If you don’t live in the current psychedelic hotspots of Colorado, California or Oregon, then you might feel the conversation around using psychedelic substances feels a bit more intimidating and off-putting.

The current landscape around psychedelics is still very controversial, so approaching this conversation with care can greatly impact how the person on the other end of the conversation may receive it and what new knowledge they may walk away with. Accurate psychedelic education is pivotal at this time for people to become familiar with them, understand how they’re impacting society, and know how to navigate this change in how mental health is being treated. 

It’s important when having these conversations to be as open-minded as you can be to differing ideas and opinions. Here are some ways you can approach the conversation around psychedelics that may help you facilitate a healthier and more positive dialogue to spread more knowledge to the people who might be misinformed.

Be sensitive to those who are fearful and be open to pushback

If the great political divide we have experienced over the past couple decades has taught us anything, it’s that people have a hard time seeing the grey of the spectrum and are more likely to lean heavily into the black or the white.

The conversation around psychedelics can feel no different than that with good reason, many people who have knowledge of psychedelics remember the 60’s and 70’s when the war on drugs began and psychedelics were nearly single-handedly blamed for the chaos that ensued in the United States.

We can’t argue that this was bad fame for psychedelics but not because the substances themselves are inherently harmful and destructive, rather because they were not supported by safe practices and were not treated with the proper care that our ancestors had for them.

While big things began happening clinically during this time, and there was budding research supporting the healing powers of entheogens for things like addiction and mental health conditions, there was also a lot of corruption, misappropriation and irresponsibility that ultimately hurt a lot of people and led to psychedelics like LSD, psilocybin and MDMA being deemed federally illegal. 

Though the landscape of psychedelic medicine is quite different now vs then, especially with the heavy emphasis on the clinical model, it’s still important to be sensitive to those who were affected by this time frame.

There’s an opportunity here to provide education to someone who’s operating under the pretenses of this time frame, but do so in a way that acknowledges that the fear is understandable in context but actually these substances are not as harmful as they were portrayed to be.

Tread lightly and have facts that you can lean on that support the current psychedelic renaissance where there’s much more focus on safe and intentional practice, honoring our ancestors who brought these medicines into their communities for healing, and the great results that are being discovered because of these new clinical explorations.

Don’t expect to change the minds of everyone you encounter who’s still deeply in fear from the 60’s and 70’s during the second wave of psychedelics.  Instead, level with them and agree that that time was missing the key component of safe and ethical use and now with a primary focus on that, this current third wave is intended to help us become better versions of ourselves and is playing a big part in healing those who are struggling with mental health conditions.

If you feel comfortable, talk about your anecdotal experience 

As humans, we love to learn through stories, so sharing your personal story of psychedelic assisted transformation is a great way to spread the word about how these substances are really changing people’s lives. When I started sharing my personal experience with psychedelics it opened up a lot of doors with people I would have never expected were curious about this subject. 

If you feel comfortable, and only if you feel comfortable, sharing parts of your personal journey through your work with psychedelics is real-life proof that they are making an impact. You’ll want to be mindful of how you speak of them, especially if the person on the other side has never practiced with any psychedelic substances before. Remember, there’s a lexicon for these experiences that someone who has never entered an altered state might be completely unaware of.

It’s good integration practice to relay your story from something ethereal to something tangible, discuss how the experience changed your perspective, helped you work through something traumatic that you now have more compassion toward, or simply how you finally saw more meaning and depth to your life as a whole. Whatever your experience was, try to share how you walked away differently and why versus how mind-blowing your experience was (even if it was!) 

Whoever you’re speaking to will automatically try to see themselves in your shoes so give them more reasons to see how this could fit into their life rather than making it hard for them to understand and relate to. 

Mystical psychedelic experiences can be extremely hard to grasp if you’ve never experienced it first-hand, and as you know can be incredibly life changing. Share from your heart and use your best judgment. Who knows, maybe the person on the other end of the conversation will be so moved by your story that they decide to embark on their own plant medicine journey.

Talk about psychedelics from the clinical perspective

Clearly the leaders of this third wave are onto something with their heavy clinical approach. People trust science, therefore discussing psychedelics to others from this lens can be a great way to spread positive knowledge about the incredible work that’s being done from a more grounded and respectable place. 

As of right now, MDMA assisted therapy is in the process of being FDA approved for the treatment of PTSD and that’s only the beginning. This can be easily misunderstood without the right context. It’s not just MDMA that’s curing PTSD, it’s MDMA and psychotherapy combined that are yielding such breakthrough results (Mitchell, J.M., Bogenschutz, M., Lilienstein, A. et al.) 

Helping people understand that the psychedelics themselves are not magic pills, nor are they suitable for everyone is a great place to start when sharing information around these medicines. 

Maybe you have a specific clinical study that you’re fascinated by – mine is psilocybin and the treatment of alcohol addiction. Whatever path you take to get there, lead with facts and be sure you’re spreading the information with the right amount of context.

Less experience focused, more results focused

One thing that has helped me when talking about my personal practice with psychedelics is actually to talk less about the actual experiences themselves and more about what I’ve accomplished and overcome since embarking on the journey.

I find this a great way to get people to take me seriously because it’s more practical. Not to mention, it really is about what you’re taking away and how you’re applying this information to your daily life than it is about seeing God. 

This is a great way to also talk about the practice of integration and to educate that working with entheogens can be really healing if you follow up with intentional integration, that is, applying your insights to your lived life.  A true psychedelic experience in the context of growth, healing, and evolution is only 20% about the experience and 80% about the integration that is leading to big changes that people are reporting in their mental health and well-being. 

People who are unfamiliar with psychedelics might not know what they entail so giving this context can be helpful for someone who’s assessing this landscape for the first time. Integration is soon to be a term that most people understand but until then it’s on us to help facilitate the conversations that are going to help people understand the practice more. 

If someone is unreceptive, stop while you’re ahead

Maybe this is a personal preference but when having conversations around psychedelics I like to use my own integrity and internal compass to help me decide if it’s worth sharing or not. Some people will never be receptive to the psychedelic movement, therefore preaching to them is only going to turn them off more.

The reason I’m including this is because it can be frustrating to feel like you’re not being seen or heard in conversations that are extremely important to you but to others might feel like a hard no. Especially if you’re someone who has been so positively impacted by your work with psychedelic medicines.

If you’re feeling this way, just end the conversation and move on. This can be a great gauge to see if someone is on the same page as you as well, if they’re completely uninterested they might not be someone worth investing time into. 

This is all subjective, of course, but important to note since this is a sensitive topic for a lot of people, even those who stand with the movement. Know when you’re out of scope and when to stop dumping energy into the conversation. It’s like politics. 

More psychedelic talk can lead to more change

I find that often the moment I bring up psychedelics, the person on the other end of the conversation has a positive reaction whether they’ve personally had a positive experience or know someone who has. I contribute this positive outlook much to the area that I live in, which is why I wanted to put together this guide to help you navigate conversations should you live in an area outside of the states that are currently leading the psychedelic movement forward.

Trust that you know exactly what to say and also that your story is important to share, the more we can spread the word and share knowledge to others, the more access we can create through the power of our networks and our words. 

The topic of psychedelics is no longer faux pas, so if you feel called to share, go forth and own it.