by Linda Kelly
Danielle Negrin — Executive Director of the SF Psychedelic Society — shares with us her own personal struggles with addiction and her hopes for the medical world to fully embrace the healing power of sacred plant medicine.
Many people know about psychedelics through what happened in the ‘60s and a lot of the prohibition and stigmatization. But what I’d love to share is that these are ancient tools that have been around for thousands of years, that have been used by our indigenous ancestors, and people are finding that a lot of our history and religions have actually been based on the intentional use of psychedelic medicine.
So it’s not that we’re ushering in something new, we’re bringing them back into our culture and retouching us with our indigenous roots that we’ve been so disconnected from. This is about us getting in touch with our historical roots and what our soul has known for many, many lifetimes, and now a lot of people are coming to psychedelics intentionally, struggling with addiction or mental health or wanting to get in touch with their purpose and meaning on this planet, for personal growth, healing, and peeling back layers of their consciousness. The first step is to get educated. I think that’s the most important thing, just like if you were preparing for a trip to some country that you didn’t know anything about, you’d probably research. And it’s really recommended to set an intention while you’re having an experience. Why are you coming to this work? What would you like out of this experience? Really speaking to your subconscious and to the medicine itself.
What brought me to the work of psychedelics is I struggled with addiction for 12 years, ever since I was 16 years old. I was put on a whole slew of different medications for anxiety, depression, PTSD, ADHD, and struggled with dependency on psychiatric drugs and opioid addiction. I was in and out of many different rehabs throughout my 20s and finally found a lot of healing, relief, and total transformation through my work with psychedelics. That’s where I put my intention and effort, to help those who are struggling with addiction, or wanting to get off psychiatric drugs and kind of paving a pathway of hope for them.
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
Haight Street Voice: Hey y’all here from the Haight Street Voice and I’m here with Danielle Negrin of the SF Psychedelic Society. She is the executive director and I have recently … Welcome Danielle! … and I have recently met you because of something that we will talk about in a little bit at the end of the interview. But first of all let’s just talk about your background a little bit and how you got to where you are now with the SF Psychedelic Society.
Danielle Negrin: Thank you so much Linda for having me on and just a deep bow of gratitude to you and your work in service to humanity and specifically San Francisco.
HSV: You too!
DN: Appreciate you.
HSV: Okay, yeah, so you’re background … you went to SF State, yes?
DN: Yes, I went to SF Sate and I majored in communications and honestly a big part of what brought me to the work of psychedelics is I really struggled with addiction for about 12 years. Ever since I was 16 years old, I was put on a whole slew of different medications for anxiety, depression, PTSD, ADHD, and really struggled with dependency on psychiatric drugs and also struggled with opioid addiction and was in and out of many different rehabs throughout my 20s and finally found a lot of healing and relief and total transformation through my work with psychedelics. And that’s really where I put a lot of my intention and effort, to help those who are struggling with addiction or wanting to get off psychiatric and kind of paving a pathway of hope for them.
HSV: Thank you for sharing that. That’s incredible because I was kind of like … this whole thing to me — of course I’ve taken psychedelics, I adore mushrooms, but it’s kind of something I don’t do all the time, like maybe once a year, but I started with this background behind me because I think a lot of people if we’re going to sort of do this for the layperson of what this is about. I know that psychedelics are now on the cover of Newsweek, there’s the show “9 Perfect Strangers” with Nicole Kidman being a psychedelic counselor … but this image behind me (George Clinton of PFunk) I think a lot of the general public think “Oh, psychedelics, that means psychedelic music, groovy, people tripping out and jumping out of windows” and all that.
But as far as this becoming a medicinal general practice for the layperson that doesn’t really understand that, how would you make it more accessible or more understandable for them in a simple way, you know what I mean?
