to take action, that’s wonderful, plan it out and act on it. If your body is asking for continued rest and recovery, that’s wonderful as well, honor it.

How to Maximize the Neuroplastic Window

The 7-10 days after a treatment session open up your neuroplastic window — where your brain and neurobiology are in a more flexible, open, and suggestible state. This is a very powerful window for behavioral change, working on your self-image, or trying things you may have previously been resistant to.

As your mind is more open to new behavior patterns, it’s very powerful to begin building new habits if that was something that came up in your session. Your mind is more receptive to these new developments, and the neuroplastic window will help them settle in more deeply, increasing the likelihood they stick and endure once the neuroplastic window has passed.

With a more open and suggestible state, it is helpful to continue exploring your session, your emotions, and your life in general. With care and compassion, you can reflect on challenging areas with more levity and grace, which can help surface key insights, or clarify next steps to be taken. As you can see, continued reflection is a helpful component of maximizing your neuroplastic window.

Overall, if you’d like to work with the medicine and the opportunity it provides, manage your energy throughout this time. Use this neurobiological window as a catalyst to take clear, decisive action on new habit formation, on new ways of relating to people, and on designing the life that you want for yourself.

Understanding the Healing Process

The healing process is not linear. Some days may be slower or more challenging than others. Some days may be filled with motivation and energy. All of this is normal and okay. Your healing process will be unique to you, your life circumstances, and what you need most at this time.

You may find that more challenging emotions arise even outside of the sessions, this is your mind and body’s way of letting go of pent up or repressed emotions or experiences. If this happens, come back to your foundations of reflection and self-care. Be an ally to your own healing process. Give it space, compassion, and love.

Some integration actions may arise that seem very large or overwhelming, such as career changes or significant relationship shifts. You don’t need to tackle everything at once. Break them down into smaller actions, digestible chunks, and address each one when you have the energy and capacity to do so.

It’s very easy to begin comparing yourself to others, but be wary of this trap. Their process is not yours.

Some individuals may have highly conceptual or abstract experiences, while others may have the majority of their session be focused on their body and physical health. The key is to stay rooted in your immediate experience, what you are feeling, what insights/experience arose for you, and how you would like to move forward with them.

Everything that comes up for you throughout this healing process is an opportunity. An opportunity to show up more for yourself, an opportunity to give yourself the love and affection you give to others, and an opportunity to safely and confidently move towards challenges, as they will lead you to growth, healing, and wholeness.

Each day is a new opportunity to continue your healing process. Most of your healing, and the real changes you see in your life, will come outside of your treatment sessions. These days are just as important and significant as the treatment sessions. This is when it all becomes real. Take a deep breath, use the support you have, make an integration plan, manage your energy, and begin cultivating the life that you deserve.

Conclusion

It’s easy to put all of the responsibility for your own healing on the medicine and the session experience itself. But in the days or weeks following your sessions, how you approach them, the work you do, the love you express are just as powerful as the sessions themselves.

As you move into your post-session window, first and foremost continue to take care of yourself. Make time for rest and recovery, for silence and stillness. Let your mind, body, and inner healing intelligence do what they do best. When appropriate, join in this process by taking small, clear, and confident steps forward towards your future.

The more you make this an innate practice of figuring out what you want, where to go next, and acting on it, the faster, deeper, and more exciting your healing process will be. You will begin to see results, feel the changes, and recognize the immense value of the work you are doing. Enjoy the process, embrace your healing, and walk boldly towards your future.

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What is Psychedelic Integration?

Breathwork: A Powerful Practice For Psychedelic Integration

Psychedelic medicines can bring powerful insights that allow us to reframe our circumstances and consider new ways of living. In the after-glow of an experience, we have valuable time during which we are more mentally flexible to implementing practical, positive changes into our day to day lives.

Psychedelic guides and researchers have long considered this key period, called “integration”, a vital component of psychedelic work. Integration protocols and strategies including breathwork and mindfulness can help achieve the best possible long-term therapeutic outcomes from psychedelic experiences.

