Psychedelic integration: an analysis of the concept and its practice
Open accessAbstract
The concept of integration has garnered increased attention in the past few years, despite a long history of only brief mention. Integration services are offered by therapists, coaches, and other practitioners, or may be self-guided. There are many definitions of psychedelic integration, and the term encompasses a range of practices and techniques. This seems to have led to confusion about what integration is and how it is best practiced. The primary focus of this manuscript is the presentation of the first extensive review and concept analysis of definitions, practices, and models of psychedelic integration. We provide a synthesized definition of integration, synthesized model of integration, and comprehensive summary of integration practices to bring clarity to the subject.
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Providing empathetic support during and after a psychedelic experience represents a fundamental ethical requirement.
“Due to the potential of psychedelics to elicit profound psychological and emotional responses, providing empathetic support during and after a psychedelic experience represents a fundamental ethical requirement (84, 89).”
From Potential therapeutic effects of an ayahuasca-inspired N,N-DMT and harmine formulation: a controlled trial in healthy subjects (2024) · cites this paper as [84]
The Introduction describes treatment protocols with psychological support and integration, while the Discussion recommends immediate help for challenging experiences and supportive people after the experience. These passages support providing help during and afterward, but do not characterize empathetic support as a fundamental ethical requirement. (LLM, conf=0.85)
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“Due to the potential of psychedelics to elicit profound psychological and emotional responses, providing empathetic support during and after a psychedelic experience represents a fundamental ethical requirement (84, 89).”
Background
- Authors
- Bathje, G. J., Majeski, E., & Kudowor, M.
- Affiliations
- Adler University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Bathje, Geoff J.
- ORCID
- Bathje, Geoff J.
- Venue
- Frontiers in Psychology
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2022-08-04
- Volume
- 13
- Pages
- 824077-824077
- ISSN
- 1664-1078 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9386447
- OpenAlex
- W4289745468
- Cited by
- 174
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2026: 54 · 2025: 50 · 2024: 47 · 2023: 22
- FWCI
- 4.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Frontiers in Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychedelics and Drug Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Paranormal Experiences and Beliefs
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Keywords
- psychedelic integration, psychedelic therapy, conceptual analysis, integration practices, integration model, treatment integration
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