DN: Absolutely! As you said, many people know about psychedelics through what’s happened in the ‘60s and 70s and a lot of the prohibition and stigmatization of psychedelics. But really what I’d love to share is that these are ancient tools that have been around for thousands of years, that have been used by our indigenous ancestors and people are finding that a lot of our history and religions have actually been based on the intentional use of psychedelic medicine, so it’s really not that we’re ushering in something that’s new, but we’re reinstating what our ancestors used for thousands of years, and bringing them back into our culture and retouching us with our indigenous roots that we’ve been so disconnected from — whether it’s through the psychedelic drug push or through a lot of the prohibition on different medicines through what happened on the legalization front. So I really think that this is just about us getting in touch with our historical roots and what our soul has known for many, many lifetimes that we’ve used traditionally in different sacred ceremonies.
And now people are coming to psychedelics, I find a lot of people are coming intentionally. Either people are struggling with addictions or mental health or want to get in touch with their purpose and meaning on this planet and people are using psychedelics for personal growth and healing and just peeling back layers of their consciousness. These can be used as tools, and we like to say they’re a tool, they’re not a magic bullet. They’re really a tool to help people get into the depths of their psyche or their subconscious mind. People are using them in high doses and also in smaller doses, like micro-dosing.
HSV: That’s a good point right there. A dear friend of mine and I won’t mention his name but he’s not somebody who would — he’d done psychedelics but he’s micro-dosing himself on his own terms and it’s not for any particular reason except to calm himself down in this day and age, he’s been stressed. He’s not going out and drinking like he may have wanted to the bar, you know, years ago. And now it’s sort of like just teeny bits. So I guess my question is this whole thing of going to a safe space where hopefully like the psychedelic center that Dr. Dave and you and I are all starting to be involved in — it’s a safe space where there’s actually people guiding you through it. Now that’s a totally different thing than random people just saying, “Oh, I’m gonna nibble a mushroom today and go do what I do.” So, for the regular person like myself or the people who are watching this perhaps, what’s the difference there? Are there dangers? If you’re micro-dosing or in a clinical setting — what are the differences? There’s a wide spectrum there. What’s safe? What’s not safe? Is it all safe? I would like more clarity on that. It’s kind of confusing to me a little bit.
DN: Great questions. Thank you so much for that. So I would say that psychedelics aren’t for everyone but they are for many people who are ready to face themselves and work through a lot of what we like to call “shadow work”, which is things we might’ve been suppressing for decades that have been stored in our body or the back of our consciousness.
So I would say for some people who are dealing with psychosis or really intense psychiatric disorders who are on a whole slew of medications to be really careful about using psychedelics, and also just people who are on psychiatric medications like SSRIs, even addiction too: alcohol, opioids — they can all have interactions with different psychedelics. There are a lot of different resources that can be helpful for that. There’s a website called “microdosingpsychedelics.com” where you can look up all the different drugs that — if you’re on a psychiatric drug you can look it up to see if it has any reported interactions with psychedelics.
HSV: That’s great. In fact when I post this I’ll get all those links so I can actually pass on that information to the people that are watching right now. Cool.
DN: Thank you! So people are — there are a lot of studies that are happening right now, there are legal studies that are going on with psilocybin and with MDMA as well and these are happening via clinical trials where they’re having guided sessions, meaning people are doing preparation sessions with patients, they’re also doing high doses of medicine and they’re using it as a tool for psychotherapeutic interaction. So people are getting therapy while taking psychedelics and that is traditionally being done in a clinical setting. That’s also legally happening with ketamine right now. There are many ketamine clinics throughout the country that are using psychedelics as a tool for psychotherapy. Also there are different ayahuascas being studied outside of the U.S. and a medicine called Iboga Ibogain, which is being used for heroin addiction and many other addictions that can’t seemed to be healed through traditional recovery methods. People are also micro-dosing on their own, and by that I mean taking about a tenth of a dose or even up to a quarter of a dose. And in the smaller doses it’s being used to help people with depression, anxiety — it’s considered a non-specific amplifier so it can amplify anything that someone is feeling in their body or in their subconscious mind. It’s also being used for focus and creativity, it’s a stimulant. Kind of like how people use caffeine or other stimulants.