What is Psychedelic Integration?

During a psychedelic journey, it is common to have out-of-body experiences, ineffable visions, and insightful personal downloads. However, after the initial revelations, the experiences and lessons learned can quickly dissipate like a dream, becoming lost in the fast pace and stress of modern life. We return home to our usual environment, where it is easy to fall back into old ways of being and doing. Ongoing support for integrating new insights can facilitate real, lasting change.

This is where integration comes in. As we have heightened neuroplasticity after psychedelic medicine use, it is the best time to introduce practical changes and habits to ground new insights into our lives. Combining psychedelics with a daily integration practice helps people sustain long-term shifts in their behaviors and maintain a more positive attitude.

“If one’s intention is the seed of what they are calling into their life, and a journey is the ritual that opens that seed into a sprout, then integration is nourishment that helps it grow healthy.” – Kristina Hunter in Consciousness Medicine

In his book, How to Change Your Mind, Michael Pollan uses a metaphor to describe this new neural flexibility. He describes it as a fresh snowfall covering all the old tracks you would take down a ski hill. As we get older, these tracks tend to get deeper, and it’s easy to become stuck using the same ones over and over. With psychedelic use, you have the opportunity to start fresh and create a new path.

Previous bad habits, however, can be more powerful than new insights. If we don’t commit to introducing positive changes, old behaviors tend to reemerge. Common integration practices include counseling or psychotherapy, sharing your experiences with trusted friends and family, journaling, creating art, singing, massage, meditation, yoga, and breathwork. These practices allow the insights from medicine work to continue to foster personal transformation several weeks after the experience itself.

What is Breathwork?

The term breathwork is used to describe the mindfulness practice of conscious breathing. Practicing breathwork involves actively controlling the length and depth of your inhales and exhales, to have an effect on emotional and physical state.

Breathwork is an ancient mind-body practice with numerous health benefits. Eastern religions and spiritual practices such as Buddhism, martial arts, yoga and Tai Chi have long encouraged the practice of deep breathing. In these practices, diaphragmatic breathing is thought to contribute to physical health, emotional balance, and social adaptation.

More recently, the academic literature is beginning to examine and acknowledge the value of deep breathing exercises on our well-being. Breathwork can help to support the benefits of psychedelic therapy by reducing stress, decreasing anxiety, enhancing psychological flexibility, supporting the autonomic nervous system, promoting emotional release, boosting mood and increasing self-esteem.

Breathwork in Psychedelic Integration

As mentioned above, practicing breathwork can have a huge range of positive effects on the mind and body. We are learning that our breath is one of the core pillars of health that has long been overlooked in western medicine. There are several powerful benefits to incorporating a breathwork practice in psychedelic integration. The following are five of these powerful benefits.

Creating similar altered states of consciousness

Breathwork styles such as Holotropic breathwork developed by Dr. Stanislav Grof —one of the foremost researchers in non-ordinary states of consciousness— are recognized to create very similar experiences to psychedelics themselves. This allows people to bring the magic of these abstract experiences into the day-to-day, and continue their relationship with this mystical space of expanded consciousness.

Reducing stress and anxiety

The theme of slowing down and enjoying life in the present moment is common amongst psychedelic insights. Slow, deep breathing practices have a powerful effect on our nervous system, taking us out of our overwhelmed “fight or flight” mode, and powerfully reducing stress and anxiety. Breathing techniques can be used daily for as little as 2-10 minutes to connect with ourselves and enhance our present awareness.

Reducing depression and boosting mood

Breathwork has been shown to reduce depressive symptoms and boost mood. Studies have found deep breathing to promote brainwave activity associated with enhanced emotional control and psychological well-being. With the growing mental health crisis, breathwork has great potential as an adjunct therapy in depression and mood disorders.

