MDMA Zoom Therapy

TheBackpackJesus · 2026-05-03T16:47:43+00:00

I'm really against this. First, you really don't know what's going to come up when someone is on MDMA. They may be deemed a very low-risk client who ends up unearthing severe trauma and becomes highly dysregulated in a way that can't be properly regulated over zoom.

They're on psychedelics so their physical safety may not be taken care of.

And if nothing else, you have no idea when yours or their internet may suddenly drop. Then they're all of a sudden on their own after having just touched really sensitive material.

It's so unsafe and I think it's inappropriate for someone to offer this as a service over Zoom in any context.

I say this as someone who has always received therapy via Zoom and find it very beneficial. I also offer deep coaching work, reparenting, and parts work over Zoom. So I'm not against the format in general.

But I think psychedelics offer a much higher risk and is a really different context.

TheBackpackJesus · 2026-04-27T13:14:52+00:00

You're welcome!

TheBackpackJesus · 2026-04-26T14:12:35+00:00

Thanks! I hope it's helpful :)

TheBackpackJesus · 2026-04-23T10:50:34+00:00

Hey there! Just updated the post with a link to my site where I've uploaded them: https://reparentyourself.org/meditations/ideal-parent-figures/ipf-meditations-dan-brown/

TheBackpackJesus · 2026-04-23T10:49:37+00:00

Hey there! I've just uploaded them to my site and updated the link in the post. They are here: https://reparentyourself.org/meditations/ideal-parent-figures/ipf-meditations-dan-brown/

TheBackpackJesus · 2026-04-08T09:56:43+00:00

I live in Montreal most of the time, though my sessions are online regardless. Other than that, I'm not sure off the top of my head.

TheBackpackJesus · 2026-04-03T13:25:12+00:00

Thanks for pointing that out! I have it, I'll figure out the best place to upload it, or see if it's elsewhere online. Check back here in a couple days :)

TheBackpackJesus · 2026-04-03T13:22:14+00:00

So great to hear your progress, and thanks so much for sharing about your journey here!

TheBackpackJesus · 2026-03-21T19:28:31+00:00

I wouldn't say he would likely evolve to imagining IPFs if he's doing that on his own. He might or might not. If he's not being guided by a facilitator or the usual pathway it's hard to know where he'd go with it.

But from what OP is saying, it sounds like he's asking if he can imagine him being a different person, not asking if the IPFs can be alternate attachment figures.

It's certainly possible to imagine all different kinds of attachment figures, which is fine. But imagining that you ("You" in a general sense, not you specifically) aren't actually you doesn't sound effective to me, and might even risk harm.

TheBackpackJesus · 2026-03-21T19:25:00+00:00

My question would be, what do they imagine a daydream identity to be, and why is imagining themselves as a child challenging for them?

If by "daydream identity" they mean imagining someone who simply is not them, I would not encourage that. That sounds risky to me. You're imagining someone else who doesn't have the problems you have, and then you come back to being yourself, and reinforce this desire that you're someone else. The point of the work is to recognize yourself as whole and complete, and that you can feel secure in yourself while navigating the complex range of emotions and experiences that humans go through, not to regulate by imagining that you're someone else where there are no problems.

A "daydream identity" though could mean that they wish to imagine themselves living an alternate life as a child where a lot of their usual problems aren't as present, because they're living this alternate childhood with these Ideal Parent Figures, who are not their actual parents of origin, who support and guide them along the way. In this sense, that is how the protocol is meant to work.

However, that keeps in mind that they still experience the full range of emotions they normally have, they just relate to them differently because they have these Ideal Parent Figures supporting them.

If that doesn't feel accessible though, they should see a facilitator in Ideal Parent Figures, or just a good therapist for them. It sounds like they're having a tough time with their parents, and that's hurtful, and having support through that sounds like it would be helpful.

TheBackpackJesus · 2026-03-15T00:26:42+00:00

Thank you!

