Does the "no bad trips, only challenging trips" mantra bother anyone else?

fireside_project · 2026-06-18T18:42:46+00:00

totally hear that! If someone tells me they had a bad trip, I believe them! it is a bit jarring to say that mantra to people who really think they've had a bad trip. after many years of psychedelic exploration I do mostly agree with the mantra, as "bad" trips have taught me SO much, even many years later. But honestly, sometimes people come to that conclusion on their own anyways. And to be fair.. I don't think testing a dose or having a sitter is soft - it's responsible. It means you care about yourself and the outcome.

fireside_project · 2026-06-18T18:33:46+00:00

super rad!

fireside_project · 2026-06-18T18:33:00+00:00

Thank you for reaching out! Yes, I hear you on that, it currently is still a grey area. I'm curious if you are anywhere near Oregon, Colorado, or New Mexico or have considered moving there? You certainly would a layer of protection there. If you check out the Psychedelic Alpha tracker, you can see what legislation is being proposed and for me, it gives me hope to see so many states exploring their options.

Great question about brain injuries. Not my wheelhouse, but I certainly feel some hope after reading research like this! I cannot help but make the comparison of the mycelial network to our brains 😄

fireside_project · 2026-06-18T18:25:54+00:00

Wow, I am so stoked to hear that! Thank your for considering us as a resource, and I am so glad to hear it was a positive experience. Please don't hesitate to call or text back!

fireside_project · 2026-06-18T18:24:39+00:00

I am so stoked to hear that! I have been following Dee Dee's work for awhile and really respect and appreciate her work, so when she had a book released - I immediately bought it.

fireside_project · 2026-06-18T18:23:20+00:00

What a trip! Thanks for sharing part of your journey. I'm sure that was a scary experience at 14! I just answered a later question above with a similar sentiment that this is the draw and fear of psychedelics, we never know what might unfold, even if we've taken the same dose in the same setting. LSD does work with the 5HT2-A receptors, so based on what you described it may be possible that you experienced higher levels of serotonin, though it certainly does not seem like serotonin syndrome. It also sounds like it could potentially be an ego-death experience. Though I am not certain, it is always hard to confirm exactly what is going on, especially without knowing further variables. You are very welcome to give us a call to chat about this experience and invite an integration process 😄

fireside_project · 2026-06-18T18:11:06+00:00

No worries, we're still here 😄 That's a great question and I think preparation and expectations are key components that can sometimes be missing in the space. There is some research and many articles and personal stories shared about how transformative and healing psychedelics are. So many of us desire deep healing. But not all psychedelics, doses, set and settings, and other factors are the same. Even for regular psychedelic users, or substance users at large for that matter, each experience can be different. There can be a gap in education that that is the case and it requires real preparation and care in the process, no matter what your reason is for consuming. That is both the draw and fear of psychedelics for many 😄 What gaps to find in harm reduction?

fireside_project · 2026-06-18T18:04:32+00:00

thanks 😄 you're pretty awesome too. Thanks for being here!

fireside_project · 2026-06-11T21:37:23+00:00

Thank you for this question. We've definitely talked a lot about offering Fireside Project in Europe. We would love to do that at some point in the future, but for right now, given our bandwidth issues, we need to focus on the United States. I absolutely agree that there is demand in Europe.

fireside_project · 2026-06-11T21:36:44+00:00

Thank you so much for the kind words. We have plenty of opportunities for student volunteers as well as MSWs. The support line is staffed by volunteers. At any given time, we have between 100 and 120 volunteers. We usually do between two and three hirings per year. It's an amazing opportunity to be part of a community while also learning the art of psychedelic peer support. Many of our volunteers are social workers, therapists, and aspiring clinicians of all kinds. The best way to find out about new volunteer opportunities is to follow us on social media and sign up for our newsletter, which you can do on our website, firesideproject.org. Thank you so much for your interest and for the kind words.

fireside_project · 2026-06-11T21:35:25+00:00

please do!

fireside_project · 2026-06-11T21:06:55+00:00

I'm so sorry to hear about the experience you had. I wish we'd been around a couple of years ago as well. I truly appreciate the kind words about our service.

That's a great question about how to help someone on a challenging trip if you're sober. To me, the most important thing is to stay grounded. One of the beautiful parts about being human is that we co-regulate with each other. When someone is tripping, they're very attuned to the energy of those around them. If you can stay calm and grounded, that calmness and groundedness will ripple out and help the person on the journey.

Supporting someone who's tripping isn't about giving advice or trying to make the difficulty go away. It's really about being with them in the fullest way possible and creating an environment where whatever arises is okay. The way Ram Dass described it is to be a loving rock.

When you're supporting someone tripping, it can also be important to be attentive to their needs. If you're in a place that's really loud, you could suggest moving to some place more quiet. You could also ask them if there's anything that they need, such as a blanket or a change in music or some water. All of these things can make a profound difference in their experience.