Releasing trauma

Psychedelic medicine is becoming known for its positive effects in breaking addictive patterns as well as reducing symptoms of PTSD. Psychedelics often show us the root cause of addictive behaviors and allow us to reframe our circumstances with greater self-acceptance and self-love.

Deep breathing programs have been identified as a great complementary therapy with benefits in PTSD as well as addiction. In a similar manner to psychedelic medicines, there are advanced breathwork practices that shut down the pre-frontal cortex, turning off our self-identity and allowing the body to process stored emotions.

Improving self-esteem and self-awareness

Holotropic breathing has been shown to boost self-esteem and self-awareness. In a 2015 study, several positive self-awareness changes were reported including improved scores for temperament, interpersonal problems, boundary setting, and hostility.

3 Guided Breathing Exercises for Psychedelic Integration

The following are three guided practices that can be used to integrate psychedelic experiences. The first two are daily breathwork practices to support the creation of a healthy mindfulness routine, and the third is a longer session to provide emotional release and support expanded consciousness.

Coherent breathing

Coherent breathing —also called resonant breathing— is a slow breathing pattern of roughly 6 breaths per minute. In her book Heart Breath Mind, Dr. Leah Lagos advocates the benefits of coherent breathing to increase heart rate variability (HRV), which is a marker of our adaptability to stress.

This specific type of breathing is recognized by several academic studies to have health benefits including reduced markers of depression, decreased stress and anxiety, and greater self-reported well-being. If the psychedelic experience has indicated more restorative integration practices, coherent breathing is perfect for calming the nervous system.

The video below is a morning practice, designed to help you feel balanced, energized and accomplished all before your feet hit the floor. It will begin with coherent breathing and continue into more up-regulated breathing styles, while also combining visualizations, affirmations, journaling and incredible music, leaving you empowered and ready for the day.

To practice coherent breathing at home, follow this video.

Up-regulated breathing

Up-regulated breathing was popularized by Wim Hof as a method to boost energy, feel empowered and relieve stress. This breathing exercise involves more effortful deep breathing to elicit a powerful response throughout the body. If the psychedelic experience has indicated more uplifting and motivating integration practices, up-regulated breathing is a great practice.

The following short up-regulated breathing session will help you feel energized in only 14-minutes. In three short rounds of up-regulated mouth breathing, you will be guided into a state of complete bliss and receptivity. Paired with energizing music and a sensory body-scan, this breathwork session will give you exactly what you need to feel good now. This practice is perfect to integrate into your morning routine, or boost your energy for a productive afternoon.

To try this 14-minute up-regulated breathing session, follow this video.

Breathing meditation

Longer, up-regulated breathing sessions help to shut down the conscious mind, allowing the body to release negative emotions and experience altered states of consciousness without the use of psychedelic medicine. After a psychedelic experience, it is recommended to do these longer sessions every 1-2 weeks for continued integration.

Up-regulated breathing can feel like work at first, but stick with it. After an initial effort, your body will continue the breathing pattern more easily and you can experience very powerful emotional releases.

This final guided breathwork session will take you through 5-rounds of up-regulated mouth breathing and an 8-minute inner child meditation, leaving you feeling refreshed and ready to take on life.

To try this longer, 29-minute up-regulated breathing session paired with a guided meditation, follow this video.

Integration practices should feel good, practical, and supportive. There are many different styles of breathwork that can support you on your integration journey to get the most out of psychedelic experiences. To get started at home, try the Inward Breathwork free, 3-day breathwork mini-series delivered to your inbox.

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What is the First Mindbloom Session Like?

As you approach your first session in any psychedelic therapy program, a lot of questions, comments, and concerns can arise: what will happen, how does it work, do other people feel like this the first time? The list can be vast.

And it’s completely normal to feel this way! These are big and beautiful investments in yourself and your health, and this decision deserves a level of respect, concern, and seriousness. The more you commit to the process, the more the process will give you in return.

This post serves as an overview of many of the common categories of questions we receive as someone is preparing to begin their Mindbloom journey:

How does the first session / subsequent sessions work?
What does the experience feel like?
Was this a “typical” session?