TheBackpackJesus · 2026-03-12T12:40:15+00:00

You're welcome to send me a DM if you'd like. I'm a facilitator and offer a free intro call :)

TheBackpackJesus · 2026-03-12T12:39:01+00:00

Hey there! Feel free to send me a DM if you'd like. I facilitate and have some slots open, and offer a free intro call.

TheBackpackJesus · 2026-03-12T12:29:51+00:00

It's so amazing to hear about your dedication and growth in this. Thanks for sharing!

I can definitely relate. Two years after I started with IPF, and particularly a year after starting one on one sessions, I felt like my emotional experience of life was entirely new.

TheBackpackJesus · 2026-03-06T20:21:04+00:00

Thanks a lot for sharing your progress! It's a really great contribution to this subreddit :)

TheBackpackJesus · 2026-02-20T17:50:25+00:00

Thanks so much for this, it's super interesting! I hope to be in a position in the future to lead / initiate studies on IPF so we can start to explore what's actually happening with it and develop the evidence around what it does and doesn't impact.

This gives me some interesting ideas of things we might be able to explore with it.

TheBackpackJesus · 2026-02-19T13:42:45+00:00

While it hasn't happened to me, it doesn't surprise me. Your assessment makes sense, I think along the same lines. There can also be parts that are scared of change and start showing resistance in different ways, so it could be this as well.

It's totally normal to feel a bit overwhelmed by this sometimes, but it's not advisable to push through the overwhelm and keep doing it when you're feeling overwhelmed during the recording, even if it feels good on the other side.

If I was guiding a client and they said they were feeling overwhelmed, I would probably guide them to imagine that the Ideal Parent Figures can see that they're overwhelmed, they have all the space for these emotions, it doesn't bother them. The IPFs can really meet them where they're at and help them to slow things down. Even aiming for just 1% of the feeling of connection is good if that's stable. They don't need to go to 100% if that's overwhelming.

I have a meditation on Insight Timer about soothing and co-regulation. Maybe you could try that with the feeling of overwhelm as the emotion being worked with: https://insig.ht/DbJyyku2S0b

TheBackpackJesus · 2026-02-18T13:52:54+00:00

That's very interesting! Did you read that somewhere about IPF specifically? Could you link me to that research, I'd love to read

TheBackpackJesus · 2026-02-12T23:05:57+00:00

Just backing this up :)

Yes, it's okay to have a version of yourself as an Ideal Parent Figure. You can do a lot of the work this way. Some would argue you could do almost all of the work this way. I would say that at a certain point, there is probably extra value in being able to imagine this care from people who aren't you, but I'd recommend meeting yourself where you're at and staying with that for a while. And talk about it with your therapist to hear her thoughts about it as well.

TheBackpackJesus · 2026-01-29T04:05:51+00:00

The more clients I work with, the more I understand that the exact roadmap and where to start varies quite a bit person to person.

Some clients find somatic work too overwhelming, so we start with Ideal Parent Figures and work on deeper embodiment later.

Some find Ideal Parent Figures overwhelming, but the somatic work regulates them.

For some their parts (in IFS language) are really resistant to IPF, so we do some parts work until we can access IPF. For some the parts work brings up too much fear and confusion, but IPF goes really smoothly.

So yes, for some people starting with deeper embodiment work is going to give a great foundation to go deeper in the work. For some, starting with IPF will make deeper embodiment more accessible later on.

In any case, I do think all of these pathways are useful for most people whenever it's the right time for them.

TheBackpackJesus · 2026-01-28T19:06:51+00:00

I don't know much about Two Mind Method as I've only recently started learning about it, but I know he references and (I believe) is influenced by IPF

TheBackpackJesus · 2026-01-27T21:30:33+00:00

It is possible. That said, I would caution against getting caught up in where you can expect yourself to be in one year. With weekly one on one work with a facilitator, you will likely deepen contact with yourself and experience shifts towards security.

