Hey there,

As psychedelic-assisted therapy moves toward mainstream acceptance (with FDA breakthrough therapy designations for both MDMA and psilocybin and more states adopting legislature for legal psychedelic therapy), many EMDR therapists are asking the same question:

“How can I ethically incorporate psychedelic integration into my practice?”

Luckily for you, I've probably spent more time researching this exact question than many people in the EMDR community. So much so that I gave a presentation on it last summer at the EMDRIA Virtual Conference!

So today, I want to break it down for you.

The answer involves understanding what's called Psychedelic Harm Reduction and Integration Therapy (PHRI) – an approach that allows you to support clients before (sometimes) and after (definitely) their psychedelic experiences without ever handling controlled substances.

By the end of this email, you’ll have a clear path to ethically enter this space and understand how you can more confidently support clients who plan to independently pursue psychedelic therapies outside of their work with you (but in the context of their treatment goals).

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Disclaimer: The information contained in this document is for informational purposes only. This is not legal advice and I make no guarantees about the outcomes or results from information shared in this document. Proceed at your own risk and discretion.​
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Understanding the Legal and Ethical Side of Integration Work

Let me be clear from the start:

Ethical psychedelic integration work does NOT involve controlled substances in your practice setting.

The approach I'm describing focuses on two specific phases of the 3-phase psychedelic- assisted therapy (PAT) model:

Phase 1 (Preparation): Working with clients before they pursue legal psychedelic experiences.

Phase 3 (Integration): Supporting clients after they've completed their experiences.

What this means is that you're not facilitating access to psychedelics, providing space where substances would be used, or coordinating with underground guides. That would happen in Phase 2 of the PAT model which doesn’t apply to your PHRI approach and is only legally viable in certain states/jurisdictions or in an FDA-approved research context.

You're also not applying judgement of the client by encouraging or discouraging substance use.

Instead, you're providing education about research-informed risks and benefits, preparation work using evidence-based practices (just as you might help prepare a client for EMDR), and integration support focused on therapeutic goals. This approach falls squarely within existing scope of practice and ethical guidelines when done correctly.
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My Ethical Due Diligence Framework

If you're like most EMDR therapists I talk to, you're probably wondering:

"This sounds interesting, Chris, but how do I know I'm not crossing any ethical lines? What if my licensing board comes knocking?"

That's exactly the question I had, which led me to analyze my state law, professional codes, and clinical standards.

After reviewing Washington state law, NASW ethics codes, and national clinical standards, here's what I’ve found to support this work

• Client Self-Determination: Respecting clients' autonomy to make informed decisions about their healing journey, including legal psychedelic experiences.
• Competence Requirements: Obtaining appropriate training in psychedelic therapy principles (MAPS training, specialized consultation, etc.) before offering these services.
• Cultural Competence: Acknowledging that psychedelic ceremonies have therapeutic roots in indigenous cultures spanning thousands of years.
• Social Justice: Expanding access to emerging therapies that show significant promise for treatment-resistant conditions and honor various cultural practices and meet clients where they are at.
• Harm Reduction: Supporting clients in making safer, more informed decisions rather than avoiding the topic entirely.

Disclosure: Some of this may vary depending on your state and guidelines for your discipline, so I always recommend diving into research for your own legal and ethical standards if you live in a different state or have a different discipline (i.e. counselors, MFTs, psychologists).

An important piece is informed consent. Clients must understand exactly what you can (and cannot) provide, plus the legal, ethical, and clinical considerations involved in pursuing psychedelic experiences independently with a third party access or retreat center.

This foundation gives you the confidence to move forward ethically, while also serving clients who are increasingly interested in these alternative healing approaches (many of whom with clinical presentations that often overlap with a typical EMDR client).
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How EMDR Compliments Psychedelic Preparation (Phase 1)

What's fascinating is how naturally your existing EMDR skills translate to preparation work. If you think about it, you're already doing most of what's needed (just in a different context)!