How Does the First Session Work?

At this stage in the process, you should have already had your initial consultation with your Clinician, been introduced to your Guide, have your Bloombox, and your medication has arrived or is on its way to your home. The first session has been booked, is on your calendar, and you’re in the preparation process now.

The sessions all follow a similar structure, however the first session does have some unique features to it to set you up for success throughout the rest of your program.

Guide preparation call – 30 minutes

To begin your session, you will join a Zoom call with your Guide to make sure everything is in place for a comfortable journey. They will ensure that your Peer Treatment Monitor is present and aware of their role, that you have your medication and supplies, they will take core vitals like heart rate and blood pressure, and help you clarify and refine your intention for the session.

This process typically takes between 20-30 minutes, and is built into the timing of your first session. Once this is complete, you will end the call, ready to begin your session at your own pace.

Session start – 10 minutes

Once you’re off the call with your Guide, you are able to start. Take time to:

Set up your music playlist and listening devices
Take a final trip to the washroom
Turn off device notifications, and remove any other distractions from the room
Get comfortable
Tell your Peer Treatment Monitor that you will begin

You will take your medication according to your Guide’s instructions, and start your playlist. After 7 minutes, you can spit out your medicine, put your eye mask on, and immerse yourself in the experience.

Session experience – 1 hour

The session experience is different for everyone —we’ll touch on this more below. It typically lasts around 60 minutes. Some sessions may be shorter, and others a bit longer. If you need any assistance during this time, like walking to the bathroom or a comforting presence, you can ask your Peer Treatment Monitor.

Return / journaling – 30 minutes

Once the session is complete, you will still be under the effects of the medicine. Take some time to slowly reconnect with your body, your room, and your waking state.

Be gentle with yourself initially and listen to your body as some physical effects may linger longer than an hour. If you experience any dizziness, difficulty walking, lightheadedness, or nausea, lay back down or sit still for a bit longer. This should pass shortly.

A light snack, some water, and intentional breathing can help ensure a smooth “landing.” At this time, it is very helpful to take some notes in your journal about the nature of the experience. Write down any major themes or insights that were present, as memories of the ketamine experience can fade quite quickly.

Guide post-session call – 30 minutes

As this is your first session, once your journaling is complete, you will return to a quick call with your Guide so that they can check in on you and your experience.

They will ask you to take your vitals, and also ask about the experience itself. If you have any questions, now is a wonderful time to bring them up.

Medical follow-up – 30 minutes

In the days after your session, you will also have a medical follow up with the clinician to further explore your experience.

Your clinician will ask about the medicine and the experience, make an assessment, and finalize your dosage for the program and submit the new prescription for delivery. It may decrease, increase, or stay the same. After this, you will wrap up the call and have the rest of the day to yourself.

Rest & recovery

While the effects of the medicine may still be mildly present, it’s helpful to use the rest of the day after your first session for rest and recovery.

Taking a walk, spending time in nature, taking a warm shower, or continuing to journal or reflect on your experience are all helpful ways to rest and integrate. You cannot drive or operate machinery at this time, so factor that into your planning. It’s also wise not to make any major life decisions during this time, it’s best to sleep on it for a day or two before taking any action.

At this point, you have completed your first session of your Mindbloom experience! You have taken a bold first step towards your own healing and wholeness. Take some time to congratulate yourself, to thank yourself and extend some gratitude for the steps you have taken here. They are filled with love, compassion, and courage — it’s worth recognizing that.

Note: The times above are estimated. You can expect the first session to last around two hours.

What Does the Experience Feel Like?

Many clients often ask what they might experience during their first session. As always, it’s difficult to provide a direct answer to this, as the nature of the experience is different for everyone based on what they need and who they are.

We have several pieces available that explore the nature of ketamine, the psychedelic experience, visions/visuals, and intentional dissociation. These provide an excellent coverage of the classic hallmarks of the ketamine experience and the psychedelic experience.

