Vices As Use Of The World’s Most Potent Psychedelic Skyrockets, New Site F. I. V. E. Fills An Education Void David E. Carpenter Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I report on the field of psychedelic therapies and other novel drugs. Following New! Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories. Got it! Sep 5, 2022, 10:00am EDT | New! Click on the conversation bubble to join the conversation Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Knowledge is power. getty This is your brain educated on drugs. Specifically, one of the most powerful mind-altering substances on the planet: 5-MeO-DMT . With all the enthusiasm around the use of psychedelics to treat mental trauma, there still exists an alarming absence of information dedicated to the critical topic of harm reduction. It’s a significant blind spot for the expanding psychedelic space — a burgeoning offshoot of mental health medicine that is a billion-dollar industry , despite the fact that many of the drugs concerned are currently illegal for consumption in the United States. Still, a few countries (including Mexico and Canada) have not classified 5-MeO-DMT as a controlled substance, making the drug legally obtainable for anyone with a passport and the interest to experiment. As the pendulum of support for psychedelic therapy swings from a failed War On Drugs posture to a more compassionate “right to try” ethos , a growing number of people are now eager to experience psychedelics for the purpose of healing emotional trauma. Many of those individuals may have little to no experience navigating altered states, or understand the necessity of aftercare known as “integration,” a process by which a person integrates the insights of their experience into their life. The situation has created an environment that fosters sometimes reckless behavior by guides (also called facilitators) providing people with psychedelic sessions and leaving them mentally cracked wide open with more questions than answers. That’s where entrepreneurial endeavors like the Kaivalya Kollectiv, a psychedelic wellness company, have entered the field with a particular focus on safety. A retreat group pioneering therapeutic approaches to the use of psychedelics, the group is serving a niche market that caters to clients who highly value harm reduction. Now they’ve taken their ethos one step further by developing the website F. I. V. E. dedicated to fostering responsible use of the powerful molecule 5-MeO-DMT. The new online resource is the brainchild of co-founders Joël Brierre (founder and CEO of Kaivalya Kollectiv) and Victoria Wueschner. The duo have a combined decade of experience serving 5-MeO-DMT and have gathered wisdom from top experts in the 5-MeO-DMT field. Their aim is to provide education for individuals to make informed decisions when choosing to work with the powerful substance. The following is a conversation with Wueschner that covers safety protocols, how to choose an ethical guide and other valuable material describing the fascinating compound known as the “God molecule”. MORE FOR YOU The Making Of New York’s $150 Million ‘Cannabis Campus’ Blackstone To Sell The Cosmopolitan Of Las Vegas For $5. 65 Billion The Feds Are Coming For Delta-8 THC DAVID E. CARPENTER: Your new website F. I. V. E. was created to inspire a responsible approach to working with this powerful molecule. What are some of the key components of that responsibility? VICTORIA WUESCHNER: Firstly, it is around providing a well-rounded understanding of this experience that does not leave out the potential dangers around this medicine. Most of the information online only outlines the blissful and life changing aspects of working with 5-MeO. There is not much information about what can go wrong, and how scary it can get. Arming potential first-time users of this substance with all the information they need to make an informed decision is of the utmost importance. Another important element is practitioner responsibility. This site has vast resources for practitioners to keep their participants safe, including a list of contraindicated medications and mental conditions. The site also provides information to help participants understand what to look for in a facilitator, and red flags to be weary of. We’ve seen some scary headlines around this molecule over the years, and all of the incidents could have been prevented if the practitioners involved had the skillsets to create a safe container to responsibly serve such a powerful medicine. Co-founder of F. I. V. E. , Victoria Wueschner. Kaivalya Kollectiv Was there a specific event that brought you to creating the website? The conception of F. I. V. E. happened at a moment of desperation, after years of watching participants suffer from emotional, physical, and psychological harm at the hands of unqualified facilitators. We knew something had to be done. The idea was to put the power into the hands of the community by creating a free, centralized resource hub on 5-MeO-DMT to promote harm reduction. The website includes everything an individual could need when determining if 5-MeO-DMT is right for them and how to approach this work. Can you explain what a person might experience with 5-MeO-DMT? The peak experience with 5-MeO is that of a death and rebirth, there is a dissolution of the individual self, then one remembers themself as vast, infinite consciousness and expands into this state. After that there is a return to the individual self — this part can be interesting. How does one navigate being all pervasive and boundless awareness into a tiny, limited, 3-dimensional human body? The return to self can go many ways: it can feel like a triumphant return to this existence with a completely new view on life, or it can be like waking from a dream that seemed to last for eternity. Whatever it is like for each person, they are offered the opportunity to experience this life anew, almost like seeing reality without all the preconceived notions we wrap around our daily experiences. This is a precious gift and can be nurtured in the integration process. Can you describe the average participant that visits your retreats? Our participants come from varying walks of life, some are suffering deeply and in search of healing, some are spiritual seekers and explorers of consciousness, some resonate with eastern mysticism or shamanic practices, while some are more comfortable with modern science and Western psychotherapy. Thus, it is our responsibility to meet participants where they are at, rather than drawing them into a specific belief system. It is very important that we remember that this work is about the participant, and not about those of us that are serving them. You stress safety foremost on your site. What are your safety precautions like? Safety is always our priority. Each participant is screened medically and psychologically to ensure this is a good fit for them. After that we do two weeks of preparation work with each individual to begin the process of self-inquiry. We feel strongly that this work is not fit for large groups, individual care and attention is a large factor in a quality container. We accept only a small number of participants each retreat with a group/individual hybrid model where each person has their own process tailored to their unique needs. The medicine sessions are done privately, as well as daily individual