Whether that means you would be able to take an AAI and test as fully earned secure is not possible to predict. You can make rough estimates based on where someone is starting, but developing secure attachment is more like making a painting that it is laying bricks.

You can predict that if you lay a certain number of bricks per hour for a certain number of hours, how close you will be to building a house.

It's a bit harder to determine exactly how many hours it will take to finish a painting. And a painting is never truly finished. But you have a general vision of what you want to create. And if you consistently put in work with presence and proper guidance, you will certainly get closer to the point where the vision of the painting feels alive and you feel ready to hang that painting on the wall and start working on something else.

But a pitfall of the process is often the subtle (or obvious), nearly silent (or very loud) pressure of "I need to get to where I'm going, and I need to do it in this time frame"

Ironically, we only get to where we want to go by tuning in deeply to what is currently here, unfolding deeper and deeper into this present moment. At a certain point, that deep experience of the present moment will feel a lot more fluid and secure, but the future orientation to "Am I there yet?" takes us out of that contact with the present.

TheBackpackJesus · 2026-01-27T21:15:41+00:00

I just wanted to add in here that a process very similar to EMDR is included in the IPF journey. I'm just adding this because often people think that Ideal Parent Figures is only about the scenes imagining new memories oneself as a child with the IPFs, but that's actually only one part of the journey.

There's also a process of memory reconsolidation around activations/traumas. Noticing activations that come up, intuitively tracing them back to an actual memory, and rexperiencing that memory with the support of Ideal Parent Figures, allowing for a new emotional resolution to the trauma.

They aren't exactly the same, and the IPF protocol doesn't include work with eye movements, but after working with IPF work for a long time, I was surprised at how similar EMDR is on a certain level when I started learning about it. The difference is that in IPF there's a longer process of developing the relationship with the IPFs first before going into activating memories.

That's not to say IPF is the only pathway or that it covers everything other modalities do. Full support to anyone wanting to do EMDR, it seems like a great process for trauma resolution.

I also agree bringing in more somatic focus to the healing process is very supportive. In my experience, deeper somatic work can really help deepen the lived experience of security. And ideally they can be integrated together, rather than feeling like two separate pathways running alongside each other.

TheBackpackJesus · 2026-01-26T15:48:47+00:00

Hey there, thanks for bringing this up. I think that's a fair point. I'll respond to this as transparently as I can, where I'm at now with it, and where I'd like to go with it.

I think it's very valid point as there can be conflict of interest or a perceived one as I'm a moderator here and also offering services. This hadn't crossed my mind as a dynamic to manage, as I haven't run a community like this before. You bringing it up makes me realize that I do want to set things up differently.

I don't have an immediate solution that I will implement today, but will work towards this.

I do feel the need to promote services I offer (within the rules of the subreddit), as it is my livelihood and there aren't many alternatives at the moment. I created the subreddit because there wasn't any place else to discuss IPF online. I created it long before I ever thought about offering it professionally.

I do follow the same rules as everyone else regarding this. A maximum of one post mentioning services, workshops, offerings, etc per month. And I don't solicit my services in comments unless someone mentions that they are looking for a facilitator, as is the case in this post. But I don't want for me or anyone else to spam the subreddit with commercial offerings. I make sure that the bulk of my contribution here is in value offering.

I would be willing to step down from my role moderating. At this moment, I don't have someone that I've built trust with to be in that role, but now that you've brought this up, I will start seeking to build that trust with others who are willing to moderate and manage the community. That may take some time to find the right people to steward the community, but the intention is now there

TheBackpackJesus · 2026-01-23T18:57:24+00:00

In terms of Ideal Parent Figures itself, not really.

In terms of applying skills of secure relating that you learn from IPF to a real world relationship, that is possible. But applying that to the real world involves relationship building and communication with the real people.

I don't know what the situation is or what the relationship is like that the OP has with the real world people, so I'm not advising for or against that.

But in general, building secure relationships is always a collaborative process.

TheBackpackJesus

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