A few notes on the first session and the experiences that may arise.

Starting doses

As this may be your first time with psychedelics, ketamine, or with Mindbloom — our clinicians prescribe a weight based dose for the initial treatment. This dose is typically something in the mild to moderate range of our dosing spectrum for the majority of clients.

This is to ensure safety, and a gentle ease into an experience that can be challenging to some. For this process, it’s much better to build momentum and confidence than to jump into the deep end immediately.

As a result, the effects may be pronounced, but mild. Feelings of lightness, introspection, mild dissociation, euphoria, or presence in the body are common.

Conscious vs. subconscious effects

Psychedelic therapy works on the mind and the body. Sometimes the work does not make its way into conscious awareness. It can feel like nothing happened, however this is because the real work was unfolding in your subconscious and at the level of your body.

If anything, take this time to rest, relax, and come into deep awareness of your mind and body. You can always bring this up to your Guide after the session or with your clinician during your follow up appointment.

Novel states of being

You may also have novel experiences that you have not encountered before. Dissociation, out-of-body experiences, visions/visuals, and complex emotions are all possible within this experience. It depends on what you need for your healing at that time. If these do occur, simply stay with your breath, know that you are safe and supported, and express gratitude for the opportunity to heal.

Your first session may have very mild or very pronounced physical sensations, all of this is okay. You may feel your body very directly, or you may not feel your body at all.

What’s most important is to always come back to your T.L.O. framework: “Trust” the experience, “Let Go” of expectations, and “Be Open” to the healing the experience is giving you.

What Does a “Typical” Session Look Like?

The truth is, there’s no such thing as a “typical” or “normal” session. What happens in your experience is normal for you. It’s what was needed and what was necessary to take continued steps towards your healing and wholeness.

On the surface, it generally looks like you are lying down for a nap on your bed or couch for an hour. Psychedelic medicine is often an introspective experience, there’s not much to look at going on at the surface level. The first sessions tend to be a little lighter of an experience for a majority of clients with the weight based initial dose.. However, many individuals —particularly those working with ketamine for the first time— have significant or powerful experiences in the first session.

When questions like “Did I do this right?” or “Was this a normal experience?” arise, use this for your own healing and growth. If you did your best, you did it right. This is how the experience wanted to happen for you, so it was normal. Notice how quick we are to compare ourselves and our experiences, always wondering if we did it well enough, if we made a mistake somewhere along the way.

Begin to notice where those questions come from. Why do you think you did it wrong? Why do you think your experience isn’t normal? Investigating those questions and their origins, will help you along the way. Rest assured that you are doing an amazing job, that your healing process will unfold exactly as it needs to, and that you have taken another significant step along this path.

Conclusion

The healing process is rarely linear. It surfaces many complex and nuanced emotions, and brings our own concerns and confusions to the surface for us to address.

You are embarking on an amazing journey, and the fact that you’ve read this far shows how committed you are to your own process and your own healing. That intention and commitment will carry you far.

You have read about how the first session runs, what feelings might arise, and what a “normal” session is like. Now go experience it for yourself, with your head held high and your heart open. Enjoy!

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What Does It Mean To Be a Psychedelic Therapy “Candidate?”

You’ve made the decision to look into whether psychedelic therapy might be right for you. You’ve done some research, looked at some potential avenues, but keep seeing the stipulation that these treatments are available for “eligible candidates.”

What exactly does being a candidate for psychedelic therapy mean? This post explores the requirements of becoming a candidate, and what you can do if you find out that you are, or are not, a candidate for psychedelic therapy treatments.

Qualifying Psychedelic Therapy Candidates

There are a number of regulations, requirements, and eligibility criteria that go into determining whether or not someone is a candidate for a particular type of psychedelic medicine or a specific treatment protocol. Different medicines will have different criteria, as will the method of administration or treatment protocols that you may be interested in.teams

An important distinction to begin with is whether you are applying for candidacy with an organization or service such as Mindbloom or IV/IM ketamine clinics, or whether you are looking into clinical/scientific research studies.

