Dr. Ryan Westrum - The Psychedelics Integration Handbook

In this episode, Kyle sits down with Dr. Ryan Westrum, Psychedelic Integration Therapist. In the show, they talk about topics and teachings from Ryan's book, The Psychedelic Integration Handbook. 3 Key Points: The Psychedelics Integration Handbook is designed to bring psychedelic experiences into the flow of your life and maximize their potential for helping you create the life you want to live. There is an important part in distinguishing integration from aftercare. Aftercare can look as simple as taking care of your body, getting good rest, eating well. You can't integrate without taking care of yourself first. One of the pillars of integration is PREP (purpose, reflecting on experiences, expectations, potential). Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Ryan Ryan is a Clinical Psychologist in the Minneapolis area He has been a licensed Marriage Therapist for 15 years He works in the realms of psychedelics and sexuality He has a 14 year old daughter, and likes to take a psychedelic approach to parenting He holds healing circles with mothers and fathers and their child(ren) Psycho-ed and harm reduction are his focus with families This is a group of people that need an honest conversation At a young age he was into Stan Grof and Jungian literature and psychedelic experiences His graduate program was focused on non-ordinary states of consciousness Kyle mentions a good book, The Smell of Rain on Dust: Grief and Praise "As a western civilization, we have really minimized the opportunity for growth, the expansion of consciousness, and to be ourselves." - Ryan These experiences are powerful, and to come back to a culture that does not support it, is hard The goal is being conscious with your confidence of why you're doing this work About the Book The Psychedelics Integration Handbook is designed to bring psychedelic experiences into the flow of your life and maximize their potential for helping you create the life you want to live This is not a book with black and white answers but an offering to individual people who want to explore all the possibilities for being alive and seeking wholeness. The Psychedelics Integration Handbook contains historical perspective, maps of consciousness, approaches for integrating body-mind-spirit, and practical suggestions for all stages of psychedelic exploration. The Psychedelics Integration Handbook The book was written for people to make it their own Its broken into 3 parts, educational, a 'your turn' section, and then integration Its about having a compartment, and then playing within the compartment Everyone has unique nuances, integration looks different to everyone Integration practices don't matter if they don't personally mean something to you Integration The question to help determine the integration needs is, "What does the individual lead with?" It's the mind, body, emotion in the spirit altogether Immediately after a psychedelic experience, some want to talk about it, others embody it Do they lead with thoughts or emotions? There is a part in the book: The difference between integration and aftercare How do we distinguish between self care and integration? Is my body rested? Am I comfortable? Are my needs taken care of? Aftercare is grounding "If you're not taking care of your body, you won't be able to integrate" - Ryan It might not be as complex as it needs to be, its as simple as taking care of yourself An important part of aftercare, is asking yourself when it is okay to practice again Ryan was mentored by James Fadiman, and he believed in taking big doses every 6 months One of the pillars is PREP (purpose, reflecting on experiences, expectations, potential) Ryan says he is not the gatekeeper Controlling willpower is a huge step in integration Some people want to just take psychedelics, but not write, or do yoga, or do any other mindful activity Safety Dose, set and setting are the obvious It's like a goldrush, some just want to jump in blindly You have to understand what safety means to you Ryan thinks we aren't talking enough about the recreational use He is excited about all of the conversation on therapeutic use, but he thinks we are ignoring recreational use He wants to see ritual and reverence in the recreational community Preparation is so important Kyle says that a lot of times after an experience he has all of these ideas for how to live his life, and he tries to practice them, but sometimes he finds himself slipping into old patterns of behavior Ryan says he believes there is still movement and progress, be gentle with yourself Links Healing Souls LLC Psychedelic Integration About Ryan Dr. Ryan Westrum, PhD, LMFT, is an internationally recognized psychedelic integration expert. For more than 15 years, his primary focus has been working with individuals and groups facilitating experiential therapy and integrating psychedelic journeys into healing and personal transformation. Ryan speaks on a myriad of topics and leads experiential groups, like dreamwork integration therapy and psychedelic integration groups.       Get a 30 day free audible trial at audibletrial.com/psychedelicstoday