Much of the media coverage around psychedelic therapy is heavy on the psychedelic part and light on the therapy. As a result, the promise of psychedelic therapy is often being overshadowed by the promise of psychedelic drugs alone.

Both preparatory sessions and integration are intrinsic to the psychedelic therapy process and should be treated with the same importance as the psychedelic event itself. Clinical psychologist and former clinical lead of the psilocybin for depression trial at Imperial College, Dr Rosalind Watts, knows this first-hand, which is why she's developed ACER Integration - an integration community for connecting to the self, others, and the natural world.

'A backlash to the backlash'

After years of stigma around psychedelics, since their therapeutic re-discovery in modern research, the media narrative has transformed from one of fear to one of great enthusiasm.

Described as a "backlash to the backlash," as psychedelic drugs have become more and more de-stigmatised, as has emerged a plethora of promises around the healing potential of these drugs by mainstream media.

With claims such as "Psychedelic drugs rebuild broken brains" or "LSD could make you smarter, happier, and healthier," this hype has raised alarm bells for many in the psychedelic community.

Through intimate, guided journeys, psychedelics can help someone explore their inner psyche, confront their traumas, and unravel the roots behind their psychological afflictions. A tailored approach that addresses the unique circumstances of an individual, contrasting to conventional Western medicines which focus more on using drugs to treat standard disease symptoms.

However, with mainstream media headlines such as "Could So-Called Magic Mushrooms Be a Magic Bullet for Depression," the worry is that psychedelics are becoming viewed as yet another promise for a 'one-shoe-size-fits-all' miracle drug.

The dangers of self-medicating

With such hype around the curative potential of psychedelic drugs, it's no wonder that people suffering from extreme psychological distress should seek to take these substances.

Yet psychedelics are non-specific amplifiers, meaning they can enhance and bring up all aspects of someone's mental landscape, from surface level to deep in the subconscious. As such, unexpected events, thoughts, and feelings can occur, which leave people feeling distressed, confused, and disappointed.

So as glamorising headlines continue to sway those suffering severe mental health difficulties to psychedelics, it's critical the media call more attention to the guided and therapeutic settings in which psychedelic healing occurs. Or there is a danger that those self-medicating, in the hope to find trauma relief, emerge feeling even more traumatised than before.

Addressing the full picture of psychedelic therapy

As well as calling upon the importance of guidance in psychedelics, it's also essential that psychedelic therapy is addressed as a multi-phased process, rather than just a single or few altered state experiences.

Typically in psychedelic therapy, clinical trials include several pre-psychedelic sessions in which patients create intentions for their journey and build up trust and good rapport with their therapist. After guided psychedelic journeys, there should also be several post-psychedelic integration sessions where patients discuss and process their experiences.

These pre and post-session are fundamental parts of the healing process. However, it's arguably outside of the therapy room, in which patients integrate aspects of their psychedelic journey into their everyday life, where the most significant transformations occur.

And this integration doesn't simply end once the psychedelic therapy is over. Rather, integration is a personal process for life.

When depression bounces back

Compared to conventional treatments, psychedelic therapy demonstrates many longer-lasting results in relieving depression and other mental health challenges. Yet, for the most part, these changes are still eventually transient.

In many psychedelic therapy clinical trials, patients report that in the months after their course of therapy has ended, destructive thoughts and behaviour patterns often reappear. And sometimes "with a vengeance."

For example, in the 2021 COMPASS Pathways Psilocybin for Depression Trial, after three months only 75% of the trial participants still had any significant improvements in their depression.

Making Psychedelic Therapy ACE-R…

Having observed this bounce-back pattern from over five years of experience as a psychedelic guide, London-based psychologist and psychedelic researcher Dr Rosalind Watts is driven to create a more sustainable foundation for psychedelic healing.

After Imperial College London's 2016 Psilocybin for Depression Study, Watts conducted interviews with patients to decipher a model of psychedelic therapy more suited to patients' wants and needs.

Consisting of three elements (acceptance, connection, and embodiment), she developed the ACE model. This model is all about accepting difficult memories and feelings, connecting to oneself and the natural world, and noticing how thoughts and feelings arise in the body (embodiment).

Now the ACER model, a new element, 'restore,' has since been added, which focuses on restoring a shift in daily life in light of an altered state experience.

Using the lens of nature, ACER recognises and celebrates cycles that unfold both in the natural world and within oneself—learning to embrace and accept fluctuations in mood and energy, just as one may embrace changes in the seasons.

A Twelve Month Integration Cycle

To materialise this celebration of natural cycles, Dr Watts developed a twelve-month ACER Integration cycle program, which is inspired by the Celtic tree calendar. Within the ACER Integration container, participants go through a process called 'The Twelve Trees', which allows people to integrate and process experiences both slowly and in community.

Watts incorporated trees as the central theme in the program as they represent how communities can connect both by their darkness and shadow sides (at the roots) and brightness and inspiration (at the branches), with both aspects equally as crucial as one another.

For the program, each month, a community of participants will focus on a different tree that symbolises specific values for self-inquiry and personal growth.

With themed guided meditations, live breathwork sessions, reflective discussions, and regular psychedelic integration circles, ACER integration will guide participants to go within, learn to regulate their nervous system, and process experiences in a safe community environment.

Although the twelve different monthly trees make one complete cycle, the program doesn't end as the cycle is completed. As each year passes by, the participants can re-visit each monthly theme on the calendar, self-reflecting their growth and discoveries each time.

Currently in her second year of the programme, Leonie Schneider, a current participant taking part in the ongoing pilot program, quoted:

"It has been a life-affirming experience being part of a wider whole and learning more about the interconnectedness of life through the lens of the Twelve Trees. Through the ACER Integration Programme and the timeless lessons of the Twelve Trees with their growth and resilience, I have been able to integrate the profound insights from my psychedelic experiences and am walking a more soulful and gentle path."

Looking to the future of psychedelic therapy

As psychedelics continue to be romanticised by the mainstream media, attention must continue to be drawn away from a single-focus view to a wide-lens image that encompasses the full scope of the psychedelic healing process - the therapeutic support, connection and community, and most importantly, integration. Not only for the sake of those seeking to self medicate, but also those who have been through psychedelic experiences, yet are wondering why they're still struggling with their daily lives.

By providing a framework for psychedelic therapy trials and worldwide support to those who have been through altered state experiences, the develop ACER and similar models could help combat this backlash of psychedelic hype and pave the way for an improved and more durable future of psychedelic therapy.

ACER Integration Launch Event - 6th May

If you'd like to experience part of the ACER integration programme yourself, join us on the 6th May at the stunning EartH Theatre in Hackney, London where Rosalind Watts will guide us on a full-body guided tree meditation. The event will also include an immersive live listening session delivered by renowned musician Jon Hopkins, and discussions about ACER therapy and psychedelic integration from Dr Watts, documentarian Bruce Parry, and other special guests.

Tickets are available here: https://dandelion.earth/events/622233b3025fc50011891f2e

A New Lens for Psychedelic Integration Therapy