HSV: Or getting stoned?
DN: Yes, exactly. But the difference between pharmaceuticals and psychedelics is that they can’t be taken every day. You can build up a tolerance really quickly, so it’s recommended to take days off when you’re micro-dosing. It’s really recommended to set an intention while you’re having an experience. Same goes for higher doses: Why are you coming to this work? What would you like out of this experience? Really speaking to your subconscious and to the medicine itself and bringing more intentionality. I think the more intention we bring to this work, I think it’s going to help dissolve some of the stigmatization as well as the education that we’re bringing to the public because so much of the stigma that is around is coming from these bad experiences or challenging experiences that people are having. So we’re really trying to focus on set and setting, what kind of mindset are you coming to with this experience? What location are you in and what kind of people are you with? All of these components do have an impact on the psychedelic experience.
HSV: And even the food … what did you eat last night?
DN: Yes.
HSV: So let’s bring it to … here, let me bring up Dr. Dave [holding the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs]. Yay Dr. Dave! Dr. Dave has brought us together — yourself and … lots of us, there are about 12 of us at the moment but the idea of having a San Francisco Psychedelic Center where it is going to be a reading room, it’s going to be maybe hopefully the Haight Street Voice headquarters here on Stanyan, and then in the back will be an actual space where there is that safe setting where people can be guided through the healing process.
What do you see … you know, this is, again, I should mention that this is partially the work for what’s called the Psychedelic Journalism Fellowship that Cal Berkeley is amazingly offering grants for. So this is part of my grant application is talking to everybody who is part of this planning committee as it were for Dr. Dave’s vision. So what do you see it as, Danielle? What do you see this space becoming? What’s your vision?
DN: I am so excited for this space! I feel like it’s so needed in the community …
HSV: Right here where it all started, too, in the ‘60s!
DN: Exactly, and such an extension of what’s already been done with the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic. I’m really seeing it as a psychedelic hub for people to come to, either to learn about the Haight Street Voice, learn about what’s happening in psychedelics, I’d love there to be a psychedelic library where people can have access to a free library of all these different books and literature that are coming out about psychedelics and that have been written for decades and decades. I’d also like it to be a place where people can come to meet others who are using psychedelics for their personal growth, spiritual development, mental health, addiction recovery, and I could see it hosting different events to learn about psychedelics, and integration circles where people can come and process their psychedelic experiences and unpack them in a group setting. I’d love it to be a place where traveling people who are writing psychedelic books or indigenous leaders to come and share wisdom with the community. And eventually — we’ve been part of the group that decriminalize entheogens and fungi in Oakland and we’re seeing that spread across the country. James [McConchie, Haight Street Shroom Shop] has also been working on that in San Francisco and t think that could be a really monumental shift for San Francisco once these medicines get decriminalized that people could potentially be using this space as a safe space to take a micro-dose and be in community with each other. Or once it is legal to have a facilitated journey with someone in that safe space. And also a space for people to come if they’re having challenging experiences with psychedelics and for people to have resources and people that they can talk to as they’re trying to integrate some of the challenging messages that can come through the experiences.
HSV: Almost like a sponsor, like an AA kind of an idea, like a … not a buddy but like a sponsor who you can speak to who’s been through this and you can call them and speak with them or meet with them or express having a hard time or whatever. That would be amazing.
DN: Yes.
