Integration Group

A psychedelic integration group is a community or therapeutic setting that focuses on providing support, guidance, and resources to individuals who have experienced psychedelic substances. These groups are designed to help participants integrate their psychedelic experiences into their daily lives and navigate the psychological, emotional, and spiritual insights that may arise from such experiences.

The term "integration" refers to the process of making sense of and incorporating the lessons, emotions, and perceptions gained during a psychedelic journey into one's overall life. Psychedelic integration groups often involve discussions, group therapy, or individual sessions where participants can share their experiences, receive feedback, and work on understanding and applying the insights gained from their psychedelic journeys. These groups may be facilitated by mental health professionals, experienced guides, or individuals knowledgeable about the therapeutic aspects of psychedelics. The goal is to promote personal growth, healing, and positive life changes through the integration of psychedelic experiences.

Structure

Psychedelic Integration groups vary in how they are conducted, but a shared consensus underscores the importance of four fundamentals:

1. Confidentiality: Upholding a commitment to privacy within the group setting, creating a safe space where participants can openly share their experiences without fear of disclosure.
2. Non-Judgmental Attitudes: Fostering an environment devoid of criticism or bias, where individuals can express their thoughts and emotions without apprehension, promoting a culture of acceptance and understanding.
3. Empathy: Cultivating a compassionate atmosphere where participants and facilitators alike demonstrate empathy, recognizing and resonating with the emotional experiences shared by individuals undergoing psychedelic journeys.
4. Authenticity: Given a confidential, non judgemental space conducted amongst emapthetic people, it is important to be authentic in your communication and be wary of egoic influences.

These pillars hold the foundations of integration groups, once these are agreed upon, 11 key factors should direct the groups ebb and flow:

1.     Instillation of hope

All patients come into therapy hoping to decrease their suffering and improve their lives. Because each member in a therapy group is inevitably at a different point on the coping continuum and grows at a different rate, watching others cope with and overcome similar problems successfully instills hope and inspiration. New members or those in despair may be particularly encouraged by others' positive outcomes.

2.     Universality

A common feeling among group therapy members, especially when a group is just starting, is that of being isolated, unique, and apart from others. Many who enter group therapy have great difficulty sustaining interpersonal relationships, and feel unlikable and unlovable. Group therapy provides a powerful antidote to these feelings. For many, it may be the first time they feel understood and similar to others. Enormous relief often accompanies the recognition that they are not alone; this is a special benefit of group therapy.

3.     Information giving

An essential component of many therapy groups is increasing members' knowledge and understanding of a common problem. Explicit instruction about the nature of their shared illness, such as bipolar disorders , depression, panic disorders, or bulimia, is often a key part of the therapy. Most patients leave the group far more knowledgeable about their specific condition than when they entered. This makes them increasingly able to help others with the same or similar problems.

4.     Altruism

Group therapy offers its members a unique opportunity: the chance to help others. Often patients with psychiatric problems believe they have very little to offer others because they have needed so much help themselves; this can make them feel inadequate. The process of helping others is a powerful therapeutic tool that greatly enhances members' self-esteem and feeling of self-worth.

5.     Corrective recapitulation of the primary family

Many people who enter group therapy had troubled family lives during their formative years. The group becomes a substitute family that resembles—and improves upon—the family of origin in significant ways. Like a family, a therapy group consists of a leader (or co-leaders), an authority figure that evokes feelings similar to those felt toward parents. Other group members substitute for siblings, vying for attention and affection from the leader/parent, and forming subgroups and coalitions with other members. This recasting of the family of origin gives members a chance to correct dysfunctional interpersonal relationships in a way that can have a powerful therapeutic impact.

6.     Improved social skills

Social learning, or the development of basic social skills, is a therapeutic factor that occurs in all therapy groups. Some groups place considerable emphasis on improving social skills, for example, with adolescents preparing to leave a psychiatric hospital, or among bereaved or divorced members seeking to date again. Group members offer feedback to one another about the appropriateness of the others' behaviour. While this may be painful, the directness and honesty with which it is offered can provide much-needed behavioural correction and thus improve relationships both within and outside the group.

7.     Imitative behaviour

Research shows that therapists exert a powerful influence on the communication patterns of group members by modelling certain behaviours. For example, therapists model active listening, giving nonjudgmental feedback, and offering support. Over time, members pick up these behaviours and incorporate them. This earns them increasingly positive feedback from others, enhancing their self-esteem and emotional growth.

8.     Interpersonal learning

Human beings are social animals, born ready to connect. Our lives are characterized by intense and persistent relationships, and much of our self-esteem is developed via feedback and reflection from important others. Yet we all develop distortions in the way we see others, and these distortions can damage even our most important relationships. Therapy groups provide an opportunity for members to improve their ability to relate to others and live far more satisfying lives because of it.