As research studies are far more focused on their hypothesis and what they are seeking data for, they will often have more rigid candidacy requirements. These might include particular age ranges, particular conditions to work with, or other significant demographic/psychographic requirements. As such, it is often more difficult to be an eligible candidate for research studies, though it is not impossible.

For medically available psychedelic therapy protocols, such as ketamine treatment, there are a few broad categories that help determine whether someone is an eligible candidate or not.

Contraindications

The first category is the existence of any contraindications for the medicine or the treatment protocol. Contraindications are indications in the mind/body that demonstrate an individual would not be a fit for this particular treatment, or that the treatment itself presents potential safety concerns. This fit should only be determined by a licensed clinician.

Contraindications can include things like existing mental conditions, family history of certain illnesses, prescribed medications, or physical considerations such as resting heart rate, blood pressure, epilepsy, or other conditions. For a more comprehensive overview, see our full write-up on contradictions here.

Condition-specific Requirements

A variety of conditions, including treatment-resistant versions, such as anxiety, depression, treatment-resistant cases, PTSD, and others are available for treatment with ketamine therapy, while studies are underway to legalize additional psychedelic medicines. However, given that ketamine is a Schedule 3 compound by the DEA, clinicians must be able to support their diagnoses and prescriptions.

As a result, there are standardized assessments —such as the GAD-7 (anxiety), PHQ-9 (depression), and PROMIS Scores (depression & anxiety)— that clinicians will use to gauge whether someone fits the reported condition, and if ketamine treatment is the appropriate treatment protocol.

On many candidate surveys, you will see the systems of measurement used. These initial baseline tests provide clinicians a glimpse of what symptoms a candidate is dealing with and if they are potentially appropriate for treatment. In some cases, some people may be screened out based on these initial surveys. For those that do meet the pre-screening eligibility criteria, the clinician has final discretion to determine appropriateness of treatment which is usually after completing an evaluation.

Evaluation with the Clinician

The mental health assessments and questionnaires that are provided by clinicians aren’t the only qualifier. The prescriber ultimately determines whether or not they deem an individual as a potential candidate for psychedelic therapy. There will be an initial in-person or virtual consultation as part of this process. This gives the clinician more opportunity to meet the potential candidate, and make a more informed decision about their care.

If there are indications that this wouldn’t be the right fit, such as a more severe case than the initial notes indicated, or if there is a lack of confidence that the individual will adhere to the treatment protocol, the clinician may deem them ineligible for candidacy.

If they require additional support, or if they have a unique set of circumstances, the clinician may create stipulations for candidacy, such as an individual may be a candidate if they are also working alongside a licensed therapist for additional support, for example.

Ultimately, the decision to make someone a candidate comes down to the sole discretion and decision of the licensed clinician who will be prescribing the course of treatment.

What If I Am A Candidate?

If you have moved through the application and screening process, and your clinician has deemed you a candidate, you are now in the position to decide your next steps.

Being a candidate means that if you so choose, you are able to move forward with this particular treatment program and protocol.

Of course, this decision to move forward is yours, and yours alone. This is a decision for your healing and wholeness, and one that should be made with good intention and adequate information.

If you are an eligible candidate for treatment, you might take one of the following next steps.

Begin treatment

If you are confident in the clinician and the protocol, and understand the process, you can begin your treatment and move forward on your healing journey.

Ask questions

If you have any questions or concerns about the process or the protocol, now is a good time to ask. You want to make informed, safe decisions for yourself that you are comfortable with. If you have any questions, ask the clinician or the care team that will be working with you alongside your program.

Decline treatment

You are not required to begin a treatment if you are a candidate. Perhaps the timing isn’t right, or maybe you are unsure of the particular program. All of this is okay, if you have concerns, it’s best to be safe and make wise decisions. As always, being a candidate does not force you to move forward with the process, it simply means that you can if you so choose.

