Psychedelic Guide & Facilitator Red Flags
What to watch out for.
When looking for a psychedelic guide or facilitator, you typically want someone who is a bit above a tripsitter— someone who can set up a ceremonial environment, can guide you through a new (or familiar) substance safely, and can make you feel cared for and at ease.
This post isn’t about how to find a psychedelic guide, although we might put something like that together in the future. This post is about what to do when you do find a guide, whether by word of mouth or through a professional setting or service, how do you know if they’re the right one for you to be working with, the correct person to guide you through your traversing and experimenting with your own consciousness? Some people you vibe with right away, and others you have to get to know, but when it comes to a psychedelic guide, this is someone you have to vet and feel a strong level of trust with.
I asked LinkedIn and some other friends in the psychedelic world for their facilitator red flags and what to avoid when searching and vetting a guide, and this is what came up. I added some of my own, and some popular ones from around the internet, too. Hopefully, this list can help you out if you’re in the process of looking for your own guide, and want to know if the so-called shaman you found on Instagram is a safe bet.
Psychedelic Facilitator & Guide Red Flags
A sense of ego, self, I. Someone who is very focused on themselves in the ceremony/journey rather than you, who brings up that they’ve “healed” or “awakened” X amount of people and is more interested in sharing their experiences and expertise rather than ensuring your safe journey and passage; someone who is overly attached to the “shaman” or “guru” or “healer” role and constantly refers to themselves as such. Your guide should not see themselves as your saviour.
On that note, someone who claims to be 100% healed themselves is also, in my opinion, a red flag — the work is never really done, in my books.
Huge promises of healing, miracles, and more. This is a gross overrepresentation of what psychedelic therapy and medicine work is, and is an extremely dangerous mindset to have overall. Anyone who promises you overt healing and some type of mystical, magical cure for everything under the sun (usually, that only they can provide), is someone to walk away from.
No intake consultation or evaluation process — even non-medical facilitators should ask about underlying health conditions, what medications you’re taking, and do some kind of harm reduction and consultation before the session. This is basic stuff and should be one of the first things that happen when you first start talking to a guide (or retreat centre).
No clear and informed consent process: It should be made explicitly clear before you take the medicine what is allowed from/to the guide in the session and what isn’t. For example, what type of touching is allowed while you’re in the session and whether or not the guide should ask before doing it, or if touching is even allowed at all, whether or not your guide is able to record or take photos, etc.
“Any type of overt change-the-world activism.” Author Geoff Woliner said it best: “This is a controlling, unhealed energy that, at its core, represents separation consciousness and a distrust of the divine unfolding, and it bleeds into the healing process with clients, creating friction and energetic blocks.”
Lack of clear credentials — this is not to say that the only type of validity a guide can have is a legal license, but they should have some type of history or background that shows that they know what they’re doing, have received some type of training or have experience, whether they’ve facilitated other ceremonies, overseen them, or learned from traditional healers. You should know their history and they should be forthcoming with it in order to help establish trust and let you know where they’re coming from.
Poor setting creation, such as if a facilitator invites you to their home but the space is messy and unwelcoming. A good facilitator should be willing to come to you or have created a well-designed and welcoming space that they use for the purpose of ceremony or guiding only.
Lack of an objective methodology or set of guidelines. Even if one isn’t licensed and doesn’t have a board to answer to, a good facilitator should still have a list of values or morals that they abide by, as well as what philosophies, trainings, and belief systems they choose to apply in their sessions and ceremonies.
Asking for money, especially very high amounts, before you’ve even had a conversation to see if you’d work well together.
Not taking psychedelics themselves as a form of regular personal practice. A good facilitator should have a good relationship with whatever medicine they’re offering, and experience it on their own in their own ceremony to both do their own work and also remind themselves of what their clients are going through. However, this one should be taken with a grain of salt: Some excellent facilitators no longer take the medicine on their own, and feel like their time to take it has passed. I think this one is a personal preference — whether you want to work with someone who is still actively taking their substance of choice and is recently familiar with it, or whether you are looking for someone who has had recent experience in general. It’s also important to watch out for signs of drug dependency and the ever-present insatiable seeker’s syndrome that some people get, constantly jumping from medicine to medicine, retreat to retreat.
They won't disclose exactly what they are giving you, calling it their “proprietary blend.” This is a huge one. A good facilitator should always be transparent about what they are giving you and also be able to disclose where it’s sourced from for ultimate safety. You should also always remember to test your drugs.
Not explaining the process or helping you understand what to expect, even if it’s somewhat difficult to put into words.
Getting frustrated, angry, and annoyed with you if you are worried or anxious about the process (which, by the way, is completely normal).
No initial meeting beforehand, whether it’s a video or phone call or any meeting outside of a drug environment.
If they encourage you to aim for a bad trip because it's most “restorative,” “educational,” or “healing.” Personally, I can’t say I’ve experienced this one, but it doesn't surprise me.
Can’t answer basic questions about the substance. This is pretty clear. If someone facilitating a DMT session doesn’t know much about DMT, you’ll know. And you should back away slowly.
On that note, avoiding or not answering your questions, whatever they are. A good guide wants to prioritize your health and safety and should be doing whatever they can to help you understand and feel safe.
Not clear on dosing. This one is pretty important. In my opinion, everything that is going to happen in the session should be laid out for you very clearly. You’ll be taking X amount of Y substance, and it might feel like A, B, or C. If this happens, the guide can do that.
Not going over the risks involved. This goes pretty hand-in-hand with the above. Even if your guide has done a medical intake and consultation, they should still let you know any potential dangers that exist with your medicine of choice, and make sure that you have enough information to make an empowered and honest decision about your journey.
Not having an aftercare plan. Even if your psychedelic guide is not the person who you will be integrating with and you have a different therapist you turn to, your guide should still give you some basic aftercare instructions for dealing with your mind and body after a session.
No references. This can be a bit iffy. If you’ve found someone through word of mouth, you already have some. If not, you might want to hear from past clients. However, your guide might be a bit unwilling to offer any information on past clients due to privacy and the legal issues of working in this space. Like one of the other notes, take this one with a grain of salt and trust your own judgement for what you need to move forward.
Bad vibes. Sounds simplistic, but this one is pretty important. First, learn to tell the difference between your intuition and your anxiety. Next, trust your gut.
Did we miss any? Let us know in the comments.
Further Reading & Listening
Questions to Discuss with a Prospective Psychedelic Facilitator (Fireside Project)
Warning Signs When Selecting A Psychedelic Guide (Psychedelic Medicine Podcast)
How To Vet Your Psychedelic Guide (Double Blind)
Sofie Mikhaylova is a psychedelics, pop culture, and travel writer, among other things. She has a long background in the music industry, and is overall a bit of a multi-hyphenate. Her work has spanned numerous mediums and industries, from mushrooms to experimental electronic music. Her writing has appeared in Vice, leafie, Psychedelic Spotlight, The Washington Post, Fodor's Travel, Double Dot Magazine, and more. Find her on Instagram, her newsletter Sofieland, her podcast Sofieland, and her website.
1. No Code of Ethics
2. No defined set of guiding principles or beliefs
Consider adding these to the list of red flags!
Is it also okay to not give the exact dose but a range of milligrams for psilocybin?