MARK HENSON • Inner Voices, 1983

Some of the most profound states of consciousness that I have experienced, where induced by ingesting psychedelics. But these substances also trigger some of the most challenging, confusing, and stressful moments of my life.

I have seen 'heaven' and 'hell' in some kind of ebb and flow matter almost everytime I have tripped. Every psychedelic experience is different and varies from person to person. At the end of the day, it is the set and setting that determine what states of consciousness will be experienced.

The woman is about to enter into a state of communion
with the source of all beingness.
As she passes into the light, voices of doubt and
fear make one more attempt to direct her thoughts elsewhere.
What if there is no love? What if there is no caring? Will I be left out?
As the light comes closer and closer,
the unresolved “Inner Voices” fade,
drawing her through the door of consciousness,
into the love that was there all the time.
— Commentary by Monti Moore

“Set” is the mental state a person brings to the experience, like thoughts, mood, and expectations. “Setting” is the physical and social environment. Social support networks have shown to be important in the outcome of the psychedelic experience. They are able to control or guide the course of the experience, both consciously and subconsciously. Stress, fear, or a disagreeable environment, may result in a bad trip. Conversely, a relaxed, curious person in a warm, comfortable and safe place is more likely to have a good internal trip.

The term set and setting were introduced by Harvard psychologist Timothy Leary (Leary et al., 1963). Leary’s set and setting hypothesis argued that psychedelic drugs acted as a magnifying glass to consciousness, augmenting whatever already existed in one’s mind. He defined set as including the psychological factors of personality, preparation, expectation, and intention; and setting as including the environmental factors of the physical, social and cultural surroundings in which the experience occurred. The set and setting hypothesis have been used to explain the striking rise and fall in the rate of adverse reactions to LSD in the late 1960s (Bunce, 1979). It can also help us understand why 1950s literature on LSD is filled with many contradictory accounts that perplexed researchers at the time. Some claimed that LSD was primarily an anxiety-provoking agent (Hoch, 1957), while others believed it imbued a sense of wholeness (Eisner and Cohen, 1958). Some claimed that LSD invoked psychosis (Rinkel, 1958), while others that it was a harbinger of a ‘new sanity’ (Janiger, 1959). Some said it caused retardation of thought (Deshon et al., 1952), while others presented it as a cognitive enhancer (Harman and Fadiman, 1970). Finally, some maintained that no one who had the LSD experience wanted to repeat it, while others claimed those who had the LSD experience wish to repeat it regularly (Abramson, 1960). Such striking contradictions can be resolved by considering the divergent types of sets and settings used by different research groups which utilized a variety of research perspectives to concentrate alternatively on the potential of hallucinogens to induce psychosis, assist in psychotherapy, augment creativity or enhance spirituality (Hartogsohn, 2015b). These differences in perspectives can be appreciated by considering the many names suggested for these agents, such as hallucinogens (producing hallucinations), psychotomimetics (mimicking psychosis), mysticomimetics (mimicking mystical states), psychedelics (mind manifesting), psychodysleptics (mind-disruptive) or oneirogens (producing dreams) (Strassman, 1984, 2010).

The Manual of Psychedelic Support

Psychedelic Harm Reduction

The set and setting theory has long been established and we are learning more and more about the psychedelic experience. I thought it might be wise to share with you something that I found on my never-ending research journey of learning more about psychedelics.

The Manual of Psychedelic Support is a comprehensive guide to setting up and running compassionate care services for people having difficult drug experiences at music festivals and similar events.

Even though this is a manual of psychedelic support for people have a 'bad' trip at events. The Principles and Ethics of Psychedelic Support can be applied to any scale of psychedelic experience. Whether that be at burning man or just with a couple of your closes friends. Its a good reference for beginners and pros alike.

ABOUT THE MANUAL OF PSYCHEDELIC SUPPORT:

The Manual grew out of the work of its original creators at KosmiCare, the psychedelic care service at the iconic Boom Festival in Portugal. Whilst psychedelic care services have been in operation for decades, and have grown in number and in scope in the past few years, a general guide on how to establish and run them did not exist in the public domain, nor indeed—beyond training manuals for specific organisations—at all. We envisaged a work that would address all aspects of such a project, containing material to guide the care service leader, team leads and caregivers, and those fulfilling vital supporting roles (such as psychiatrists and nurses) through the entire gamut of preparation, training, logistics, operations, and the wrap-up of a care service.

What started off as a small project grew into something much larger, involving over fifty people from around the world. These people came from all walks of life – psychiatrists, therapists, scholars, psychonauts, artists, and many more – all united by a common love and interest. Some brought deep knowledge and rich experience gained from work with KosmiCare in Portugal, with the Burning Man organization in the United States, and with other groups worldwide.

The First Edition of The Manual of Psychedelic Support was published at the beginning of 2015 as a freely downloadable PDF. A year and a half later the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) formally joined this project as its publisher, and in 2017 released the Second Edition of the Manual in hardcopy book form, available for purchase from the MAPS store or from Amazon. The Second Edition contains a new section, the Guide to Drug Effects and Interactions.

As per the original principles of the project, the latest version of the Manual continues to be available for free download here, from this psychsitter.com website. The Manual of Psychedelic Support, in both its hardcopy and downloadable format, is published under a Creative Commons License – its content, is open to adaptation and modification; for example, for utilization in training manuals for particular care services.

The Manual of Psychedelic Support may be downloaded here.

An Audio Harm Reduction Guide For Psychedelic Psychotherapy

A couple of months ago I attended Psychedelic career day webinar. It was a webcast broadcasted from Toronto Psychedelic Society about studying psychedelics in academia, helping to find your way to a psychedelic career and learn from panelists that have made a psychedelic career in areas like communications, clinical research, psychotherapy, education, entrepreneurship, and psychiatry.

The second half of the webinar was Q & A neuroscientist Mendel Kaelen talked about creating an app for therapeutic music to guide users through trips. Music is an important part of the setting—as in set and setting—of psychedelic psychotherapy. After the webinar, I did some research to dig deeper into the latest info on this key aspect of psychedelic support.

You're Next - Mati Klarwein - 1979

Matt "River" Baldwin of Chacruna wrote a great article on musical sound quality is an important part of the setting—as in set and setting—of psychedelic psychotherapy.

In therapeutic work with psychedelics, music acts as a carrier wave for the entire period of drug effect, which means that the participant spends many continuous hours under headphones. This calls for a music-playing setup that is comfortable, reliable, and that sounds good. We all know what it feels like when you hear a song (especially through headphones, often on the internet) and find yourself thinking: there is something wrong here, this sounds terrible. This is usually the result of poor quality music files or bad gear.

To follow up this article on sound quality he created his own playlist Introducing Chacruna’s Psychedelic Therapy Music Forum

This is the playlist that was used at Imperial College London for the psilocybin trials

It's a good starting point to create a playlist of your own. My personal playlist will include early Pink Floyd & King Crimson albums.

One last thing that I would recommend to anyone thinking about taking psychedelics to check out this good research article by David Wilder, who was at the webinar as well, Get Ready for Your Psychedelic Voyage by Reading Experience Reports. Safe Travels into the unknown.

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GWYLLM LLWYDD • The Chemist (dedicated to Sasha Shulgin), 2013

How long will this last, this delicious feeling of being alive, of having penetrated the veil which hides beauty and the wonders of celestial vistas? It doesn't matter, as there can be nothing but gratitude for even a glimpse of what exists for those who can become open to it. ― Alexander Shulgin, Pihkal: A Chemical Love Story