Psychedelics have gotten pretty popular these days, and there’s a lot of information as well as charlatans out there. We’re going to discuss the basics, benefits and risks associated with MDMA Assisted Therapy. There is a difference between taking MDMA and going dancing, versus working with MDMA and putting intention into transforming your life for the better. This talk will help educate you on how to look at MDMA as a transformative healing tool for improving your quality of life.


The latest scientific research and data is demonstrating that MDMA Assisted Therapy can

Enhanced Emotional Resilience

Increased Empathy and Connection:

Reduced Anxiety and Fear:

Improved Communication

Exploration of Self-Identity

Reduced Defensiveness

Long-Lasting Effects

Increased Trust

Enhanced Problem-Solving Skills

Positive Attitude Change

It's important to note that while these potential benefits are promising, MDMA therapy is still a relatively new and experimental treatment. Research is ongoing, and the therapy is not yet widely available. Additionally, MDMA is a controlled substance and should only be administered by trained facilitators in a controlled setting as part of clinical trials or research studies. Furthermore the therapy should always be conducted within legal and ethical guidelines, with a focus on patient safety and well-being.

Topics We'll Discuss:

*What is MDMA
*The History of MDMA
*Measurements / Dosage
*Safety
*Potential Benefits & Risks
*Intention Setting
*Preparation & Integration
*The Process
*This is a free online event

Learn more about us at www.brooklynbalance.org

About Us:

Brooklyn Balance aims to be a supportive companion in your psychedelic journey—from beginning to end. A journey starts the moment you decide to have a psychedelic experience, and having the right preparation and tools is essential for a transformational and positive outcome.

With that in mind, we help you prepare for your journey by setting conscious intentions aligned with what your desired outcomes are. We offer tools you can tap into during your journey, and integration coaching to help you bring the psychedelic experience into your day-to-day life.

Transcript:

Speaker 1 (00:00:03):

Great. Yeah. So disclaimer, this presentation does not encourage or condone any illegal activities including but not limited to the use of illegal substances. This is not a substitute for mental health or medical services. This is not a substitute for medical, psychological, or psychiatric diagnosis, treatment or advice. So I am not a doctor, I am not a licensed therapist. I am simply in the position of offering information and education in this space. I have done lots of extensive training and practicing. I've also done a lot of my own work in this field, and so this is an opportunity for me to share that information for those that are curious. So if you're in the psychedelic space and if you're tracking what's going on there, there's a lot of information out there and there's a lot going on with MDMA used as a therapeutic medicine in conjunction with therapy. So in this talk, we're going to be talking a lot about what you really need to know before pursuing it, if it's for you, whether you're receiving it or if you're looking to enter the space as a facilitator as well.

(00:01:37):

So what we'll discuss today, we're going to talk about what is MDMA, we'll do a little bit of a general background on its history and the breakthrough that data that's coming out with it. We'll talk about safety, contraindications, measurements, dosages, choosing a facilitator, preparing and integrating for your session. So a little bit about me. I'm Josh or Joshua, either or. I'm the founder of Brooklyn Balance, LLC. I am a psychedelic integration coach and facilitator. I have various certifications and professional trainings, some of which include TAM integrations year long coaching program, the various trainings through maps including the MDMA certification. I've done training with psychedelic support, and I also work with various groups and communities here in New York City. And fun fact, I'm a native New Yorker born and raised. So a little background on me is I had my first life-changing experience with psychedelic back in 2003. It was a really profound experience and it really shifted a lot for me and it was a really big opening for me as well.

(00:03:06):

Later on 2008, after I graduated from college, I started to have really debilitating panic attacks and I was prescribed SSRIs, which I took for a number of years. Later on in 2016, I stopped taking SSRIs and I began to explore psychedelics with my therapist and also get involved in the psychedelic community. I found a lot of that work, very transformational and very profound. And later on in 2020 with the pandemic and my background being film production, I got really burnt out. I just really just needed to find something that was new for me. And so where I landed after really dropping into a new sacred purpose for me was one founding Brooklyn Balance, and then two, creating a nonprofit with the intention of unionizing the commercial film production industry, which has become successful in forming a new union known as local 1 1 1. So now I work basically doing full-time, psychedelic integration coaching, and I'm a part of different groups and organizations here in New York City, and it's been great.

(00:04:42):

So this photo up here on the upper right is me at the MAPS Conference. And on the lower right down here, this is my cohort from the TAM Integration 12 month training program and Real People Real Results. This is just a couple of inklings from people that I've worked with, being that I've done a lot of work for myself with depression and self-esteem, low self-esteem, I've really been able to offer a lot of what I've learned to people, and I've really appreciated these kind comments from the people that I worked with. So I put this here to share.