If you are a candidate for psychedelic therapy, it means that you do not have any contraindications for the treatment, and that the clinician feels you are a fit for the treatment, and that the treatment would be beneficial for you. At this point, if you wish to, you can move forward and begin your treatment program.

What If I’m Not A Candidate?

At some point throughout the application and screening process, you may be told that you are not a candidate for this treatment or for this medicine. Though this can be challenging or disappointing news to hear, it does not necessarily mean that your healing journey stops here.

There are a number of ways to move forward beyond this if you find out that you are not a candidate. You might consider one of the following actions.

Ask why

There may be a particular reason, such as an existing contraindication, that disqualified you. Asking why can help highlight other possible steps, such as finding a different medicine or protocol that has different eligibility requirements. There may be a stipulation, like lowering your blood pressure, that is the only thing that needs to be addressed. With a bit of time and effort, you can change that and become a candidate.

Look at options

Each medicine and program is unique, and as a result have different requirements. Just because you are not a candidate for one form of medicine or treatment does not mean there isn’t a potential option out there for you. Take a look at all of your options.

Other healing options

Though psychedelic medicine is one option for mental health, it is not the only one. There are many available healing modalities: psychotherapy, pharmaceuticals, natural remedies, lifestyle changes, and different health decisions that may be just as effective on your healing journey. When one door closes, another one opens, and there is something out there for everyone.

If you are not a candidate for psychedelic therapy, you have options available. Understanding why is the first step, and then looking for potential avenues forward beyond that brings this process back into your control. Finally, if psychedelic therapy isn’t the right fit at this time, you have many other healing options and treatments available to you.

Find out if you’re a candidate today

Being a candidate for psychedelic therapy is just the first step on your healing journey. It lets you know that you are able to move forward with the treatment process if you choose to. Though it is only the first step, it is an important first step nonetheless. A bold step towards your own healing, growth, and wholeness.

If you’re looking into psychedelic therapy and would like to know whether or not you are a candidate for ketamine treatment, you can take Mindbloom’s candidate survey today.

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4 Reasons Why the Stigma Around Psychedelic Medicine is Shifting

Being a proponent of the use of psychedelics, especially for medicinal purposes doesn’t attract the stigma it once did.

When psychologist-turned-psychedelic guru Timothy Leary encouraged people to “turn on, tune in and drop out”, he inspired a counter-culture along with an iconic catchphrase —and also a tsunami of outrage and backlash.

Since then, the narrative and advocacy for the benefits and potential of psychedelic drugs is changing swiftly and drastically. A number of factors contribute to this shift: how they’re portrayed in pop culture, the increasing amount of promising scientific research, changes in local and federal policies, and on-going historic events unfolding in real time.

In the past few years, research —along with FDA-approval and fast-tracking— is showing that these psychedelics, along with others, can be useful therapeutically in the context of treating mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, and PTSD.

In turn, policies are changing, making them easier to legally access for research and medical application, while changing the narrative and stigma around them too.

There’s Renewed Research

Research into the psychological effects of psychedelics like LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) was robust in the 1950s, where the drug was initially studied with alcoholic patients, and later, heroin addicts. Psilocin and psilocybin, psychedelic compounds found in the psilocybin group of mushrooms more commonly known as magic mushrooms, were eventually introduced into existing therapies too.

These studies and treatments came to a halt in the 1960s, when the compounds being used and examined were outlawed. By the 1970s, the Controlled Substances Act was introduced, which created a structure of five drug “schedules” that are still used today. Drugs classified under Schedules I and II must have a special license from the FDA to possess or use in experiment. There are major differences between the two schedules:

Schedule I means substances with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. They cannot be prescribed and are challenging to get approval for studies
Schedule II involves substances with a high potential for abuse, with use potentially leading to severe psychological or physical dependence. They can be prescribed, making them less challenging to study.

