FAQ
Community generated frequently asked questions.
Psychedelics in Recovery is a 12-step fellowship of people from all 12-step programs and other paths of Recovery who share our experience, strength, and hope with each other. Our primary purpose is to pursue Recovery and help others do the same, as defined by the individual. The only requirement for membership is a desire to recover from our addictive behaviors and/or an interest in psychedelics and/or plant medicines as an aid to our process of Recovery.
No. PIR focuses on integrating the safe, intentional, and/or ceremonial use of psychedelics and/or plant medicines with 12-Step Recovery. If members have resisted working the steps or have not yet found the right space to do them, we hope PIR may be a bridge to 12-Step Recovery. Some of our members may have experienced addictive tendencies with psychedelics and/or plant medicines at times. They may be able to help identify what psychedelic addiction looks like. Primarily, PIR focuses on the healthy use and integration of psychedelics and/or plant medicines into our recovery program.
PIR is a 12-Step Fellowship open to all members seeking Recovery from harmful behaviors.
We accept the responsible use of psychedelics and/or plant medicines to enhance our individual lives. PIR welcomes many models of Recovery, including harm-reduction and medication-assisted models of Recovery, which are more flexible than traditional abstinence-based 12-Step models. We are an informal peer support space that recognizes and respects trauma survivors’ opportunity to heal in community through a spectrum of group sharing models from silent or neutral group acceptance to kind and loving
reflection (“Feedback”) from others.
Like many traditional 12-Step meetings, we have a few standard readings that include the 12 steps as adapted for PIR. We generally allow time for individual members to share their experience, strength, and hope, with or without integrating the use of psychedelics and/or plant medicines into their recovery program. We allow for self-defined recovery/sobriety/ abstinence from harmful use/behaviors, and we also talk openly about trauma recovery.
Many fellow travelers have been or are currently also in AA, NA, ACA, Al-Anon, CoDA, Recovery Dharma, and non-faith based fellowships, to name a few. Some members have had trouble with substances, like drugs or alcohol; others have more process or behavioral addictions, like gambling, overeating, or codependency.
Recovery is unique to each individual. There are no ‘Rules’ here, but as a 12-Step group, we encourage members to work the steps as soon as they can, or at least work towards applying the principles and concepts of the 12 steps in their daily living.
If we have a problem with drugs/alcohol/other harmful behaviors, healing can begin when we accept that for ourselves and admit it to others. Admission of loss of control (or powerlessness) over harmful behavior is the first step. We encourage you to practice rigorous honesty with yourself and trusted others. Open up when it feels safe for you.
If you are new, the best place to ask questions is from more experienced members in the digital “Parking Lot” after the meeting. The parking lot is considered the “meeting after the meeting” for more open discussion and community building. We share our experiences but do not give advice or tell others what to do. It is worth noting that the parking lot is not a space to promote oneself for financial or material gain.
In PIR, we allow members to define what sobriety means to them. In PIR, it mostly means abstaining from self-defined harmful behaviors. These could be substance-based or process-based sobriety. Some people are “sober from”: alcohol, methamphetamine, cigarettes, etc., and others are “sober from”: self-injury, gambling, sex, or food addiction.
Craving” is the basis for addiction. “Relapse” is engaging in self-defined harmful behaviors after a period of abstinence. For alcoholics and addicts, craving occurs as a response to ingesting our drug of choice or engaging in self destructive behavior. Addiction is generally defined as craving, compulsion, loss of control/ inability to stop engaging in self-defined harmful behavior(s), with or without negative consequences. In PIR, some members mindfully use psychedelics and/or plant medicines to reduce the craving and obsessions often associated with addiction. Psychedelics are not considered inherently addictive and should not cause craving or relapse. If they do, we contact our sponsors, fellow travelers, or trusted others to promptly restore a healthy recovery process. Please find more information on our Cares and Considerations document.
