Psychedelic Preparation and Integration
Psychedelics offer individualized opportunities to experience non-ordinary or “altered” states of consciousness. While such experiences can result in deep healing and personal transformation, the experiences can often be complex in nature and difficult to navigate. The potential for healing and transformation increases with effective preparation and integration.
These sessions offer a comfortable, confidential space to prepare for journeys, as well as a secure post-journey environment to share, process and integrate realizations and epiphanies gained, so as to maximize the opportunities for personal transformation offered by psychedelics.
What is psychedelic preparation?
When taking psychedelics, individuals who are more intentional about their “set and setting”—that is, their mindset and environment—report more positive experiences.
Psychedelics have been used in ceremonial practice for thousands of years, and traditional peoples, appropriately so, have developed a deep respect of psychedelic substances. My work with psychedelics is imbued with this ancestral wisdom as I’ve found it to serve effectively in both traditional and contemporary settings.
Preparation begins before a planned psychedelic journey. Of course there’s no absolute timeline for when one should begin preparing, nor for how long; it’s an individual matter. I believe that our psychedelic journey begins the moment we decide to have the experience.
Preparation and intention setting are critical components to integration. Intention setting is a major aspect of preparation work as it can provide a grounding anchor in a psychedelic session, helping guide an individual and give them a lens through which to process insights that arrive post-trip.
What is psychedelic integration?
Undoubtedly, psychedelics are valuable tools for self-understanding, transformation, and healing, enabling us to peer into our inner workings and understand the world around us in new ways. These medicines hold tremendous power, and as such, the wake of such a significant experience may leave you emotionally raw and unsettled. This is why we need practices to ground us, so we can incorporate lessons learned into our daily life. This step is known as “psychedelic integration” as we have heightened neuroplasticity after psychedelic medicine use. This process involves chewing on our experiences, digesting any insights, and taking practical steps to implement those insights to create sustainable shifts.
In this sense, integration is an active, intentional process where an individual consciously reflects on their psychedelic experience and what it means for them personally. It involves exploring how insights can be translated into bite-sized actionable steps. The personal nature of integration means that an individual needs to find an authentic way of implementing their experience in a way that suits their unique needs and personality.
Furthermore, psychedelic researchers have long considered integration a key component in psychedelic healing. In fact, they place major emphasis on post-experience “integrative follow-up sessions” as a scientific approach to aftercare. Many believe that integration protocols and strategies play a crucial role in positive long-term therapeutic outcomes, and some even argue that the value of integration is greater than the psychedelic sessions themselves.
What is breathwork?
Breathwork is an acceleration of the healing process through an exploration and practice of the breath. Disconnecting from the mind entirely, the breath goes deep into your cells, saturating the body with both oxygen and life force, and helps to release any negative self-thought, perceived limitations, past trauma or any uncomfortable sensations that are held in the body.
The breath acts as a bridge between the conscious and unconscious, between the mind, body and the spirit. By connecting with the breath, we can tune into our deep intuition, which will always direct us to the best outcome. This work is moving and dynamic and can take us on a wild journey into forgotten bits of ourselves, opening us up to greater clarity, release and peace of mind.
Breathwork is based on the belief that the body wants to heal itself and it has everything it needs to be able to do this. It will always be working towards that state of balance, and by accessing this healing space within ourselves, our awareness is brought to whatever needs to be resolved. During this process, the breath rewires the brain by creating new neural pathways. Breathwork is a completely safe, natural healing tool that perfectly complements any other healing or therapies you may be doing.
To put it simply – breathwork is the conscious practice of controlling your breath to create a specific nervous system response. Your breath dictates your blood flow and circulation, immune system response, hormonal response, emotional state and nervous system state. It has an impact on almost all processes in the body. The type of breathing patterns you follow can help you master your physiology, with different methods for mental, emotional, and spiritual state shifts as needed.
Breathwork for preparation and integration:
Breathwork is a powerful modality that can be used both to “prep” for psychedelic experiences and to “integrate” them as well. Improving the “prep” and “integration” process will help to maximize your psychedelic experience to sustainable change.
Working with psychedelics can bring up unprocessed emotions and memories. Feeling safe and secure is fundamental for the psychedelic journey. This safety starts within your nervous system - within your own being. This is why your breath can be your anchor.
You can anchor your intention - the guiding belief and focus of your psychedelic experience - with your breath. Just like your intention is a focal point to return to, your breath is a constant point of groundedness you can continually return to during your experience. Tying the two points of focus together can deeply solidify the why behind your healing experience.
It’s essential we embark on this path as prepared and well-equipped as we can be. And, it’s equally important to have a game plan for how we will handle and process difficult emotions as they arise. Breathwork can transition your body out of the body’s chronic “fight or flight” stressed state and into a state of calm and surrender. By flooding your cells with more oxygen, you regulate the physical stress response in the body - especially as it arises in anticipation of a psychedelic experience. This practice helps to mitigate emotional turbulence and create a deeper sense of safety.