HSV: You mentioned James McConchie of the Haight Street Shroom Shop … I will be interviewing him for this application as we explore what the heck we’re doing with this Haight Ashbury Psychedelic Center. I was going to mention that I had drinks last night with a friend of mine who works at the Haight Street Art Center and I was thinking art and music as well, like having drumming circles and place where people can do art and express themselves. That’s partially my vision! Or a place where you can come write, have free writing sessions and possibly have somebody write something for Haight Street Voice or … this whole idea of not sitting home alone and working on a magazine, or working on whatever it is you’re doing and having a place and, like you said, tribal, sort of like this community area. Because obviously at this point in the world it’s crunch time and it’s really important to have this sacred space. I’m really excited about it but again, I’m kind of like, “Wait, I’m gonna be in there and then there’s gonna be somebody in the back getting treated …” I think we’ve got to learn what the rhythm is going to be. Is it 2 days a week people are getting treated or certain times of the day — all of that. But I do feel like it’s coming together. There is a synergy happening, you know?
DN: Absolutely. I really feel that and just so grateful that there are so many organizations and individuals like yourself that are coming together to help foster this collective vision for the space.
HSV: Because let’s be real: There are lots of people out there, for instance the person who just called me, he’s one of the people I know who wonders, “What’s that all about? How’s that going to happen? What’s up with the mushroom thing?” A lot of people here in the neighborhood, I live a block from the Haight-Ashbury, and a lot of people are like, “Well, that’s cool but how … could I come in if I wanted to?” Being able to answer those questions, cuz I do know a lot of people in the neighborhood cuz I’ve lived here 35 years. So I want to be able to answer those questions without being clinical. Not casual, not clinical, but accessible.
DN: Yes, definitely.
HSV: That’s a big thing. I want to be the person who’s like, “I don’t really know either, guys, but I do know the people that do know about .” I want to be the liaison as it were. And I’m so grateful for you, and isn’t it amazing that your own intense experience led you to this amazing place.
DN: I’m so grateful. Exactly.
HSV: Crossing the abyss, you know? Oh, here’s a really good background I think you’ll appreciate. [Dorothy and Alice hanging out] This has always been one of my favorites, you know?!
DN: That’s you and me right now!
HSV: Oh, I just wanted to show you one more picture too. This is an amazing shot of you. I was like, “Wow, that’s so badass!” Here you are hanging out with Dennis McKenna, Terrance McKenna’s brother. This is just amazing. Tell us just a little bit about this photo and what was going on. Look, you’re so happy!
DN: So happy! This was on Sacred Mushroom Day, which is September 20, which is now a globally recognized holiday to celebrate sacred mushrooms. This was a few years ago, Dennis McKenna was speaking at this event in San Francisco and this is my previous business partner Seth Warner, who teaches people how to grow mushrooms and we were meeting Dennis after his talk. We eventually collaborated with him on this big event that was called the “Tribute to Terrance” where we had around 10,000 people come across the globe. It was a free month of different events with all of Terrance’s friends and mentors in the psychedelic space. We had free talks, just a tribute to him. People shared personal stories they had with him and memories of him. He’s just been such an iconic legend who’s distributed so much information and collective consciousness to so many people around psychedelics and the intentional use of psychedelics. He really had some existential thoughts around the intelligence of these medicines and how they come from other worlds. And I think it’s so important anyone entering the psychedelic space to look into Dennis’s work and Terrence work. They’ve done a lot of different research on many different sacred plants outside of the U.S. and inside of the U.S. and they’re just extremely knowledgeable about psychedelics psychopharmacology. I highly look up to him as an individual. He’s a brilliant man and a really sweet person.
HSV: As you were speaking, I was thinking: what if I wanted to try this out? I mean if I’m applying for this grant I probably should go through a session. I actually did know … when I lived in New York writing for SPIN magazine I had the pleasure of knowing Timothy Leary really well and I got to meet Terrence McKenna, I was 25 I think. I had never even taken psychedelics at that point but I remember just thinking, “Some day, meeting these 2 guys and knowing these 2 people and somehow now here I am … kind of finding myself in the middle of it all these years later — through journalism. Thank you journalism, rock and roll, too, quite frankly.
