Psychedelics In Couples Counseling & Relationship Connections

by MADELINE FERGUSON

Have you ever taken part in a hallucinogenic trip with your significant other? What was your experience? This article is part personal experiences and part information and research on the topic. 

Companionship and social relationships are an absolutely necessary piece of human existence, in fact, research shows people with strong relationships live longer, healthier lives. In the world’s “Blue Zones”, where people live the longest, social relationships are one of their pillars of wellness. 

So what if getting close to someone feels hard for you? What if your relationships don’t feel quite deep enough?

Well, that’s how I felt with my partner. I love and have always loved my partner but I felt I could never let my guard down enough to let them see all of me and for me to see all of them.

Until we took a dose of mushrooms together. 

I’d like to start by saying, in no way did this psychedelic experience “fix” our relationship. We were already in a great place, but the experience just made it even better. 

The experience was fun. We laughed together, we chatted and we just sat and enjoyed each other. I felt that I finally spent a chunk of time with my partner just being together, not thinking about being judged or analyzed. 

And I finally saw my partner without the lens of societal pressures. We were just able to be together in what felt like our own, judgment-free bubble. In a perfect world, your relationships would always serve as that bubble, but it simply doesn’t work that way with everything going on in our day-to-day lives. In my opinion, a psychedelic experience with your partner can serve as an important reminder that this bubble does exist and that’s comforting. 

One of the best parts about this type of experience is that the effects or lessons last months or lifetimes. With psilocybin, the “afterglow” is well documented, even in treating mental illnesses like PTS (Post Traumatic Stress) and depression, the effects are long-lasting even after a single treatment.

For my partner and I, our relationship still benefits from our psychedelic experiences together that occurred many years ago.

Research into using psilocybin and MDMA in couples counseling is promising, though not comprehensive. Only some states have legalized psilocybin for research purposes and Canada is the leader so far in MDMA in couples counseling research.

Though the research isn’t vast, many therapists have been open about guiding couples before and after a psychedelic experience because they can’t administer or be present during the experience in most situations. The most common theme I’ve read when reading about these sessions is connection. The experience brings couples back to a place of true connectedness that we all know can fade within the midst of a busy life, work, and other distractions. 

Another interesting part of my research into these therapy techniques is there is never a bad review or experience. Sure, there are people who have hard emotions or feelings that come up during the experience but they always look back on the experience as positive, because even when things got hard there was something to learn. 

A greater sense of connectedness is something we could all benefit from, in my opinion. And the most promising thing to me is that the effects can be long-lasting and in some cases a one-time cure without side effects.

This article is not medical advice. You should consult a physician before making any decisions about ideas in this article. It is a personal experience, not medical advice.