We’ll go over basic information on how psychedelics work in the brain, why ego transcendence is so therapeutic, and what the research is saying as to why these substances are so transformative for conditions like addiction, anxiety, or PTSD.

This episode covers the basics in regard to effects, dosage, and characteristics of each psychedelic: LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, ketamine, ayahuasca, and DMT. It also includes information on questions to ask yourself in advance of tripping to help you determine which of these psychedelics might be best for you to start with.

With information from Rick Doblin, executive director of MAPS (the nonprofit carrying out MDMA-for-PTSD research), we’ll go over the effects of MDMA, how it works in the brain, and why it’s so therapeutic for trauma. We’ll also go over risks, including serotonin syndrome, contraindications, and safety measures around water intake. John Saul, a study subject in MAPS trials and now a leader in psychedelic integration shares best practices for journeying with MDMA. This episode also features information on how to enroll in a clinical trial in case you may be an eligible candidate.

You might’ve heard Ketamine is showing incredible promise for treatment-resistant depression, suicidality, and trauma, among other conditions. It’s exciting because it’s the only completely legal psychedelic medicine, which means, doctors can prescribe it. But there are a lot of questions about how this works—and how to do it safely. In this episode, we speak to Dr. Jeff Becker and Dr. Erica Zelfand about the different kinds of ketamine, how much they cost, how often treatment is necessary, how to find a ketamine clinic, and, if you have treatment-resistant depression, how you might be able to get your insurance company to cover it.

With information from integration facilitators Ido Cohen and Deanna Rogers, as well as mindfulness teacher and plant medicine guide Nate Macanian, episodes 7 through 9 offer practical advice, harm reduction information, and measures for getting to know yourself better through the psychedelic process. Before you trip (maybe for the first time), we have a number of journal prompts and questions to ask yourself about why you’re tripping, what your intention is, and how to prepare your set and setting. The more self-work and reflection you do before your psychedelic journey, the more you are likely to get out of it.

This episode covers best practices the day of the trip, including what to eat, what to do with your phone while you’re tripping, picking out music, setting up the space, and more. It also covers information on best practices, like whether or not to look in the mirror, considerations regarding whether to trip at night or during the day, and what to do in the case of a bad trip: For starters, don’t call it a “bad trip”.

Perhaps the most important episode, we’ll go over how you can get the most out of your psychedelic journey: From the initial phase in the first few days after your trip to weeks or months out, we offer best practices and journal prompts for how you can solidify the experience into your daily life and learn from it to make the changes you intended to make. We’ll also provide information on what to do if you had a challenging experience and are struggling afterward.