Below are some general guidelines, drawn on many years of participating, guiding, and trip sitting journeys.
If you have someone you’re considering as a trip sitter, you could assess their capacity to cultivate each of these qualities. If you decide they are suitable, you could share this with them, alongside some of the further resources shared below.
Basic psychedelic literacy
It’s imperative for any sitter to have a general understanding of how psychedelics work. I’m intentionally saying general here and not in-depth. While in-depth would be desirable, a basic understanding will suffice. This understanding should be built on the awareness that psychedelics are non-specific amplifiers.
This means, for example, that when you sit with someone who is journeying with mushrooms and they’re getting anxious, you understand that it is not the mushrooms making them anxious, but rather the mushrooms bringing anxiety to the surface that’s already present in their mind. You also understand that this happens so that the anxiety can’t be explored, transmuted, or broken through. Similarly, in more extreme cases, when someone eating mushrooms has the experience of thinking they’re going crazy, you know that they are, in fact, not going crazy. Rather, the mushrooms are bringing to light their fear of going crazy.
Here are a few articles to develop psychedelic literacy:
• Why psychedelic journeys are powerful for healing
• How to navigate challenging journeys
• Any of the medicine-specific deep dives or resources linked here
Calm, compassionate demeanor
This one’s pretty straightforward. You want someone who will remain calm independent of how you’re reacting to the medicine. (It’s easier to remain calm if you understand how medicines work.)
When you journey your vulnerability to your environment is heightened, so if your anxiety is making your sitter anxious, it will only amplify your anxiety.
Compassion is further key because under no circumstances would you want to feel judged for what’s happening during your journey. (Any perceived judgment with an objectively compassionate sitter, then, becomes an invitation to observe the journeyer’s perception of being judged.)
Ability to be a mirror (with minimal ego involvement)
This may be the most important quality (and also the one that doesn’t come naturally to most). The role of a sitter is to act as a mirror. Psychedelics use your environment and setting, which includes the guide or sitter, to mirror beliefs and patterns hidden in the depths of your subconscious. For example, if a caring sitter is perceived as neglectful, it’s the journeyer’s perception of neglect that you focus on, rather than the sitter’s lack of care (assuming he’s objectively not neglectful).
Journeyers may project all types of emotions and sentiments on the sitter, ranging from pleasant ones such as love, admiration, and desire (aka, transference) to negative ones such as anger, neglect, frustration, and even fear.
As a sitter, you must not take any of this personally. Reflect it back with compassion, so that the journeyer can go deeper into the experience and arrive at what it is trying to teach them. This journey is not about you. (Again, this is all assuming you’re not neglectful, disturbing, careless, and so on.)
Lastly, minimal ego involvement means that as a sitter, before you say or do anything, you always ask yourself this question: do I need this or do they?
Beginners commonly overdo it. They overly insert themselves in the journey they’re holding space for because their ego wants to feel needed. Again, this is not about you.
Clear boundaries
As we’ve established, you put yourself in a position of vulnerability any time you journey. There are multiple layers to this vulnerability: you may experience sensitive emotions or revisit traumatic memories, you may project some of those emotions on your sitter, and you also may be incapacitated (depending on the dose).
A sitter who can uphold clear boundaries is a must. I recommend that boundaries be discussed before the journey begins. Is physical touch desired? If yes, should it only be initiated only by the journeyer, or is the journeyer comfortable with the sitter providing a comforting hand or a hug? What touch is OK and what isn’t? If no touch is desired, is it possible the journeyer may change their mind in the middle of the journey, and if so, how can you ensure consent is maintained? Unless you’re sitting a close friend or family member, this conversation should be a non-negotiable.
Dedicated, uninterrupted support
Lastly, as a sitter, you’ll want to make sure that you’re fully present (and available) for the experience.
Some journeys are “low touch”, where the journeyer is deep inward, eyes closed, immersed in music for sometimes hours on end. As a sitter, you may work, read, or do any other activity in the background that doesn’t disturb the journey.
Other times, the journey is more “high touch”, and you’ll spend the majority of the sit soothing and supporting. You won’t know in advance what’s going to happen, so you must be prepared for either. That means no pre-scheduled phone calls or appointments that require you to leave mid-journey and interrupt the process.
You’ll also want to ensure your journeyer has everything they need throughout the experience, which includes: water, music, eye shades, pillows and blankets (people can get cold, especially on mushrooms), and snacks (most won’t be hungry but food can help ground, aim for minimally processed, natural foods).
If you have someone you’re considering as a trip sitter, you could assess their capacity to cultivate each of these qualities. If you decide they are suitable, you could share this with them, alongside some of the further resources shared below.
