The Process
Preparation
The Journey
Integration
Preparation
Preparation is an essential to provide a safe experience. Connect with us via our form or email and let us know a little bit about yourself and what you’re looking for out of a psilocybin experience. From there our facilitator will reach out to schedule a complimentary initial 20 minute consultation (video or phone) to see if both of you are a good fit!
The next step is for you to fill out a thorough intake form. This form will ask questions about your physical and psychological medical history, past traumas and experiences, your social and support network, and your hopes/intentions for working with psilocybin.
The next step is to have our first intake session together. These sessions can be held virtually or in person, and we’ll spend much of the session going through your intake form and answering any questions you may have! We’ll begin the discussion about what to expect, and, if we both are in agreement to move forward together, start planning for your journey. At the end of the session, we will schedule your journey at a Licensed Facilitation Center.
Our second intake session will finalize logistics and go into more depth with the emotional preparation . We’ll work together to set up agreements to ensure that you feel comfortable and supported during the journey. We’ll talk in depth about your hopes and intentions, and ensure that you have the right tools, such as breathing exercises, to navigate difficulties that might arise in your session. We’ll also talk about and agree on dosing. I’ll make sure that you’re fully prepared for what to expect the day of your journey, and that we have everything in place for the next steps.
While we recommend that the intake process takes place over two sessions, it is possible to consolidate our preparation into one session. We understand that time and energy are precious resources for many of our clients.
The Journey
When you arrive to the Licensed Service Center, we'll spend some time preparing and setting intentions before you take the psilocybin. The psilocybin session itself will be non-directive, which means that your facilitator will be helping to keep you safe and emotionally supported, but will not be actively giving you talk therapy or other modalities during the session. Not only is this in compliance with the OHA legislature, but it's also to ensure that this is *your* experience in trusting your inner healer and the psilocybin. We recommend using an eye mask and headphones to assist with the process of going inwards, but this is not required.
The intensity and duration of a journey is largely dependent on dosage. For most people, a psilocybin session lasts 4-7 hours, with the effects becoming noticeable 30-45 minutes after taking it. During this" “come up”, you might feel shifts in your mood, your body may feel different, and you may feel like your senses are heightened. It is common to feel some nausea in this initial onset, but for most people this passes quickly. The experience will continue to a more intense “peak” before settling into the bulk of your trip. You might experience seeing different patterns and colors, the music may become more vibrant, and you may experience a strong influx of thoughts, memories, and emotions. You might find yourself full of energy and wanting to move your body, or you might find yourself feeling heavy and unable to move. You might hear noises that are not present in the room, and at higher doses, you might experience the loss of a sense of self. Some periods may follow a narrative, and others may feel nonsensical.
There may be euphoric periods during your journey, just as there may be difficult ones. Your facilitator will help support you through this process and encourage you to use the tools we worked on during intake. As your experience begins to wind down, you might feel a calmness or “afterglow”.
After the journey, we'll spend some time at the service center decompressing and integrating the experience. Unlike some modalities, psilocybin typically does not have a "hangover" effect, but many people find themselves to be more emotionally open and vulnerable afterwards. We recommend that at minimum, you keep your evening and following day clear of obligations so you can focus on a gentle decompression.
Integration is an essential part of the psilocybin journey, and it is vital for bringing a sense of completion and wholeness to the psychedelic experience. Our first integration session will be approximately a week after your journey, and it will be previous scheduled during Intake. These sessions can be done virtually or in person.
There’s a saying that Integration is where the work really begins, and we agree! While the psilocybin journey can be a remarkably impactful, life changing experience, it can be difficult to interpret the experience and incorporate it into your day to day. The intention of integration is to help you bring the gained insights and emotions from the psilocybin experience into your daily life, along with processing any difficulties or conflicting beliefs that might have come up in the psilocybin space. The integration process looks different for everyone, and can include talking, creating art, storytelling, and/or moving your body somatically.
Crescent Moon requires all clients to commit to at least one intake session, which is included in the package price. We recommend that you schedule an additional session approx. a month after your session, and your facilitator will be happy to work with you for ongoing sessions.