9.     Group cohesiveness

Belonging, acceptance, and approval are among the most important and universal of human needs. Fitting in with our peers as children and adolescents, pledging a sorority or fraternity as young adults, and joining a church or other social group as adults all fulfil these basic human needs. Many people with emotional problems, however, have not experienced success as group members. For them, group therapy may make them feel truly accepted and valued for the first time. This can be a powerful healing factor as individuals replace their feelings of isolation and separateness with a sense of belonging.

10. Catharsis

Catharsis is a powerful emotional experience—the release of conscious or unconscious feelings—followed by a feeling of great relief. Catharsis is a factor in most therapies, including group therapy. It is a type of emotional learning, as opposed to intellectual understanding, that can lead to immediate and long-lasting change. While catharsis cannot be forced, a group environment provides ample opportunity for members to have these powerful experiences.

11. Existential factors

Existential factors are certain realities of life including death, isolation, freedom, and meaninglessness. Becoming aware of these realities can lead to anxiety. The trust and openness that develops among members of a therapy group, however, permits exploration of these fundamental issues, and can help members develop an acceptance of difficult realities.

Schedule

Below is a suggested timeline of an typical integration session:

00:00 – Arrival (10 mins)

• Everyone switch off their phone - ensures confidentiality.
• Name tags - phonetically written, first name basis.
• House keeping - fire exists, water, toilets etc.

00:10 - Self Introduction (5 mins)

• Introduce the moderator(s), describe their experience and disclose any potential conflicts of interest.

00:15 - What are we doing here? (10 mins)

• A short definition of integration: When taking a psychoactive - at the time it’s hard to understand what is going on, however, overtime, one can get a better perspective as the experience becomes relative to other things in your life.
• A long definition of integration: In the reviewed scientific literature, there are 24 distinct definitions of psychedelic integration. In the great majority of definitions, we encountered the idea of the participant implementing and incorporating the key insights and awareness gained in the psychedelic experience into their life. “Psychedelic integration is a process in which the patient integrates the insights of their experience into their life”. Most of the definitions also emphasized the need to revisit, work through, and make sense of the material and content of psychedelic experiences. “The term…[refers] to different aspects of a process that includes making sense out of the experience, filtering the content, assimilating and accommodating the experience psychologically, and implementing insights into lasting changes”. Most authors did not describe the content in their definitions, beyond referring to it as “experience,” though the ones who did elaborate used a range of descriptors, such as “unconscious” or “psychospiritual” content. There was an acknowledgment that content that emerged from psychedelic experiences could be directly beneficial, not obviously relevant, or initially challenging, though none of the definitions pathologized the emergence of difficult or confusing content. “[Santo Daime members] are quite proficient in reinterpreting entheogenic experiences so that difficult, excruciating experiences are reframed as healing, revealing and ultimately positive in the grander scheme of things”. Some acknowledged that inadequate social/psychological support may lead to an inability to gain insight or work through less obvious or more challenging content. Nearly all the definitions we reviewed described or implied that integration is a process, one that may take significant time and effort, and without which, insights gained are likely to fade without actualizing meaningful change. Some of the definitions focused on the near-term dimension and necessity of post-session support, sometimes referred to as aftercare, while others focused on the longer-term process of internalizing change, prolonging and maximizing benefits, and moving toward greater balance and wholeness internally and with the world. Finally, many of the definitions implied or stated that one needed to implement, make use of, bring forward, or otherwise engage in practices to integrate their psychedelic experiences into their lives. “Integration is the process of bringing separate elements together into a whole…and anchoring them into our lives”.

00:25 - Group introduction (10-15 mins)

• Opt-out anonymity clause: Silent presence for solidarity + support with community
• Principles: Confidentiality, non-judgement, Safe space / Trust circle
• Go around the group, say what brought you here, intention and what you hope to get out of it.

00:40 - So just before we begin... Common References (15 mins)

We are all on our own journeys, there is no authority of your experience in the room apart from yourself. This is because the psychedelic experience is often very subjective, however there are some commonalities:

• Ego, ego death, oneness
• Neuroplasticity
• Priming and framing
• Apophenia
• Cognitive bias
• Ineffable - not everything can be explained in words.

01:00 - Open floor for discussion (25 mins+)

• Open with personal experiences
• Share your relationship with psychedelics to-date
• What has worked for you and what hasn’t.
• What would you like to learn more on/share and connect with others on?

01:25 - Closing Statements (5mins)

• How useful was this meetup?
• Any suggestions to create a better experience for next meetup?

Prompts for Integrative Conversations

• Introspection - Emotional? Do you work through things in your mind? Do you get lost in your thoughts? Do you get momentary relief? Whats going on for YOU?
• What is going on w/ entheogens? —> Opening up something in side of me, exploring different perspective/s - outside of the materialistic grind —> ecocentrism common.
• Cognitive bias, explain authority bias in context of shamans / doctors.
• Does anyone know what a Time knife is?

References