Basic psychedelic literacy
It’s imperative for any sitter to have a general understanding of how psychedelics work. I’m intentionally saying general here and not in-depth. While in-depth would be desirable, a basic understanding will suffice. This understanding should be built on the awareness that psychedelics are non-specific amplifiers.
This means, for example, that when you sit with someone who is journeying with mushrooms and they’re getting anxious, you understand that it is not the mushrooms making them anxious, but rather the mushrooms bringing anxiety to the surface that’s already present in their mind. You also understand that this happens so that the anxiety can’t be explored, transmuted, or broken through. Similarly, in more extreme cases, when someone eating mushrooms has the experience of thinking they’re going crazy, you know that they are, in fact, not going crazy. Rather, the mushrooms are bringing to light their fear of going crazy.
Here are a few articles to develop psychedelic literacy:
• Why psychedelic journeys are powerful for healing
• How to navigate challenging journeys
• Any of the medicine-specific deep dives or resources linked here
Calm, compassionate demeanor
This one’s pretty straightforward. You want someone who will remain calm independent of how you’re reacting to the medicine. (It’s easier to remain calm if you understand how medicines work.)
When you journey your vulnerability to your environment is heightened, so if your anxiety is making your sitter anxious, it will only amplify your anxiety.
Compassion is further key because under no circumstances would you want to feel judged for what’s happening during your journey. (Any perceived judgment with an objectively compassionate sitter, then, becomes an invitation to observe the journeyer’s perception of being judged.)
Ability to be a mirror (with minimal ego involvement)
This may be the most important quality (and also the one that doesn’t come naturally to most). The role of a sitter is to act as a mirror. Psychedelics use your environment and setting, which includes the guide or sitter, to mirror beliefs and patterns hidden in the depths of your subconscious. For example, if a caring sitter is perceived as neglectful, it’s the journeyer’s perception of neglect that you focus on, rather than the sitter’s lack of care (assuming he’s objectively not neglectful).
Journeyers may project all types of emotions and sentiments on the sitter, ranging from pleasant ones such as love, admiration, and desire (aka, transference) to negative ones such as anger, neglect, frustration, and even fear.
As a sitter, you must not take any of this personally. Reflect it back with compassion, so that the journeyer can go deeper into the experience and arrive at what it is trying to teach them. This journey is not about you. (Again, this is all assuming you’re not neglectful, disturbing, careless, and so on.)
Lastly, minimal ego involvement means that as a sitter, before you say or do anything, you always ask yourself this question: do I need this or do they?
Beginners commonly overdo it. They overly insert themselves in the journey they’re holding space for because their ego wants to feel needed. Again, this is not about you.
Clear boundaries
As we’ve established, you put yourself in a position of vulnerability any time you journey. There are multiple layers to this vulnerability: you may experience sensitive emotions or revisit traumatic memories, you may project some of those emotions on your sitter, and you also may be incapacitated (depending on the dose).
A sitter who can uphold clear boundaries is a must. I recommend that boundaries be discussed before the journey begins. Is physical touch desired? If yes, should it only be initiated only by the journeyer, or is the journeyer comfortable with the sitter providing a comforting hand or a hug? What touch is OK and what isn’t? If no touch is desired, is it possible the journeyer may change their mind in the middle of the journey, and if so, how can you ensure consent is maintained? Unless you’re sitting a close friend or family member, this conversation should be a non-negotiable.
Dedicated, uninterrupted support
Lastly, as a sitter, you’ll want to make sure that you’re fully present (and available) for the experience.
Some journeys are “low touch”, where the journeyer is deep inward, eyes closed, immersed in music for sometimes hours on end. As a sitter, you may work, read, or do any other activity in the background that doesn’t disturb the journey.
Other times, the journey is more “high touch”, and you’ll spend the majority of the sit soothing and supporting. You won’t know in advance what’s going to happen, so you must be prepared for either. That means no pre-scheduled phone calls or appointments that require you to leave mid-journey and interrupt the process.
You’ll also want to ensure your journeyer has everything they need throughout the experience, which includes: water, music, eye shades, pillows and blankets (people can get cold, especially on mushrooms), and snacks (most won’t be hungry but food can help ground, aim for minimally processed, natural foods).
〰️ MAPS is offering a new trip sitting course through the Zendo Project, starting on February 5
〰️ Alternatively, there’s this trip sitting course through DoubleBlind Mag
〰️ InsightTimer kicked off a free, 21-day New Year’s meditation challenge on January 1 led by one of my favorite teachers Sarah Blondin
〰️ The Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Summit is taking place on January 16 and featuring some of the most prominent voices in the field (basic offering is free)
〰️ Jules Evans explores why so many couples work together in the psychedelics industry
“Consciousness does not just passively reflect the objective material world, it plays an active role in creating reality itself.” – Stanislav Grof
needed to explore its full therapeutic potential.