Tripsittering others under the influence of psychedelic drugs doesn't have to be very complicated. By reading this guide and following the instructions, you are already qualified as a junior trip sitter. With more experience and knowledge, you can help the traveler go even further and get more out of the experience, but it is not a requirement to get started. The information in this article is based on my own experiences and good books such as Psychedelic Explorer's Guide and Psychedelic Psychotherapy . There are three steps in a therapeutic psychedelic process, and all three are equally important. The first thing to start with is preparation.
Preparation
Basic rules
Start with some ground rules. When a person is under the influence of psychedelics, it can be incredibly difficult for them to understand coherent sentences and concepts. In addition, they are going through waves of skepticism and distrust, so this is not a good time to introduce new rules. Concepts that have been discussed previously, on the other hand, will sound familiar and will therefore be easier to follow. Therefore, it is important to discuss the following ground rules in advance so that they can refer to them if necessary.
I always set the following ground rules:
- If I sense that you are getting scared, we can focus on our breathing together to ground the experience.
- You are not allowed to leave the area without my permission.
- You must not hurt yourself, me or things.
- No sexual contact, but all other contact is OK.
Intention
Intention is the reason why you want to take the drugs in the first place. If the traveler has an intention but doesn't want to share it with the trip sitter, it can lead to a worse end result. Trusting your trip sitter is important to being able to dive deep enough. Set aside some time in advance to talk about the intention.
The trip
When the traveler is under the influence, it is important to let them go their own way. It can be very tempting to “help” the person reach conclusions or nudge them in the direction of what you think is the problem the person should focus on. Travelers are sometimes very aware of the intentions of others and may find this distracting or manipulative. Here are some tips on what to do and what not to do.
Do this:
- Be supportive but not bossy
- Be soft and gentle
- Be understanding and friendly
- Be willing to change and turn music on or off (and always respect their choices)
- Offer blankets, water and/or fruit/nuts if you think the person would like this
- Be willing to call an ambulance as a last resort
Don't do this:
- Be condescending, aggressive, irritated, or stressed
- Bring up difficult or emotional topics
- Dismiss what the traveler says as worthless, stupid, immature, or that the person is "just high"
- Ask if they are okay or how they are doing (this can trigger insecurity)
- Make a big deal out of it if they spill or break something, talk too loudly, have a hard time, throw up, cry, etc.
- Doing things that attract attention from others in public
- Leave them before the effect is over (allow enough time)
Integration
If you want to convert insights from a psychedelic experience into life changes, you have to work on this. There is a lot you can do that is mentioned in this article, but an absolute minimum is to talk about the experience afterwards. Encourage the traveler to talk about the experience and ask follow-up questions. Be positive about interpretations and open to possibilities. Whether something is true or not doesn't matter much. It's about what can result in changes in real life.