Crisis Resources

Finding Community Support for Integration

How to find integration circles, therapists, and community support for ayahuasca integration and healing

6 min read Updated November 14, 2025

Why Community Matters

You cannot integrate alone.

Integration in isolation doesn’t work effectively. Here’s why:

  • Isolation distorts insights. Without feedback, you can’t tell truth from ego.
  • Accountability keeps you practicing. It’s easy to quit when no one is watching.
  • Shared experience normalizes yours. You’re not crazy, you’re healing.
  • Community reflects growth. Others can see your progress when you can’t.

Integration requires witnesses.

Types of Support

1. Integration Circles (Peer Support)

What they are:

  • Regular gatherings (weekly or monthly) of people integrating psychedelic experiences
  • Usually 5-15 people
  • Facilitated by trained guide or peer-led
  • Confidential, non-judgmental space

What happens:

  • Sharing experiences (voluntary, no pressure)
  • Listening to others (often as healing as sharing)
  • Practical integration support
  • Witnessing each other’s journeys
  • Sometimes group practices (meditation, breathwork)

Why they’re powerful:

  • Free or low-cost (usually donation-based)
  • You’re not the only one going through this
  • Practical tips from people who’ve been there
  • Regular accountability and check-ins

How to find:

  • MAPS Integration Circles
  • Local psychedelic societies or meetups
  • Ask your facilitator if they offer integration support
  • Online integration communities (see below)

Common experience: Integration circles are transformative. Hearing others’ struggles normalizes experiences. Witnessing others’ growth catalyzes growth.

2. Professional Therapy

When you need it:

  • You’re working with serious trauma
  • Ceremony brought up overwhelming material
  • You’re experiencing persistent distress
  • You want expert guidance
  • You need 1-on-1 support

Finding the right therapist:

Look for:

  • ✅ Experience with psychedelic integration
  • ✅ Trauma-informed training
  • ✅ Somatic or body-based approaches
  • ✅ Non-judgmental about plant medicines
  • ✅ You feel safe with them

Red flags:

  • ❌ Dismissive of psychedelic experience
  • ❌ Wants to “fix” you quickly
  • ❌ Doesn’t understand altered states
  • ❌ You don’t feel heard or safe

Where to find integration-informed therapists:

Cost considerations:

  • Many therapists offer sliding scale
  • Some insurance covers therapy (check if integration-focused therapy is covered)
  • Community mental health centers
  • Training clinics (supervised students, lower cost)

Common pattern: Avoiding therapy limits progress. Finding a trauma-informed, integration-savvy therapist accelerates healing.

3. Online Communities

Pros:

  • Accessible from anywhere
  • Active communities with diverse perspectives
  • Available 24/7
  • Anonymity if you need it

Cons:

  • Quality of advice varies widely
  • No screening of who’s giving advice
  • Can be echo chambers
  • Sometimes toxic positivity or bypassing

Recommended platforms:

Reddit:

  • r/Ayahuasca (mixed quality, but active)
  • r/RationalPsychonaut (science-based discussions)
  • r/integration (smaller, focused community)

Discord servers:

  • Fireside Project community
  • Various integration-focused servers (ask in integration circles for invites)

Facebook groups:

  • Many region-specific integration groups
  • Quality varies, use discernment

⚠️ Important: Don’t take all advice at face value. People mean well but aren’t always right.

4. Peer Accountability

What it is:

  • One or more integration buddies
  • Regular check-ins (weekly calls, texts, etc.)
  • Mutual support and accountability

How to set it up:

  1. Find someone also integrating (integration circles are great for this)
  2. Agree on frequency of check-ins
  3. Set specific accountability goals
  4. Check in honestly about progress

Sample weekly check-in:

  • “Did I do my daily practices this week?”
  • “What insights came up?”
  • “Where did I struggle?”
  • “What am I committing to this coming week?”

Accountability partnerships work: Regular check-ins with one person often sustain practice commitment where solitary effort fails.

How to Engage With Community

Sharing Your Experience

You don’t have to share everything.

What’s helpful to share:

  • Patterns you’re noticing
  • Integration challenges
  • Questions you have
  • Insights that feel important

What to be cautious about:

  • Graphic trauma details (can retraumatize others)
  • Spiritual bypassing (“love and light” without the shadow work)
  • Unsolicited advice
  • One-upping others’ experiences

Listen as much as you share. Often listening is more healing than talking.

Holding Space for Others

Good holding space:

  • Listen without trying to fix
  • Validate their experience
  • Ask clarifying questions
  • Hold confidentiality sacred
  • Acknowledge complexity

Avoid:

  • “Have you tried…?” (unsolicited advice)
  • “That happened because…” (spiritual bypassing)
  • Comparing/competing
  • Dismissing their struggle

Boundaries in Community

Healthy community has boundaries:

  • Confidentiality agreements
  • No sexual or romantic relationships within integration spaces (creates complicated dynamics)
  • Clear facilitation or structure
  • Consent-based sharing
  • Right to pass on sharing
  • No pressure to attend ceremonies together

Red flags in community:

  • Pressure to do more ceremonies
  • Guru dynamics (one person positioned as all-knowing)
  • Shaming or judgment
  • Blurred sexual boundaries
  • Financial exploitation

Trust your gut. Healthy community feels safe.

Building Your Support Network

You need multiple layers of support:

Layer 1: Daily accountability

  • Integration buddy or partner
  • Daily practice tracking

Layer 2: Regular community

  • Weekly or monthly integration circle
  • Consistent faces and shared journey

Layer 3: Professional support

  • Therapist for deeper processing
  • Somatic practitioner for body work

Layer 4: Crisis support

  • Fireside Project (623-473-7433)
  • 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
  • See Crisis Resources

You don’t need all of these immediately. Start with one and build.

For Those Who Feel Isolated

If you can’t access in-person support:

  • Online integration circles exist (search “online psychedelic integration circle”)
  • Fireside Project offers free peer support calls
  • Online therapy is increasingly accessible
  • This website and others provide educational resources
  • Reddit and Discord can offer community (with discernment)

You are not alone even when you feel alone.

Starting Your Own Integration Circle

If there’s no circle in your area, start one.

Basic structure:

  1. Find space (home, community center, park)
  2. Set clear agreements (confidentiality, no advice-giving, time limits)
  3. Simple opening (moment of silence, statement of intention)
  4. Sharing circle (each person shares, others listen without response)
  5. Closing (gratitude, grounding)

Keep it simple. Consistency matters more than perfection.

Resources:

What Good Support Looks Like

You know you’ve found good support when:

  • You feel safe to be vulnerable
  • Your growth is witnessed and reflected
  • You’re held accountable without shame
  • Complexity is honored, not simplified
  • You leave feeling more grounded, not more confused
  • Boundaries are clear and respected

Trust takes time. Keep showing up.

Resources

Finding Support

Books on Community and Integration

  • “The Body Keeps the Score” by Bessel van der Kolk
  • “Healing Collective Trauma” by Thomas Hübl
  • “The Integration Handbook” by various authors (available through MAPS)

You deserve support. You don’t have to do this alone.

Start with one connection. Build from there.

Related Resources

Not Medical Advice

This content is for educational purposes only. Consult qualified healthcare professionals before making decisions about plant medicines or mental health treatment.