But let’s say … I just kind of want to bring it to the layperson again: Let’s say I did want to go to a session. My first reaction is, “Oh my god. I’m gonna be vulnerable, what if I freak out, what if people see me looking weird. All the self-conscious shit comes up. I’m just being really honest with you. I’m very independent and I go through stuff, I do this, I do that, and I’m an Aries and I go. But allowing yourself to be vulnerable, I think is one of the biggest things that scares a lot of people about having people guide you through it, being able to trust those people. What are the baby steps to that? Let’s say I said, “Okay, Danielle, I want to try this.” What would it look like? What would be my first steps?
DN: Mmm. I love your questions!
HSV: I’m wingin’ it here! [laughing]
DN: I would say vulnerability I believe is some of the highest form of courage and intelligence on planet Earth and I think it’s important for people first working with psychedelics to find someone that they trust, that they can work with, or even having a friend that they trust just sit with them, even if it’s for a micro-dosing experience. Someone that you don’t feel is judging you, someone that you can be vulnerable and authentic with. I don’t think … in the past people have taken these at concerts and big public venues, and that can be fun, but I think if people are reintroducing them into their lives and they have some amount of any kind of anxiety or fear? That’s always a good thing because these are powerful tools and they do shift our consciousness and they do bring a lot of things up to the surface. Having that anxiety or mild fear about it can show reverence and respect for the power of these tools. So much that can come up in the experience, some people can label as “bad” or “challenging”, but I really do think that it’s about how you’re viewing it. Bringing things to the surface that need to be cleared and witnessed and healed that is potentially holding you back in your life or creating blockages. I think for some people they feel called to do larger doses but I do think it’s good to just start small. If you’re going to to go in the ocean, do you dive right in with a big splash? Some people like to just put their toe in and kind of test the water, see the temperature.
HSV: Or horseback riding. You’re not gonna just start galloping. You might go for a little walk first.
DN: Exactly. Same analogy is if you’re taking a trip, are you just gonna like go to Africa and not plan? Of course you’re going to take some time to plan it out, you know, what’s your trip gonna look like? What air flight are you gonna take? What are you gonna visit while you’re there? Giving yourself spaciousness to pack for your trip, giving yourself spaciousness when you get home to unpack and unwind. Same goes for psychedelics: plan out your experience. What would you like in your experience? Where is it gonna be? Who will you be with? What might come up in the experience? What kind of fears are you holding onto? What is your history? Is there a history of mental health challenges in your family?
HSV: Right.
DN: All of that comes into play in the experience. A big thing that we like to focus on at the Psychedelic Society is integration, which is: how do we unpack the experiences that come to the psychedelic space and actually apply them to our lives to make changes? So it’s kind of like if you’re fishing for a fish, you’re reeling in the fish part and then eating the fish — that’s the integration process.
HSV: I like that! That’s a good visual, that’s great.
DN: Yeah! And once you eat the fish, what does it do to impact your consciousness and let’s say something comes up in the psychedelic experience and you have this realization of “I want to be more connected to nature” or “I want to be more connected to myself” — what steps are you going to take in your life to be more connected to nature? Maybe that’s to go on a walk every day in nature or hug a tree or maybe buy a San Pedro plant and grow it in your backyard and tend to it every day or journaling every day and getting re-in touch with yourself and doing meditation every day to get in touch with your subconscious mind to do that inner work. So all these kind of practices are things people are doing to integrate these experiences for change and transformation.
HSV: That’s great. And while you were talking as well I was thinking … unpacking … I think a lot of people including myself very much … my mom died when I was younger, every day I think about her, but it’s something I’ve sort of like learned to bury, sort of like, “Okay, mom’s dead and that happened and that’s back there.” So going through a trip that’s definitely something — why would I want to unpack Mom dying? And then the abandonment shit … it’s like, “Okay, I took a trip, now I’m thinking about Mom being dead and I’m all alone.” [laugh] I’m just totally dumbing it down here, but that came up while you were talking and I know that it’s actually facing that and going through, “Yeah, Mom did die but that’s okay” and sort of like being able to revisit her. But I think that whole thing of knowing somebody or people that I trust are gonna be there at the end of “crossing the abyss” as I said earlier. It’s realizing Mom did pass away but I’m not alone.