(00:05:29):

So here's some basics on MDMA assistance psychotherapy, and I'm starting off with this quote from Humphrey Osmond who was talking to Aldi Huxley to fathom hell or sore angelic, just take a pinch of psychedelic. I personally really love this quote I, because we'll get into it a little bit later, but psychedelics tend to be very paradoxical. So we might be really high at one point, but we also might be really low. And in those experiences, there's something really valuable to learn from. So getting into what is MDMA? So MDMA, it's a scientific name, is three four. I pronounce it as methyl methamphetamine. There's other ways to pronounce it, but that is how I learned how to say it, and that's in its pure form. So it's also been known as ecstasy. And ecstasy is a psychedelic amphetamine, and it's gained a lot of popularity over the past 20 years in its ability to produce strong feelings of comfort, empathy, and connections to others is how ARROWWOOD defines MDMA.

(00:06:59):

For those who don't know, arrowwood.org is a really great resource for learning about substances and psychedelics. I highly recommend it. So MDMA is illegal. It's a schedule one narcotic. It was synthesized over a hundred years ago by Merck and then patented in 1912. And later on, Sasha Shulgin res synthesized it, which kind of created a bit more of a buzz and popularity of it later on. So in the early 1960s and seventies, psychologists began to work with MDMA largely in group settings for therapeutic purposes. At the same time, MDMA, well at the same time, and later on a bit, MDMA began to be known more as ecstasy for party and nightlife, and we'll touch upon it more later. But for me, there is a difference between ecstasy and MDMA. So when I'm referring to MDMA, I'm referring to pure MDMA, while ecstasy often is cut with things like amphetamine speed, uppers and large amounts of caffeine that sort of made things more difficult for the therapeutic intentions.

(00:08:34):

And with the war on drugs in 1985, it was outlawed. So since then there's been a lot of misinformation about it. There was a situation where false rumor spread about putting holes in people's brains and it being overly neurotoxic. And basically that was actually, that information came from a study that was based off of methamphetamine, not MDMA, but the damage for that had already been done. So when we talk about the effects of MDMA and what it does, it impacts neurotransmitters involved in the emotional processing of the brain. So it releases serotonin, neuro amphetamine, and dopamine, and it heightens the positive mood and reduces anxiety while neurophin and dopamine increase energy and alertness. And to just give kind of context for that, it's like you're feeling upbeat, you're feeling like there's more energy, and you're feeling also like you may be feeling more expansive and loving because of that chemical reaction.

(00:09:48):

In addition and increases oxytocin and prolactin levels, which are affiliated with social bonding and love. So people may experience being more talkative, being more open, feeling less fear, and also desiring to touch more and to be touched more, more. It can cause a person to become less receptive to fear inducers and more inclined to social interactions. It decreases activity in amygdala. And the amygdala is the parted brain that creates fear. It's the reptilian part that also protects us and wants us to be safe. So when we turn that off, it may allow a sense of safety for many people. It also increases activity in the hippo cannabis for creating memory processing. There's sensation enhancement enhancement. One may feel more self-acceptance one may also drop into having more authenticity, and one may also want to talk a lot.

(00:11:04):

So today there's definitely a lot of buzz going on with MVMA, and there are a lot of studies happening with it as well. So here's just a few examples that I've put in here. MAPS is working on the phase three trials for MDMA and they were anticipating it to be used for medical use around this time. I attended a talk with Rick Doblin a few weeks ago, and now they're projecting for end of next year. So fingers crossed for next year that it'll be legal for therapeutic use. Lots of exciting things are happening in Australia with NDMA, and there's just lots of really new really interesting studies happening with everything.

(00:12:01):

So in addition to what we previous mentioned, when it comes to working with MDMA more as a therapeutic tool, MDMA is mostly mainly classified as an empathogen rather than a psychedelic. The difference in that is that an empathogen is more about feeling and connecting with other people and processing emotions in ourselves with our better understanding of other people while a psychedelic is psychoactive. And we may feel and see things visually. So it is possible to see things with MDMA, and it is known largely as a psychedelic, but my understanding is its technical classification is as an empathogen. And so working with it therapeutically, it may relieve PTSD or complex PTSD. It may alleviate depression. It may create feelings of connection, feelings of openness and feelings of euphoria when it comes to the safety of MDMA in these contexts with working with it therapeutically, this is a study that was created by Neuropsychopharmacology David Nut about the harm caused by substances. And so down here we'll see mushrooms are at the very bottom, LSD, and then ecstasy is just fifth on the bottom of the list while heroin and alcohol at the very top of the list. So MDMA is relatively safe to work with compared to other substances, including ketamine, which has become a very popular psychedelic for medical and therapeutic use.