Integration protocols and strategies including breathwork and mindfulness can help achieve the best possible long-term therapeutic outcomes from psychedelic experiences. When we integrate the shifts that came from a psychedelic experience, it’s paramount we are in a calm, balanced, and grounded state. To do so, we can utilize our breath. Our breath is the greatest access point to manage and regulate our nervous system.
Breathwork can create similar altered states of consciousness to psychedelics so it is a very supportive tool during integration. This allows people to bring the magic of these abstract experiences into the day-to-day, and continue their relationship with this mystical space of expanded consciousness. Breathwork can help to support the benefits and the integration phase of psychedelic therapy by reducing stress, decreasing anxiety, enhancing psychological flexibility, supporting the autonomic nervous system, promoting emotional release, boosting mood and creating meaning from their experience.
Coaching for preparation and integration:
During the preparation phase, I help you find meaningful, clear intentions that can help guide the outcome you hope to achieve from your psychedelic journey. We will also spend a lot of time focusing on how to prepare you mind, body, and spirit for the journey. I will be here to answer questions around any of your concerns.
I take a very trauma-informed lens from start to finish, and I will go into detail about how trauma is stored in, and released from, the body. We will focus on embodiment techniques you can implement before, during, and after the ceremony. You will learn practical tips for staying out of your head and in your body during the experience.
During the integration phase, there are different ways to integrate your journey based on the experience you had (mental, emotional, physical, spiritual/mystical, relational, and/or environmental). During this time we discuss how to integrate this journey in a way that is compatible with your own cultural framework and beliefs. This can be done by finding meaning from the experiences, mining for lessons, how to share the experiences with others, finding communities, and then my favorite part, how to embody the experience to further help it be a lasting part of your life.
All of my preparation and integration services incorporate breathwork.
About Me:
Background:
I offer traditional and non-traditional therapeutic techniques. For the last decade, I have been working in the health field. I take a trauma-informed somatic approach as I help people get from disconnected and stuck in their mind to deeply connected to their own intuition. I bring my big heart and joy to the table as those can be some of the purest and most healing energies needed. I hold a safe, non-judgmental space as I use natural tools to encourage the movement and release of energy.
Professional expereince:
I have professional experience working with individuals, psychedelic therapy centers, and plant medicine retreats for people sitting with San Pedro, Ayahuasca, Psilocybin, Kambo, Ketamine, and MDMA.
Working with me you should:
Feel adequately prepared as well as integrate realizations, discoveries and epiphanies from your psychedelic experience. You will integrate shadows, release burdens, align with your true self, and have a deepened sense of unity.
Please note:
My psychedelic preparation and integration services are intended to be a comfortable and confidential space for individuals who are preparing to use or who have used psychedelic substances. I neither provide nor prescribe psychedelic substances.
What clients are saying
“Callie has such a reverence for plant medicine and the indigenous peoples. She is continually asking questions to make sure her work is in alignment with the traditions. We are constantly referring clients to her as we know they will be in such great hands. Clients reflect back her ability to help them feel more relaxed going into a ceremony and also her mastery in helping people integrate their experiences.”
“Working with Callie David has been one of the honors of my entire healing journey of 10+ years. The words that come flooding to mind are grace, ease, gentleness, fluidity, intention, compassion, heartfelt, and humble. Callie is one of the most big hearted humans I’ve ever met, her gentleness, softness, and easeful trauma-informed approach weaved the most beautiful nest of safety for all of my parts - body, mind, and spirit- to relax into a peaceful knowing that I am just where I am meant to be, that I am home within my body, that I am safe and any worry or trying to “fix” myself just melted away.”
“From the incredible safety she intentionally and patiently creates with her clients, the most profound and deeply transformational work can naturally flourish, unintegrated parts of ourselves can naturally return home, and our protective mechanisms can find the rest they’ve longed for for years.”
“From her outpouring of diverse skills, endless empathy, and unconditional trust in each of her clients - I truly believe there is nothing that cannot be healed under her guidance. Whether it be her blissful breathwork classes, her heart-centered therapeutic approach, or any of her diverse and intimate healing circles- I can truly say my life and our plant medicine retreats are truly more beautiful and authentic because of her gifts. It is an honor for us at Anam Cara retreats to be a co-collaborator, supporter, and client of Callie’s. I would trust her with any of my own processes, any of our most complex clients, and my most delicate loved ones without hesitation. In our modern spiritual world of so much doing, selling, and inauthenticity… Callie lives and breathes by reminding us all what truly being ‘of service’ looks like.”
Moving forward:
It would be such an honor to work together! I offer virtual and in-person services domestically and internationally. If you are interested in pursuing services for yourself or your center, please don’t hesitate to email me at info@calliedavid.com or schedule a complimentary call with me!