DN: Exactly, and condolences to the passing of your mom, and maybe she’s here with us right now.
HSV: She definitely is.
DN: I feel that. I would say, too, on top of — just piggybacking on what you just shared — making peace with her death and maybe there are areas of your life where that abandonment pattern shows up because it hasn’t been healed potentially, fully healed or witnessed or recognized with your mom, and maybe with doing that work with psychedelics that abandonment piece or any other patterns that are associated with that experience can dissolve or transform in your life. And that’s where I see the psychedelics being so transformational and help us cope and deal with things in our lives that potentially we’re burying or don’t fully know how to witness and recognize and integrate in our lives. They have this change in our consciousness, this neurogenic change where they create these new pathways in our brain that we normally didn’t have access to, and shift thought patterns and belief systems, different than anything I’ve ever witnessed in my life.
HSV: What would be the first steps if somebody listening to this when I post it and everything, what would be the first steps for them — it’s funny [pull up image of me walking next to mushroom mural] cuz this inadvertently an accidental shot, Danielle, after I scheduled this meeting with you. I was walking to Gus’s Market and this accidentally happened. I was like, “This is a sign …” I just love that photo, and it even looks like you right there [point to background] with fairy wings! [laugh] And that’s my knees! I’m walking into it! I just love that. It’s all about synchronicity for sure! I know that one for sure!
But what would be the first steps? Is there a number that somebody would call or a website that you would recommend for a complete novice? I really want to see if I can go get some treatment. What number would you recommend? Where would they start?
DN: You know, it’s such a tricky question and it’s one of the most frequent questions that we get. I love that showed the picture of the Amanita muscaria mushroom because that’s one of the only legal unregulated mushrooms in the U.S. currently. So you can actually buy Amanita muscaria online, whereas most of these other psychedelics, plants, fungi tools are currently not legal, they’re currently Schedule 1 drugs. There are certain states that have decriminalized psychedelics. For example Oakland has decriminalized, Seattle just decriminalized, Humboldt, California, Washington D.C., I think Michigan is another one. So basically by decriminalize, it means that people can gather them, you can go foraging for mushrooms, you can grow them, or you can gift them away. But there’s nowhere that you can go to legally buy them or sell them.
So we’re still operating in this kind of gray area, and so for many people it’s kind of taking a risk in their legal area for me to say, “Hey, go to his place to get an experience, or that place …”
HSV: Right.
DN: But now Ketamine in now legal and Ketamine is considered a legal psychedelic drug. Now there’s different Ketamine clinics that you can go to to get a facilitated experience. A lot of people are growing their own medicine and there are different spore companies that ship to many locations. California is one of the only states that spores can’t be shipped to.
HSV: What? Really?
DN: Yeah, yeah. But I would say the first step is to get educated. I think that’s the most important thing, just like if you were preparing for a trip to some country that you didn’t know anything about you’d probably research: what are the local laws in the country? What is the exchange rate, where are some cool places to go? Same thing with psychedelics: check out the different local laws in your area and look into the different medicines. Psychedelic Society of San Francisco can be a really great resource for people to come who are new to psychedelics. We offer different courses and classes for people to learn about different dosaging, how to use them safely, even how to prepare micro-doses because there are different practices that can be helpful to keep people safe when working with psychedelics. Make sure you have people around you that can support you because it can be so transformational, reach out to our organization to make friends. We have many different free groups where people can come, even if they’re new to psychedelics, you can just say, “Hey! I’m new. I want to learn about these medicines. I want to meet other people who are using them and make friends — that’s totally what we’re there for as a resource. And there’s other organizations online that are also providing education and classes and community. We’re just one of many so I welcome people to check out our page and we can refer you to other pages. Also, amanitadreamer.net — that’s a collaborator we just worked with and she makes hundreds of different videos about how to us amanita muscaria. Amanita is the one I was speaking about, that red and white one. That one is legal so you can actually work with that on your own. People are finding that it’s transformative for anxiety. It’s a really powerful tool that can be used to develop a relationship with yourself.