(00:14:10):

So the key findings with the maps phase three study of MDMA assisted therapy for chronic and severe PTSD, 67% of participants no longer qualified for PTSD diagnosis, active 3M DMA assisted therapy sessions, 88% of participants experience clinical meaningful reduction in symptoms. I personally find this really significant. So moving into, if we start to think about, Hey, I want to do MDMA therapy for myself, there's a lot to consider. And so here's a part that talks about risks and contraindications for MDMA. So starting with behavioral risk, how do you behave? How is it going to impact you? Have you experienced suicide in the past? Do you have any diagnosis such as psychosis, bipolar or schizophrenia? Physical symptoms such as hypertension, irregular heart rhythm, liver problems? These are things to really consider before doing this work as there are mental and physical impacts with working with this medicine. Neurological conditions such as epilepsy, medications with serotonin, serotonin, genetic effects, adverse effects from previous psychedelic experiences, risk of overdose. And then it's known as the Tuesday blues because more so in the recreational party scene, people may do MDMA on a Saturday and then because of the serotonin depletion, they'll really feel a real low or down a couple of days after. So people may experience the Tuesday blues and then risk of serotonin syndrome if on other medications. And DMA blows the serotonin receptors wide open.

(00:16:33):

If you take MAOIs or SSRIs, that's an contraindication. And certain anti antidepressants in psychotropics HIV medications, CYP 2D six inhibitors and medications that increase heart rate or different things, even things like robo stomach acid medications, people that sedatives even drinking alcohol can really increase the risk of things Donna wrote. Doesn't psilocybin below the receptors wide open too?

Speaker 2 (00:17:17):

Yes,

Speaker 1 (00:17:18):

Psilocybin does. And if you're unsure if this is safe for you, I encourage you to take a consultation with Ben malcolm@spiritpharmacist.com. He is a really great resource in the psychedelic space and I highly encourage people to consult with them. Donna, we can chat more about that at the end. Negative side effects. So when it comes to negative side effects, you may experience anxiety, tension dysphoria, fear losing control while on while on MDMA. It's not common, but it can happen. There can be increase of body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure. It may lower the immune system for up to two days after. So for me personally, I need a lot of rest and relaxation after working with MDMA. My body really feels it, and there is more risk of me getting sick.

(00:18:46):

And then while on it, there is potential for feeling nauseous, dizzy ability to become unsteady. It's very common to experience teeth grinding and clenching the jaw. So chewing gum can be recommended and people may experience dry mouth thirst and you may become more sensitive to temperature. Yes, so there is a supplement protocol and that will be coming up soon. Great question. So when it comes to form of MDMA, if you're seeking out MDMA, you want to make sure that it's pure MDMA, that it's crystal and powder that I don't recommend tablets, things that are pre-made because one, it's harder to test. So I test my MDMA for fentanyl. I tested for purity using testing kits from Drug Safe, sorry, dance safe.org. And before I even offer it to friends, I will test my own MDMA on myself rather than giving it to people without knowing what it's, but in the tablets, it's much more difficult to do that. And often the tablets are cut with other things such as caffeine or amphetamine. And given that there's a lot of fentanyl out there today, there's higher risk of fentanyl.

(00:20:32):

So yeah, I only recommend working with pure MDMA. So when it comes to dosing in levels, I really like to emphasize that everyone is different. There's no exact formula for each person's dose. So I personally recommend starting low before diving in a threshold dose would be about 30 milligrams, a light dose, 40 to 75, small or sensitive, 60 to 90, and a more average 75 to 125. And then when we start talking about a large dose or a less sensitive person, you're getting into 110 to 150. And then if you're talking about a really strong dose, you're talking about 150 to 200. So if you're completely new to MDMA, I don't really recommend going over a hundred for starting out. Definitely start low, treat it as if you're small and you're sensitive. Start with the threshold of 30 or 40 and just see what happens.

(00:21:59):

Yes, for sure. Oh, and one thing I'll add on to that is also there can be option for booster doses depending on the level of sensitivity. Some people might take a hundred milligrams and after about an hour, hour and a half, not really experience too much. So it can be okay and it can be safe to take a booster dose. And a booster is usually about 40 to 75 milligrams. I can talk about overdose that's coming up a little later. I believe there is a slide just for that. Oh, look at that. It was the next slide. Yeah.