While there were many animal studies into psychedelics during the 70s and 80s —mostly looking into the toxicity of psychedelics— no human experiments took place.

In 1986, the non-profit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), was founded and has distributed millions of dollars towards research projects that examine the therapeutic benefit of drugs like ketamine, MDMA, psilocybin, DMT, ibogaine and LSD, as well as cannabis. In 1993, the Heffler Institute, another non-profit that funds scientific psychedelic research, was founded.

The reemergence of human trials involving psychedelics, and their promising findings, is helping to diminish the stigma around their use for therapeutic and medicinal purposes. This has inspired major changes in legislation in some parts of the U.S. and Canada. In 2019, Denver, Colorado, became the first city in the U.S. to decriminalize hallucinogenic mushrooms. Psilocybin mushrooms have also been decriminalized in Oregon, and are also legal in controlled therapeutic settings in that state. MDMA is set to be FDA-approved for therapeutic use as early as 2023.

In Canada, certain patients with a terminal illness can receive access to psilocybin treatment for end-of-life anxiety and depression through an exemption from Health Canada.

Media is Helping to Rewrite the Narrative

Author Michael Pollan was once most recognized for his research and writing about the socio-cultural impacts of food.

His focus shifted, so to speak, in 2018 when he published How to Change Your Mind, a catalyst in the conversation around psychedelic drugs and their potential. The book explores what science is telling us about psychedelics and their impact on consciousness, dying, addiction, mental health conditions, and transcendence. Pollan’s work helped to reintroduce this concept to the mainstream, and further legitimized the current research being done by organizations like MAPS and independent researchers.

Additionally, podcasts with broad listenerships like The Joe Rogan Experience and The Tim Ferris Show have hosted the world’s foremost experts on psychedelics and psychedelic medicine. These constructive conversations about the potential of psychedelics as a therapeutic solution —including in their own personal experiences— have helped to move the psychedelic medicine conversation forward.

The COVID-19 Pandemic Changed How We Think About Mental Health Treatment

It’s an understatement to say that COVID-19 has changed life on so many levels. The restrictions and isolation of having to stay at home, combined with the anxiety of dodging a potentially fatal virus left many people in a challenging place.

According to a U.S. Census Bureau survey, over 40% of American adults reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic.

One positive development that’s come from the global pandemic is that it’s encouraged many people to address and assess their mental health and wellbeing. As a result, there’s been more dialogue about different types of treatment options, including increased access to psychedelic therapy as an option. This is especially true for those with treatment-resistant depression, who found themselves affected by the increased disruption and isolation the pandemic added to their daily lives.

In 2020, Mindbloom began providing at-home access to psychedelic therapy with ketamine treatment for depression and anxiety. This made psychedelic therapy more accessible and convenient in a time when visits to an in-person clinic may have placed clients at risk for exposure to the virus.

Clients are Sharing Their Own Stories

Changing times reflect changing conversations. While there’s always been outspoken and famous proponents of psychedelics and the impacts it can have on the mind —from the Beatles to Ram Dass— the science to back it up wasn’t always readily available.

Now that the research is catching up after years of being put on pause, it’s encouraging people across all walks of society to speak openly about their profound experiences with psychedelics.

In March, popular chef Sohla El-Waylly spoke on the NPR program It’s Been a Minute about her life-changing evening with mushrooms.

“I decided to try mushrooms for the first time,” she told host Sam Sanders. “I felt this overwhelming sense of gratitude… it really opens up your mind.”

Also, former basketball player Lamar Odom has spoken openly about how ketamine therapy has helped him with his on-going struggle with addiction.

As more people learn about the growing psychedelic therapy sector, there will likely be more frank conversations about how impactful it can be. The more widespread this type of treatment becomes, the easier it will be to talk about it candidly.

When it comes to the future of psychedelic therapy and the research into its capabilities, there’s no going back. Like the issues psychedelic therapy addresses in patients, stigma around it will only continue to diminish.

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