HSV: [pointing to image onscreen of amanita muscaria] These are on the side of an school, a daycare center for young kids. I just think that’s marvelous! Literally right here a block from me on Page Street.
DN: I love that.
HSV: Isn’t that great? And then that door on the mushroom … I don’t know if you were there but I came up with this idea of having a giant door and calling it The Door of Perception…
DN: Yes, I love that.
HSV: It’s gonna happen and I just thought about, you know, what do I tell people for the Haight-Ashbury Psychedelic Center run by the wonderful Dr. David E. Smith and his vision and his whole legacy of healing people through psychedelics — all of that, it’s beautiful. A place where people can actually walk in and say, “You know, I don’t know what this is all about. Tell me about it.” Where they can just sit down and talk. They’re not doing anything yet, they’re just able to have a discussion with somebody who knows.
DN: Absolutely.
HSV: That’s wonderful. Well thanks for being here and any words that you want to say to the Haight Street Voice community, it’s “hyper-local with a global perspective”, so communities here and all over the world, what would you like to say, Danielle?
DN: I would say a lot of what I’m speaking to today is focussed on the U.S., some of the legalities and things. But 2 more things I’ll say: There’s an effort in California that is called SP549 and it’s aiming to decriminalize all psychedelics — including the synthetic psychedelics in California for state-wide. That’s been paused for a year but we’re still actively working on that measure, which is really exciting because it could decriminalize state-wide for California, meaning every single city would have that “gather, gift and grow” model and people could personally hold it and not be arrested. I think group sharing and group experiences would be allowed. So that’s huge for moving these efforts forward for California. There are many organizations outside of the U.S. and clinics where people can go experience Auyuasca in South America, in a legal setting and do Ayahuasca and Iboga and Ibogaine and Peyote — a lot of these experiences can be done outside the U.S., so I don’t want people to think, “Oh, I’m in the U.S. I can’t access this.” Many other countries do have — like the Netherlands, truffles are accessible and LSD analogs are also accessible in the Netherlands, some other countries as well.
So I would just …again looking into the legality in your local space and come to these groups and make community. There are people out there who are actively looking for other people just like you, to meet you, explore their consciousness with you. Don’t be afraid to reach out and ask questions, make new friends and know that you are not alone on this path.
HSV: Yeah. Also for me I would say … there’s a lot of people that going to a group setting it’s just scary. I don’t want to go where there are a bunch of people standing around. I can’t handle it — even though I’m really outgoing I get really shy. So you can come to the space but you can actually go to the side with one person — it doesn’t have to be this huge group thing. It can be very gentle. I just want to throw that out there.
DN: And there are many coaches and integration therapists that are working one-on-one with people to help people prepare for experiences, integrate them into their lives. I’m definitely a resource for people if they want to reach out and speak to me one on one. You can find my work at psychedelicsocietysf.org. I have a big focus on people who are struggling from addiction, psychiatric medication. We want it to be a resource for those people. We host a weekly group called “Psychedelic Recovery” where people can come and either with either an active addiction or in long-term recovery who are using psychedelics as their healing path … and they can be a part of this online group. And we’re going to extend it to have more in-person meetings. So just giving a warm welcome to anyone to join us.
Thank you so much for having me on!
HSV: See you Wednesday at 2pm for the Haight-Ashbury Psychedelic Center meeting #2 with Dr. Dave Smith!
DN: I’m so excited. And any way I can further support you and your mission and this new project you’re working on for the Psychedelic Journalism project — I’m here!
HSV: Thanks, hon! Peace! We’ll see you soon!