(00:22:53):

So in the event of overdose or symptoms of an overdose, one might experience vomiting, headaches, busyness. People that are more sensitive to substances are more at risk for that. So you really want to be careful, especially if it's your first time or if it's your first time with a new batch or a new strength. So always start low. I also encourage people to drink water, but to not drink too much water because it can create water toxification. And in the event of an overdose, seek medical attention, call 9 1 1 hospitals nine one one. They do not care if you or a friend or a client or anyone took an illegal substance. All they care about is getting you stabilized, safe and healthy, and they will do what they need to help you recover from potentially taking too much. Yes, coconut water is excellent, electrolytes are excellent. I personally highly recommend LMT electrolytes. I drink a pack of that every day and it's, they've been very beneficial for me. Maybe I can get them to sponsor my next talk. So vitamins and supplements. So when MDMA begins to leave the system, it may dampen the mood. Some people may experience a crash. So to assist with alleviating these symptoms, some supplements I recommend taking vitamin C, taking it once in the morning and once in the evening as well as the day after taking magnesium. And magnesium really helps with the teeth grinding as well.

(00:25:08):

Five HTPI find very valuable, and that should be taken the next day and it can be taken for longer than one day. Depends on the person. Typically I'll take it just the next day, but it can be taken for three to five days. But I don't really recommend longer than five days. And I'm not a doctor, I'm just speaking from personal experience. SAM E can be taken, but not in conjunction with five HTP. It has similar effects and you don't want to mix similar supplements, L-carnitine and alpha loic loic assets. So yeah, feel free to take a screenshot of these slides, but there'll also be a recording of this going out to everybody in case you missed any information as well.

(00:26:15):

So moving more into, if you're interested in working with MDMA therapeutically, so finding suitability for use, what are the variables? What is your state of mind? What are your expectations? I really encourage people not to have expectations, to just be open and to receive willingness to engage in. There are a lot of people that are like, I want to do this. I want to do therapy. And they show up and they don't want to really do the work. And there's a lot of resistance. So ability to really be like, Hey, I want to do this, and I'm willing to engage. I'm willing to open up, I'm willing to connect, I'm willing to build a container, and I'm willing to go into the unknown resources and support. So who do you have in your life for supporting you, whether it's friends or peer support, community, family, other therapists who is there to support you if a dampening happens, if you start to feel low, if depression increases, if low self-esteem starts to get more intense, these things can happen.

(00:27:49):

So I encourage people to have a really strong support system for themselves and to also learn about resources that are available in the event that they need them. Cultural considerations and understanding. So when it comes to who I personally choose to work with, if I feel like I'm not fully in tune with the person's culture, it may inhibit me from fully understanding what they need, what they want to feel open and to feel safe and for us to work together. And so sometimes we really need to find the right person that's for us for these situations. And also understanding uncertainty, understanding that nothing may happen, understanding that things may be very intense or things may be very underwhelming. And then also a tolerance for destabilization. I'm pretty vocal about it, that psychedelics can be destabilizing.

(00:29:06):

Working with substances can be destabilizing. And that's why I put a really strong emphasis on having resources and support and also doing extensive prep work and extension, extensive integration work. So if you're interested in looking for a facilitator or a therapist or a coach, whether it's for MDMA or psilocybin or any sort of therapy in general, even talk therapy. But in this case, I'm referring to more so MDMA therapy. What I find of importance is seeking someone that has life experience, seeking someone that has experience with the medicine. So speaking to that, when I was at the MAPS conference in Denver back in May, I met a lot of psychologists and mental health practitioners that had zero psychedelic experience. And I personally would not want to work with a facilitator that had not done their own work with the medicine. So it's actually, it's pretty interesting now because now I'm actually training mental health workers on how to do these things.

(00:30:35):

So that's been really great to see them do their own work. How much experience do they have with clients? What professional training do they have? What underground training do they have? Because things in the professional world we can learn, but there's also really, really great valuable things in the underground world that we can learn. So is there a balance of that? And if not being aware of the kind of experience that will create for you, is your facilitator nonjudgmental? Do they have good discernment? Do they listen? Are they patient trusting? Do you feel comfortable? Is there a cultural and identity understanding?

