Why Don’t Psychedelic Retreats Have a Code of Conduct?
Without ethical guidelines, psychedelic spaces risk harm. Rick Doblin and Jules Evans explore whether a code of conduct could change that.
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Would Psychedelic Spaces Be Safer with Codes of Conduct in Place?
Without ethical guidelines, psychedelic spaces are vulnerable to harm. Rick Doblin and Jules Evans weigh in on whether sets of guiding principles could change that.
By Jack Gorsline
On February 3, the Holomind Institute hosted a public discussion called “Antidotes to Cultiness in Psychedelic Organizations.” The event featured Rick Doblin, founder of the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), and Jules Evans, founder of Ecstatic Integration and the Challenging Psychedelic Experiences Project (CPEP). The conversation started by discussing cult dynamics within the psychedelic space and expanded to broader issues, including the absence of formal ethical and accountability frameworks in the field. Although Evans and Doblin are often seen as having opposing viewpoints, they strongly agreed on the need for effective protection and restorative justice resources in the underground for participants.
The subject of abusive dynamics in psychedelics spaces certainly hit close to home for the speakers. Evans’s reporting has often centered around misconduct in psychedelic circles, ranging from the alleged systemic sexual misconduct within the Santo Daime Church and psychedelic retreats led by individuals with DMT-fueled god-complexes. For Doblin, the discussion was a chance to clarify what cult dynamics actually entail, especially in light of MAPS being labeled a “therapy cult” — a claim he has repeatedly disputed in recent months.
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The conversation suggested that power dynamics can become abusive in psychedelic spaces because of the lack of clear guiding principles and accountability frameworks — operational north stars that most organizations in other industries have in place, even in other sectors of wellness culture. “Most [psychedelic] retreat centers don’t have ethics codes… [or] anywhere you can complain,” Evans said. “It is an issue for the field… how do people complain if they feel like they’ve been harmed?”
Most [psychedelic] retreat centers don’t have ethics codes… [or] anywhere you can complain.
Over the past year and a half alone, numerous instances of psychedelic harm have been reported in the press and posted about on social media. (And for every instance that reaches the press, there are at least a dozen more that never come to light.) Organizations like SHINE Collective and the Matriarchal Alliance for Accountability and Transparency (MA’AT) have created support systems and resources for those who have experienced harm, specifically sexual misconduct. But even so, these organizations face unique challenges and limitations in offering support and fielding reports of abuse in a largely illegal space.
Doblin pointed out that 98% of psychedelic use takes place in the underground, further complicating accountability. “Systems of prohibition make it really difficult to figure out who you complain to, and if you’re complaining, then you’re exposing somebody to having done something illegal… so it’s particularly challenging to think about how you develop these complaints for underground therapy.”
The connections between the legal grey area, the grey (or unregulated) market, and prohibition are often overlooked. Prohibition forces underground psychedelic therapy to exist outside of regulatory frameworks, leaving no official body to enforce ethical standards. On top of the legal risk, the stigma (also created by a system of prohibition) around psychedelics makes it challenging for people to come forward.
“What complexifies the opportunity for redress is the cultural stigma surrounding controlled substances and their legal status,” said Allison Hoots, attorney and executive director of the Sacred Plant Alliance. “Those who want to report abuse may believe there is a risk of exposing not only themselves but also their community to criminal charges. This creates a chilling effect, discouraging individuals from seeking justice or even acknowledgment of their experiences.”
What complexifies the opportunity for redress is the cultural stigma surrounding controlled substances and their legal status.
But it’s even more complex than that. Illegality also fuels victim-blaming, Hoots told DoubleBlind. “It [reinforces] the idea that those involved in psychedelic spaces have ‘assumed the risk’ of harm…there is both a real and perceived likelihood that reports of abuse will be dismissed or receive inadequate attention — particularly by law enforcement — further compounding harm.”
Harm extends beyond sexual misconduct, too. It can also occur when a person feels destabilized and/or mentally unsettled after taking psychedelics. So how do we prevent this? Evans and Doblin suggested in the discussion the need for broader access to “integration work,” or structured support to help individuals process, make sense of, and apply insights from both before and after psychedelic experiences in clinical and non-clinical settings.
For Evans, whose organization hosts weekly support group meetings for individuals struggling with challenging psychedelic experiences, he believes that there should be a type of safety net, regardless of whether that’s peer support or specialist clinics.
“My ideal would be [that] however people do psychedelics… at a retreat, in a guided session, underground or overground, that they get told… beforehand, ‘if you feel worse afterwards, here’s a place you can go for expert advice,’” he said.
My ideal would be [that] however people do psychedelics… at a retreat, in a guided session, underground or overground, that they get told… beforehand, ‘if you feel worse afterwards, here’s a place you can go for expert advice.’
Doblin highlighted MAPS’s integration and harm-reduction-focused work with the Zendo Project. “This [issue] is really important, but it also points to a failure of a lot of these clinics that don’t do sufficient integration work. Unless you really do the integration work without the drug to try to help them anchor what they learned, it can be very harmful instead of beneficial… [so] the clinics themselves should ideally be investing more in the integration process afterward.”
The conversation ultimately underscored a pressing reality: Without clear ethical frameworks, psychedelic spaces will continue to grapple with harm, accountability gaps, and the effects of prohibition on our overall safety. Whether the psychedelic community can self-regulate remains to be seen.
“[S]elf-regulatory systems of accountability are essential in underground psychedelic communities,” Hoots said. “Above all, those who come forward must be met with care — not silence, intimidation, or further harm.”
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