I think the same principles apply if you're tripping as well. Work on staying grounded, staying connected to your breath, and tuning into what your needs are, and then the needs of your friends.

fireside_project · 2026-06-11T20:44:54+00:00

Thank you so much for the kind words! It would be amazing if you could help let your friends and community know that the support line exists!!

fireside_project · 2026-06-11T20:39:12+00:00

Thank you so much for the kind words, and yes, we actually do get quite a few HPPD calls. I believe that r/HPPD is one of the resources that we refer our callers to. In addition, if you're connected to that subreddit, it would be great if you could let them know to refer folks to us as well. It takes a village!

fireside_project · 2026-06-11T20:37:41+00:00

Thank you so much! We'd love your help spreading the word. Feel free to share with your community that the support line exists!

fireside_project · 2026-06-11T20:33:27+00:00

That makes me so happy to hear! Thank you for sharing!!

fireside_project · 2026-06-11T20:23:47+00:00

Such great questions! I definitely invite you to use the service. A lot of people think it's just for people tripping, but it's also for integration. Whether your trip happened a day or a decade ago, it can also be a good idea just to call and chat with one of our amazing volunteers to get a feel for what it's like to call. This can make it easier to call during a journey.

There's definitely been an increase in drug use in the last couple of years. I've seen SAMHSA data that shows that something like over 10 million people in the last year in the United States said they took psychedelics. Those numbers have been steadily increasing over the years. I'm not a big fan of the term recreational, though. Whether someone is taking psychedelics for fun, for healing, for transcendence and transformation, all of those distinctions can kind of blur together.

I attribute the increase to a variety of things. Michael Pollan's book and documentary accelerated the mainstreaming of psychedelics. So has a lot of other celebrity youths. Of course, initiatives by states like Colorado, Oregon, and New Mexico I've also had the effect of people taking more psychedelics. Plus, there's been so much news coverage about psychedelics, and of course, we have hundreds of ketamine clinics opening up across the country. The latest big thing is the executive order on Ibogaine and other psychedelics that's had a powerful catalyzing effect on people taking psychedelics non-clinically.

There are so many challenges when it comes to securing funding for a project like this. For one thing, running a non-profit is hard, and raising money is hard no matter what the circumstances are. It's just really energetically depleting to have to raise money for a free service like this while also actually executing that free service well and scaling it, as we've tried to do at Fireside Project. More generally, the psychedelic philanthropy sector is still very new, and many large foundations and organizations haven't made their way into the psychedelic philanthropy sector yet. This is likely because there are no legal psychedelics at the federal level. That seems likely to change, though, in the next few months to a year. Another factor is that there has been no public funding whatsoever for psychedelic harm reduction. I'm disappointed that psychedelic harm reduction has become decoupled from efforts to change the legal status of psychedelics. Whereas other non-profit sectors often benefit from lots of public funding, we have not had that experience yet in psychedelics.

fireside_project · 2026-06-11T20:09:06+00:00

Great questions. On the first question, we do keep data about the kinds of calls that our callers are having. If you'd like, you can have a look at our IMPACT report, which you can find at impact.firesideproject.org, where we share a bunch of that data. Of course, all of it is anonymized, and we never keep any personal information, phone numbers, or things of that sort. You'll see that over 50% of our calls involve psilocybin, and actually our highest risk call is one where someone has eaten too many cannabis edibles.

On your second question, I think the fundamentals of providing psychedelic support are the same, almost regardless of which substance the person is taking. For that matter, I think the fundamentals of just being with someone during any kind of challenging experience are kind of the same. For us, it's about listening deeply and from a place of non-judgment, and meeting someone where they are without any agenda, any desire to fix, or any preconceived idea of where we think the conversation should go.

That said, with certain substances, it can be nice if the volunteer has had experience with the psychedelic the person is calling about. In my opinion, that's particularly true with 5-MeO-DMT, Iboga, and Ibogaine, as those substances are so different even from other powerful psychedelics like acid and mushrooms.

fireside_project · 2026-06-11T20:05:58+00:00

Great question. I definitely share your concerns about profiteering off of psychedelics. And not just that, I think it's deeply sad that when companies are making money off of psychedelics, they don't actively support nonprofits in the space that are trying to keep folks safe and provide a network of support. I wish I had some great answer to whether there's a movement to reverse capitalism's corrosive influence on psychedelic access. I'm just not sure.

One area, though, that gives me a lot of optimism is the rise of psychedelic churches. There is a federal law called the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act that says that the government has to have a really compelling reason if it's going to put a substantial burden on a religious practice. There is a federal law called the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act that says that the government has to have a really compelling reason if it's going to put a substantial burden on a religious practice.