(00:31:26):

And speaking to cultural and identity, where I live in Brooklyn, there's a large queer community. And if I don't have an understanding as a practitioner, if I don't have an understanding with the queer community, that might inhibit my ability to understand and have empathy and hold sympathy for certain situations that they've experienced or they're going through. So me personally, I've chosen over the past couple of years to learn more about that community and to get more involved in that community. And that for myself has been very, it's been very beneficial to really lean into that continual learning. I always say, who's your coach's coach? How is the facilitator continuously learning about things? What are they doing for themselves? Do they have references, testimonials? Do they follow a code of ethics? Are they involved in the community? What are the costs? And is there fee transparency?

(00:32:45):

So I always like to mention, are the costs way too high or are they way too low? It's like, I want a surgeon that's going to operate on me, and I know I want to pay a price for that surgeon to be able to pay the rent and go home and live a well life and have value in the work that they do. Paul wrote, where can clients go to find psychedelic? The, yeah, Paul, to answer your question briefly, there's various listings on the internet, and if you remind me of this question, I will type them into the chat at the end so everything is clear. But yeah, let's save that question for then.

(00:33:36):

Informed consent, boundaries, clear and strong communication, offer multiple consultations prior to booking, sense of humor, right? Sense of humor. He kind of, I personally would not want to work with a facilitator that just was really strict and really stern or overly just serious. I feel like for me, I wouldn't like that. So on the facilitator side, I'm going to talk about the facilitator's preparation a bit, but I'm also going to talk about the client preparation a bit during this talk. But when it comes to the facilitator, it's like, well, what fears do they have? And how might those fears impact how they're holding space for somebody and what do they need to alleviate that for themselves? So there's also positive and negative equal healing. And when I'm saying that, I mean there's a lot of really great feelings that might come up, and there's a lot of really difficult and challenging things that might come up.

(00:34:54):

And each thing in its own can lead to a path for deeper healing consent, really being aware of what is permissible, what's not permissible, and how to have those conversations. If you're interested in learning more about consent, I highly recommend the Betty Martin Wheel of Consent. Betty Martin also does online workshops and in-person workshops. And the wheel of consent is a excellent, excellent tool for that directed and non-directed process. We're going to talk more about later. They have their own slides, well as safety and support, internal wisdom. How do we channel our internal voice inside of us that's wise, that leads with strength, that feels true to itself, so that space can be held for the people that are doing this work. And when difficult situations arise, using our wisdom to discern what is the best thing to do or say, if anything, in that moment, a facilitator can also help recommend music for a session. It's important they manage their own stress and keeping a beginner's mindset, being in touch with somatic work, body work, understanding the body, where do you feel that in the body?

(00:36:36):

And then also having a support person. So the maps protocol calls that there are two facilitators, and I personally view that as a huge plus. It can make things more expensive, but there is a tremendous benefit to it. And then logistics being in tune with the logistics for what to set up and how to prepare for a session before, during, and after. So getting more into what a session looks like, a facilitator, it's recommended to use an inner directed approach as well as a non-directed approach. So the inner directed approach, it's more experiential and emotional, will encourage imagination. We'll encourage to just allow, encourage restructuring, cognition. So if someone is in a session and we've heard the expression, oh man, my mind was blown. That can change our point of view. We can see things differently. We can have a breakthrough on how we view things ourselves, the world and others in our lives.

(00:38:07):

So a lot of that is encouraged. Transference. Transference, I might also call that moving energy. So if you go to acupuncture, for me, it can be more than just sticking needles and relaxing. I might feel like I have an energetic block somewhere and I want to unblock it. Sometimes things get stuck and I might need to move the energy through me, out of me or around me. And MDMA can allow for that ability to happen, and a facilitator should be aware of when that may be occurring for a client and what they might need to allow that to happen, whether it's just allowing it to happen or giving them words of encouragement to do so. Subconscious tendencies, psychodynamic, this is one of my favorite topics that I could probably do a talk on its own about, but in short, the subconscious goes at a speed much higher.

(00:39:27):

I think it's like 2000 times faster than the conscious. And we already know what we're going to do before the conscious already recognizes that and getting into this work. There are ways to reprogram the subconscious, and there are ways to work with the subconscious for our benefit in allowing deeper experiences. It's a bit much to get into, but what I love about that, what I love about doing this work in terms is psychedelics and medicines can help bring things from the subconscious to the conscious. And they might be patterns that we repeat often. And so when we become in tune to the patterns that are happening, we can put our attention to changing those patterns, being in touch with the body, compassion for self and others, and transpersonal and spiritual practices or ways of being transcendence.