integration check-ins, and neurofeedback protocols for brain entrainment. There are also group activities such as yoga, meditation, and group integration circles where the group setting can be very advantageous. After the retreat, each participant is assigned an integration specialist from our team who works with them for the following four weeks to further unpack the experience into their daily lives. We aim to facilitate lasting change at our retreats, rather than just a peak experience that fades away with time. Can you define what constitutes a large group, as well as your thoughts on facilitators who serve those sizes? An individualized element is of great importance to proper service of this medicine. It is a big experience and deserves to be treated as such. We are skeptical that facilitators serving groups larger than 10-15 in a day are able to provide the proper prep and aftercare that is needed here. Unfortunately, many facilitators of this medicine get caught up in the monetary aspect and try and cram as many people as possible into a ceremony. We’ve heard about groups of 20 to even 50 people in one day, and unfortunately have heard many horror stories from people walking away from their experience traumatized or cracked wide open and left to pick up the pieces by themselves without support. The practitioners, who are often self-proclaimed “shamans” and “healers,” have generally let their ego run away with the show and pay more attention to their social media platforms than the people they are serving. This is a large reason why we launched the F. I. V. E. platform, to put the power into the hands of the participant by providing information on safety, best practices, and even education resources for existing practitioners. Joël Brierre (l) and Victoria Wueschner (r) guide a 5-MeO-DMT session. Kaivalya Kollectiv What are your thoughts on the massive amount of investment into clinical trials of 5-MeO-DMT to treat chronic depression, due in part to the drug’s fast action and short duration of approximately 15 to 30 minutes? As we have seen, there are large amounts of capital going into 5-MeO-DMT at the moment, and while it is great to see more research going into this amazing compound, there seems to be a bit of naiveté around what it actually takes to not only make this medicine effective, but for participants to not get harmed from their experience. The idea that a company using 5-MeO-DMT is more scalable because it is a shorter acting experience is a bit worrisome. This is based on the assumption that using this molecule means less time with a nurse or therapist, and this is just not the case. From many years of experience, we have found that successful work with this molecule actually takes more time with hands-on preparation beforehand, as well as for integration and aftercare. We have seen firsthand what can happen when a participant has not been held in a proper container. Improper use of this compound can result in trauma, psychosis, or even death. We have also found that a holistic approach is needed here, even though some participants may not have an interest in the spiritual path, this experience is undeniably mystical, and those traditions allow some framework to understanding the journey to and from this state. We urge caution to the pharma and biotech companies exploring this molecule. A small error in someone’s process can result in a highly traumatic experience, and more bad headlines will seriously hinder progress in the psychedelic space. This being said, we welcome the other companies and hope to see an earnest effort to explore this medicine’s full potential. We stand by the fact that this is not a magic pill, or a panacea, but a potent tool to explore our innermost selves. To this point, we have recently launched our advising and consulting firm called Kaivalya Integral, the aim is to provide support and create custom protocols for companies pursuing 5-MeO-DMT and other compounds. Using decades of combined experience and extensive resources within the space, we can help to ensure safety and best practices for companies engaging in clinical trials and other related operations. Though we have just launched this firm, we are currently in talks with a few companies to give them the tools they need for success with this highly potent medicine. There’s a section on the site about choosing a qualified facilitator. Can you give some of examples of what to look for in a good facilitator? Choosing the right facilitator is the most important part of any 5-MeO-DMT experience, as it can be the determining factor between an impactful experience and a harmful one. Known as the most powerful psychedelic on the planet, 5-MeO-DMT needs to be treated as such. Unfortunately, as vaporized 5-MeO-DMT is a relatively new psychedelic, there has been no ancient wisdom traditions to teach facilitators to safely serve this substance. As a result, many unqualified individuals have located a source of 5-MeO-DMT, coined themselves “shamans,” and decided to start serving 5-MeO-DMT with little to no training. After years of bad headlines and countless deaths, we are slowly starting to come out the teething process with 5-MeO-DMT, as participants are starting to find the educational resources necessary to provide them the tools to make safe decisions. Therefore, F. I. V. E. has been launched with high hopes to see a drastic decrease in harm to participants. Firstly, when choosing a facilitator, it is important to look for allegations of malpractice to assess for immediate dangers. Next, a participant will want to determine the level of safety measures taken by the facilitator. This can be done by confirming the facilitator is first aid certified, asking about their emergency protocols, and gauging their level of care when it comes to the medical and psychological screening process. Once immediate safety concerns are addressed, it is important to then learn about them and their offering. How long has this facilitator been serving? What did their training consist of? In what environment are they serving — is it safe? Do they serve with someone else at all times? How many people have they served? Has anyone been hurt in any way, either physically or psychologically? Does this facilitator include preparation and integration support in their process? A participant wants to make sure a facilitator can answer all of these questions with confidence. What are some examples of a facilitator that should be considered high risk? One red flag to look out for in a 5-MeO-DMT facilitator is an individual who has chosen not to do their own personal healing work before beginning to attempt to serve. Unfortunately, this can result in facilitators unknowingly falling into egoic traps, causing their offerings to be become about themselves rather than the healing of the participant. In these cases, a facilitator may believe they know all there is to know and will have a strong aversion to support from other facilitators in their own growth. There are many cases of facilitators armed with a messiah complex unconsciously engaging in unethical practices such as psychological imprinting and unnecessary physical interference during sessions. We include more about red flags and how to screen a facilitator on the F. I. V. E. FAQ page . Your site says, “Extreme reactivations are directly correlated to being overserved by a facilitator.