Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy (PAP) and Psychedelic Harm Reduction & Integration (PHRI) in Washington State
What Is Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy?
Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy (PAP) is an emerging therapeutic approach that combines carefully prepared psychedelic experiences with skilled psychotherapy to support deep emotional healing, insight, and lasting change. Rather than being a stand-alone intervention, the medicine is used within a structured therapeutic process that emphasizes safety, relationship, meaning making, and integration.
In this work, the psychedelic experience can help soften habitual defenses, increase emotional access, and allow new perspectives to emerge—while therapy provides the grounding, guidance, and relational support needed to turn those experiences into meaningful, sustainable growth.
What Is Psychedelic Harm Reduction & Integration (PHRI)?
Psychedelic harm reduction and integration is a form of psychotherapy that supports individuals in preparing for and integrating psychedelic experiences. Harm reduction acknowledges that people may choose to use psychedelics for a variety of reasons, whether recreationally or therapeutically. PHRI focuses on minimizing potential physical, psychological, and social risks.
Key principles include:
- Non-judgmental support: Meeting people where they are, without shame or pressure.
- Informed decision-making: Education about effects, risks, contraindications (e.g., psychosis risk, medication interactions), and legal considerations.
- Set and setting awareness: Helping individuals prepare mentally, emotionally, and environmentally.
- Preparation: Identifying mental health history, trauma, and support needs.
- Crisis and aftercare planning: Knowing when and how to seek help if experiences become overwhelming.
Harm reduction can apply to:
- Personal psychedelic use
- Retreat or ceremonial contexts
- Clinical or legal psychedelic therapies
- Non-ordinary states of consciousness more broadly
Washington State Legal Framework
In Washington State:
- Psychedelic substances such as psilocybin, MDMA, and LSD remain illegal under state and federal law, outside of approved research settings.
- Ketamine is an exception. It is legal both federally and at the state level. Ketamine is actually not a true psychedelic, but a dissociative anesthetic. (See my webpages on ketamine for more information).
- Licensed therapists in WA State may provide harm reduction, preparation, and integration psychotherapy but cannot provide or facilitate access to illegal substances. This means that in WA State licensed therapists (or anyone for that matter) cannot sit or facilitate a client’s psychedelic experience (with the exception of ketamine).
- Due to WA State law, I am unable to facilitate psychedelic medicine administration or dosing sessions in WA State.
- Currently the States of OR and CO have legalized some psychedelic medicines, although they are still federally illegal. Several other states have legislation either passed, in process, or in the pipeline for these medicines. Unfortunately, WA State is not one of them.
- I do have a “Facilitator in Training” license from the State of CO to sit with/facilitate psilocybin experiences in the State of CO.
All services I provide are in compliance with Washington State licensing laws, ethical guidelines, and professional standards of care.
What Preparation & Integration Looks Like
Psychedelic Preparation Sessions
Preparation sessions focus on emotional readiness, intention clarity, psychological education, and nervous system tools. Harm reduction conversations may address mindset, support systems, boundaries, and aftercare.
Psychedelic Integration Sessions
Integration focuses on what happens after a psychedelic or non-ordinary experience. Psychedelic experiences can be emotionally intense, symbolic, and/or destabilizing without therapeutic support. Integration sessions provide space to reflect on and process experiences, including emotional release, memories, insights, or challenges. The goal is not to interpret the experience for you, but to support understanding and integration in a way that feels stabilizing and meaningful. Integration helps translate insights into lasting, healthy change.