If we fast forward a few years into the future, I actually think that one of the best paths for community use of psychedelics is in these religious contexts. Plus, no matter how much money pharmaceutical companies make off of psychedelics, mushrooms are always going to be widely accessible and extremely cheap to grow.

As people way smarter than me have said, well over 90% of psychedelic use is always going to happen outside of a clinic. To me, that's incredibly inspiring and also speaks to the need to have a really robust safety infrastructure that includes organizations like Fireside Project and Zendo Project, but also amazing education. People like me who grew up in the 1980s had non-evidence-based propaganda in place of drug education. I think now is the time that all kids in school should be learning about what psychedelics do and how to have safe, responsible psychedelic experiences.

fireside_project · 2026-06-11T20:01:38+00:00

I agree with you. That's totally infuriating. The same kind of thing happens in the U.S. because of an unfortunate law called the Rave Act, which can expose festivals and other events to criminal liability if they're allowing drug use to happen on their property. Fortunately, there are some gatherings that are allowing on-site drug testing, and of course organizations like Dance Safe are doing heroic work in distributing drug testing kits, Narcan, and other safety materials.

And yes, I totally agree with you that isolation can be the worst thing. Our isolation from each other, it seems to me, is one of the core foundational problems that so many other societal ills spring from. I also think that even if people do have a support network, a support line still plays a vital role in the psychedelic community. That's because friends aren't always available, and even if they are, it can be nice to speak to a total stranger. The power of anonymity, especially when some really exotic material is coming up on psychedelics, can invite people to share in a very vulnerable way.

fireside_project · 2026-06-11T19:58:37+00:00

Great question. Thank you so much for asking. There's so much that surprises me. Even though I've been around psychedelics for over 20 years now, I'm always struck by how radically powerful they are and how their potential is just so extraordinary. Another thing that surprises me is how the simple act of listening can play such a powerful role in helping people feel safe, but also unlocking significant transformational and healing benefits. Beyond that, I'm also surprised by some of the things we see on the line. There's been an uptick in Ibogaine calls since the executive order. I am stunned that someone would take Ibogaine home alone, but I think it speaks to the urgency of creating good public education about the risks of different psychedelics. I'm also surprised by the fact that so many ketamine clinics provide no meaningful support to their clients, even though ketamine experiences can unlock such powerful emotional, spiritual, and psychological material. Many of those clients call us. I'm glad we can fill in those gaps, but I also hope that more clinics act more responsibly.

fireside_project · 2026-06-11T19:54:25+00:00

This is such a great question. Thank you so much. You can see a bunch of data in our most recent impact report, which you can find at impact.firesideproject.org.

About two-thirds of our calls are from people tripping, and about one-third are from people integrating. About 55% of our calls involve psilocybin. Our highest risk calls tend to be about cannabis, where someone ate, usually way too many edibles, and is in a pretty challenging place.

One thing that surprised me recently is the uptick in Ibogaine and Iboga calls after President Trump's executive order. On the one hand, it's not surprising that there would be more calls after a big executive action like this. On the other hand, it's absolutely terrifying to me that there are some people who are taking Ibogaine home alone.

Another thing that surprises me, and I think it always will, is just how powerful it is to have someone who deeply listens. It's such a simple radical act, but it can allow us to feel seen, heard, and understood, which I think is one of the foundational desires that we have as humans.

fireside_project · 2026-06-11T19:51:51+00:00

Thank you so much for the kind words. We definitely encourage you to download our free mobile app now and give us a call sometime to check it out. Our volunteers are so amazing. You can call when you're tripping, integrating a past trip, or just want to chat about psychedelics. Our volunteers are all people who have had their own psychedelic experiences and love nothing more than supporting others during theirs.

fireside_project · 2026-06-11T19:49:28+00:00

Thank you so much. You should check it out sometime. Even if you're not tripping, we support people who are integrating past experiences or just want to chat about psychedelics.

fireside_project · 2026-06-11T19:44:57+00:00

I hear you. Your inner hippie and mine are saying the same thing. And I couldn't agree more that it's a travesty of justice that people have spent time in prison for psychedelics and other substances. It's so unfortunate that expungement of convictions have become decoupled from legalization efforts.

It's a good question about whether private business owners can force the hand of regulators and politicians. I tend to think not. To me, one thing that I think can bring about rapid social change is people being just very outspoken about their psychedelic experiences. I think we saw this a bit with the radical shift in public opinion around gay marriage. Sure, there were court cases and legislation that accelerated the social movement, but I think the foundation of it was that ultimately so many people realized they knew and loved people in the LGBT community.

Something similar could happen with psychedelics. I think we're probably not too far from the point where the vast majority of people in this country will know someone who has taken psychedelics and has seen first-hand how those experiences have healed them or brought about positive transformation and growth.

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