Here’s what I mean:

Stabilization and Resource Building: Traditional EMDR preparation becomes even more critical when clients are considering psychedelic experiences. The same skills that help clients tolerate trauma processing can help them navigate challenging psychedelic content like:

• Safe place development
• Grounding techniques for self-regulation
• Container exercises for managing intense material
• Affect tolerance building

Target Assessment: Rather than targeting specific traumatic memories, preparation work involves helping clients identify:

• Intentions for their psychedelic experience
• Areas of stuck emotional material that might emerge
• Relationship patterns they want to explore
• Somatic awareness and body preparation
• And yes, sometimes even standard EMDR protocol to help desensitize and open up awareness can be supportive before a client independently pursues their own therapeutic psychedelic experience

Psychoeducation: EMDR therapists already excel at explaining how trauma affects the nervous system.

In this context, that same EMDR expertise translates directly to helping clients understand:

How psychedelics affect neural processing

• The importance of set and setting
• Risks and benefits of psychedelic experience and ruling out contraindications
• Integration planning before the experience occurs so they can leverage the window of neuroplasticity after

The preparation work you already excel at becomes the foundation for safer, more intentional psychedelic experiences that they might pursue independently.

Integration Work Using EMDR Principles (Phase 3)

Many clients return from psychedelic experiences with vivid memories, insights, or even challenging material that needs processing.

This is where EMDR truly shines in the integration space.

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Here's how the standard EMDR protocol adapts beautifully to integration work:

Memory Processing: Psychedelic experiences often bring up core memories or create new significant experiences. Some examples for using the standard EMDR protocol:

• Target the most emotionally charged aspects of the psychedelic experience
• Process any difficult or confusing material that emerged
• Strengthen positive insights and integrate new perspectives
• Address any fear or resistance to the insights gained

Somatic Integration: Psychedelic experiences are often deeply embodied. EMDR's attention to body sensations helps clients:

• Process somatic memories that surfaced during their experience
• Integrate new felt senses of safety, connection, or healing
• Address any physical tension or activation that needs resolution

Cognitive Restructuring: The positive cognition phase of EMDR becomes particularly powerful for integration:

• Installing new beliefs that emerged during the psychedelic experience
• Strengthening insights about self-worth, connection, or meaning
• Creating future templates based on expanded awareness

(Note: What many therapists find is that integration work often feels more profound than traditional EMDR sessions. That’s because clients are processing material that emerged during heightened states of consciousness.)

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Practical Considerations for Your Practice

Now before diving into this type of work, there are several important elements to consider for implementation.

Let me break them down for you.

Training Requirements: Before offering PHRI services, it’s important to invest in proper education (this isn't something you want to learn as you go):

• Complete training on PHRI or even the 3-phase PAT model to better understand what your role is in the client’s process
• Seek specialized consultation from experienced practitioners
• Join professional networks focused on ethical psychedelic integration

It’s also helpful to keep up with ongoing supervision throughout your early cases, not just during initial training.

Documentation and Marketing: To protect both yourself and your clients, make sure you explicitly state in all marketing materials what you do (and don’t) offer. You don’t provide access to controlled substances – only assistance with the preparation and/or integration phases.

Client Screening: It’s important to recognize that not every client is appropriate for PHRI services. That's why it's always important to screen for a stable mental health baseline, realistic expectations about psychedelic experiences, and adequate support systems for integration work. Know what the contraindications are and look for them early if a client is suggesting they have plans to pursue a therapeutic psychedelic experience outside of their work with you.

The key is building competency gradually while maintaining the highest ethical standards throughout the process.

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The Future of EMDR and Psychedelic Integration

As psychedelic therapy moves toward mainstream acceptance, EMDR therapists are uniquely positioned to contribute to this field. The same client population that tends to benefit most from psychedelic therapies are the ones who can benefit most from EMDR too

Our skills in trauma processing, bilateral stimulation, and nervous system regulation translate directly to both preparation and integration work. The ethical frameworks already exist within our professional guidelines, and the training pathways are becoming more accessible.

I don’t think the question is whether psychedelic therapy will become mainstream (that’s just a matter of time).

The real question depends on whether EMDR therapists (like you) will be ready to serve clients ethically and effectively when it does.

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Are you considering adding psychedelic integration to your EMDR practice?

What questions do you have about the ethical considerations involved? This would be a great topic for conversation in Helicon’s (free) private Signal group for EMDR providers. Use this application to apply and join the group and connect with other EMDR pros sharing the same interests! (try using Google Chrome if you have any issues with the form)
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Until next week,

Chris

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Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for informational purposes only. This is not legal or clinical advice and we make no guarantees about the outcomes or results from information shared in this document. Proceed at your own risk and discretion.​
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