My study investigated the values, practices, and developmental significance of psychedelic facilitation through in-depth interviews with 27 underground facilitators across the United States. As interest in psychedelic therapy grows, this study explores how transformation is supported not only by the substances themselves, but by the conditions of care (biological, psychological, relational, and spiritual) that surround them. This study frames psychedelic facilitation as a holistic and multifaceted developmental process, one grounded in safety, trust, pacing, attunement, inner congruence, and participant empowerment.

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Thematic analysis revealed seven core themes: safety as a foundation for transformation; scaffolding and pacing aligned with developmental readiness; the necessity of facilitator self-work and integrity; the central role of community and relational ecosystems; client empowerment through autonomy and intrinsic motivation; the importance of integration in sustaining growth; and the recognition of spirituality as a key dimension of human development. These findings are interpreted through Attachment Theory, Constructive-Developmental Theory, Self-Determination Theory, Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, and Maslow’s later work on transcendence. It also offers the biopsychosocial-spiritual (BPSS) model as a lens for viewing psychedelic healing as an integrated, developmental process.

This research contributes to the evolving field of psychedelic therapy by centering facilitator perspectives and aligning them with developmental theory. It offers guidance for training, ethics, and policy, emphasizing that it is not only the medicine, but the facilitator’s preparation, attunement, and ability to create safe, developmentally aligned conditions that allow healing to take root and transformation to endure.

Below are blog posts describing my study, as well de-identified summaries and preliminary findings from the study.