Integration support may involve:
- Making meaning of imagery, emotions, or memories that emerged
- Processing difficult or traumatic material
- Exploring how insights relate to relationships, identity, values, and purpose
- Supporting nervous system regulation and emotional stability
- Helping avoid impulsive or disruptive life changes
- Grounding experiences into daily life through reflection and action
- Use of IFS (Internal Family Systems) to connect with, heal, and unburden wounded or protective parts
- Use of EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) to reprocess disturbing memories
Integration can happen:
- Immediately after an experience
- Weeks or months later
- Even years after past psychedelic use
Who Psychedelic Harm Reduction, Preparation, and Integration May Support
Clients across Washington State seek psychedelic harm reduction and integration support for:
- Preparing psychologically for a future psychedelic experience
- Integrating past psychedelic experiences (recent or long ago)
- Processing difficult, confusing, or overwhelming journeys
- Working with trauma-related material that emerged
- Navigating spiritual or existential experiences
- Feeling unsettled or destabilized after an experience
- Wanting a safer, more intentional approach to meaning making
Psychedelic Harm Reduction, Preparation, and Integration in a Nonjudgmental, Supportive, and Attuned Environment
Psychedelic experiences can open meaningful, tender, and sometimes confusing inner landscapes. Whether an experience felt expansive, unsettling, or somewhere in between, you don’t have to make sense of it alone. For me, psychedelic harm reduction and integration is about creating a safe, respectful, and attuned space for my clients to talk openly about their experiences and to explore, process, and make meaning out of them.
It’s about care, curiosity, and support—meeting you where you are, without judgment.
Is Psychedelic Harm Reduction & Integration Right for You?
My psychedelic harm reduction and integration service may be appropriate if you:
- Are considering a psychedelic experience and want to reduce psychological risk
- Have already had an experience and want help integrating it
- Feel unsettled, anxious, or confused afterward
- Want an ethical, legally compliant therapeutic space to process in
- Want a nonjudgmental, supportive, and relational space to integrate your experience
- Process trauma or adverse experiences unearthed during the journey
An initial consultation helps determine whether this service aligns with your needs or whether another form of support may be a better fit.
More About Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy
Conditions Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy May Support
Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy may be helpful for individuals seeking support with:
- PTSD
- Complex trauma (including developmental and relational trauma)
- Attachment wounds
- Depression and persistent low mood
- Anxiety and existential distress
- Moral injury
- Grief and loss
- Substance use patterns
- Life transitions and identity exploration
- Spiritual or meaning-related concerns
This approach may be especially helpful when traditional talk therapy has felt limited or when deeper emotional access and nervous system change are needed.
The Structure of Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy
Psychedelic-assisted therapy is a process, not a single event. It typically includes three interconnected phases:
1. Preparation Sessions
Preparation focuses on building trust, clarifying intentions, reviewing history, and developing tools for emotional regulation and safety. We explore your goals, concerns, and readiness, while ensuring you feel informed and supported.
2. Medicine Session(s)
During medicine sessions, the therapist provides a calm, supportive presence while you engage with your inner experience. Sessions are conducted in a carefully structured setting that prioritizes safety, consent, and nervous system regulation.
The experience itself is highly individual—often involving emotions, memories, bodily sensations, imagery, or moments of insight. There is no “right” experience.
3. Integration Sessions
Integration is where insight becomes change. These sessions help you process what emerged, make meaning of your experience, and gently translate insights into daily life, relationships, and patterns of self-care.
Medicines Used in Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy
Depending on legal availability, clinical appropriateness, and treatment goals, psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy may involve medicines such as:
- Ketamine
- MDMA (in approved clinical or research contexts)
- Psilocybin (where legally permitted)
- Ayahuasca (where legally permitted)
- Ibogaine (where legally permitted)
- 5 MeO DMT (where legally permitted)
All work is conducted within ethical, legal, and professional guidelines. If a medicine is not legally available in your area, therapy may still focus on preparation and integration for past experiences or legal alternatives.
How Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Works
Research suggests that psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy may support healing through:
- Increased neuroplasticity (the brain’s ability to form new connections)
- Temporary reduction in rigid thought and emotional patterns
- Enhanced emotional access and memory reconsolidation
- Increased sense of connection—to self, others, and meaning
- Greater psychological flexibility and self-compassion
These effects are most powerful when paired with skilled therapeutic support and integration.
Training & Certifications
I am a certified psychedelic therapy provider by the Integrative Psychiatry Institute.