Many people in PIR come from other 12-step groups and other paths of recovery have varying lengths of sobriety or clean/recovery time from their harmful drugs/addictive behaviors. Some members find that traditional 12-step groups do not feel like the right fit for them. In PIR, we encourage individual members to identify their own version and definition of what sobriety means to them. We encourage people to find sponsors or co-travellers to foster a sense of community, work the steps to build a connection to a Higher Power, and get active service commitments to practice humility and responsibility. It may be helpful for a new member to start identifying their own harmful behaviors that they do not wish to engage in, to start to self-define their sobriety or clean time as part of their path of recovery.
Each member gets to define their own version of what it means to be sober, with or without the use of psychedelics. Many members of abstinence-based 12-step fellowships or other paths of recovery may be resistant or feel uncomfortable considering the use of psychedelics. In PIR we see these substances as medicine and we strive to use them consciously and aligned with our primary purpose, integrating their use into our 12 step recovery process. This is what integration in PIR is all about. The 12 steps give us a way to process our psychedelic experiences. PIR does not judge or make recommendations one way or the other about anyone’s psychedelic use or integration into their program of recovery.
There are some potential destructive or chaotic behaviors to watch out for when starting to integrate psychedelics into our recovery. A few of those behaviors may include: If we are using psychedelics to escape our feelings or to avoid circumstances in our lives. If our psychedelic misuse is impacting our physical/mental health, or our relationships with friends and family, then that may be considered destructive and harmful to our recovery. We encourage rigorous honesty with self and others about our behaviors, our psychedelic use and integration (based on our self-defined recovery) to stay accountable to ourselves, our program, and in the community.
Integration is a big, important process that can happen before, during and after participating with psychedelics/plant medicine, 12-step work, or other ceremonies. Everyone has their own unique process that would be too long to explain here. Roughly, integration is what we do for ourselves, or in community with others AFTER we use/ingest the medicine or as part of our step work. “Using” is an unrelated term that can carry a negative connotation that we are ingesting substances or engaging in harmful behaviors against our recovery.
Some members come to PIR with long periods of abstinence-based sobriety, while others are seeking relief from their primary addiction through the use of psychedelics, plant medicine and/or the 12 steps. Most of us started by going to meetings, asking others how they learned about psychedelics and incorporated them into their 12 step work. We do our research and learn from reputable sources. We proceed with caution, guided by our Higher Power and trusted others.
Each member gets to define for themselves what constitutes therapeutic, intentional use of psychedelics and/or plant medicines and what they consider harmful or abusive use of those medicines. What works for one person’s program of recovery may not work for another. We refrain from judging another person’s path, focus on our own recovery, sharing from our own ESH (Experience, Strength and Hope). We encourage sharing about your experiences with trusted others for caring feedback.
Many of us find it helpful to define “Bottom Line Behaviors” (BLBs) that we do not engage in for our self-defined sobriety. BLBs can range from avoiding substances like alcohol, hard drugs, cannabis, or nicotine to avoiding process-oriented harmful behaviors, like porn, gambling, self-injury.
Attend meetings, parking lots, get involved with your group through service commitment opportunities. Joining some of our unofficial social media platforms, and asking respectfully for phone numbers (and using them!) are great ways to start building deeper connections with other PIR members. Skillfully navigating new relationships in recovery takes time, patience, mutual trust and reciprocity.
We recognize that sharing about psychedelics in mainstream 12-step meetings is deemed an “outside issue”. Sharing openly about psychedelic use and/or integration has been met with resistance (and/or shame) in some traditional 12-step abstinence-based fellowships. PIR does NOT consider intentional psychedelic use/integration a relapse or slip in sobriety/recovery/clean time. Each member in PIR has the opportunity to choose for themselves if they need to restart their sobriety/clean time.
No. We do not consider psychedelics “drugs” when they are used intentionally for healing. We affirm that they have the potential to help us heal on many levels; physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally. We encourage each member to decide for themselves if psychedelics could be an aid to their program of recovery.
Note* PIR prohibits promotion. Sourcing medicines or recommending individuals or retreat centers breaks our Traditions and is out of alignment with our primary purpose which is to recover and help others to do the same.