(00:40:46):

Yeah, transcendence. Transcendence is something that can happen. Yeah, getting to a higher level, I think that's what you're referring to with transcendence, Donna. Okay. We can also talk more about that later too. I'm happy to do a one-on-one as well. So non-directive approach. So having ample timing, not rushing things. So an MDMA session can be anywhere between, it's typically eight hours, but it can really be anywhere between six and maybe even 10 hours, depending on just what happens, what the person needs. And so being aware of that. I personally don't like to put a timer on things. I don't like to have hard outs. I just like to just see where we are in that moment. I personally don't leave a client's space or sod until we both agree that we both agree that we're both feel mutual, that they feel, okay, how is guidance offered?

(00:42:12):

So we want, as a facilitator, we want to avoid saying you should or you need to. We want to kind of make more suggestions. I have a couple of examples in the next slide, I believe. But there's no direct guidance. You need to, I want you to, there's no commands. Everything is an invitation. So invitational communication, I invite you to close your eyes. I invite you to put on the headphones, I invite you to tap your chest. And then who knows best? Does the facilitator know best or does the client know themselves best? So it's trusting that the client can do their own healing themselves and that they're going to have the experience that best suits them and avoiding reductionist thinking, it's okay to get lost in the details. Things don't need to make a hundred percent sense if it's like, oh, just different words start to come out or different imagery.

(00:43:24):

We don't really need to make meaning of them right away or even necessarily, sometimes things are just things, yeah, a non-directive approach. We encourage you to, this might be a good time to, and then say breathing versus breathe as a command. So breath is really important when it comes to working with psychedelics. And in this sense, it's just saying, just breathing versus like, Hey, man, breathe or breathe. And then reflections as the person's talking, offering reflections, reflecting what they say and just holding. It may look like holding a neutral tone and a neutral face to allow them to feel more open and that you're present with them in your reflections and that you're hearing them.

(00:44:32):

So there is also a hamy for somatics and MDMA. The HOMI method is an experiential therapy. This means that changes are brought about by the experiences you have in the present moment. The experiences of the body are a key focus. The body is thought to be a resource that holds information like memories and beliefs. So there's mindfulness, nonviolence, unity, organicity, and mind body wholeness. To sum this up, I would say it's different from inter-family systems. It's different from parts work. I view OMI as I might be feeling something, something might start to surface in my body and bringing mindfulness to it and allowing it to open and flow and express itself naturally and organically. Have you ever heard the term like this person's having trouble dropping in?

(00:45:48):

I view HO as a way to help view dropping it and getting in touch with the breath is also another great way to do so as well. So I'm going to touch a little bit about couples work. So I'm starting out, and this applies to any psychedelic work, but no major life-changing decisions for at least two weeks after doing a session, I heard about someone recently after doing some very deep work, went home and told his partner that he's only known for three months, that he wants to have a baby. And so things can come up for us, and it's important to just push pause and just talk things through. Take your time, go slow. Whether it's, I want to get married, I want to get divorced, I want to have a baby, I want to move to a new city. Just hang tight with all of that for a little bit. Practice nonviolent communication. NVC, if you're not familiar with NVCI highly recommend it. There's a lot. There's some free courses out there. There are people that teach it. There's a lot of great books about it. If you want to know more about that, please reach out to me. I have a couple of book suggestions I can tell you. And then in the session, no sexual energy unless previously discussed and agreed to with a facilitator who specializes in sex and intimacy coaching or sex and intimacy therapy or sacred sexual work or someone that's very experienced with,

Speaker 2 (00:47:49):

Are they,

Speaker 1 (00:47:53):

I'm just going to mute this person. Okay, great. So practice emotional release. Emotional release techniques are something that I encourage and love to teach my clients. And if we start to feel triggered or if we start to feel stuck, dropping in into practicing emotional release can be very beneficial. Speaking for myself, it's been extremely beneficial. And then learning and practicing nervous system regulation techniques. So when I'm saying that I'm speaking directly to co-regulation and deregulation, co-regulation often can be gentle touch or cuddling. Deregulation is coming down. Also, cuddling and just breathing meditation, finding grounding. Yeah, dropping more into the present moment and recognizing that our nervous system needs to come down.

(00:49:04):

And then having really, really explicit and clear boundaries in your session. And so one of the consent conversations I have in regard to clear and explicit boundaries is, for example, if I'm working with somebody and they are in ordinary reality, a non altered state, and if they say, okay, when I'm in an altered state, I give you consent to touch from my fingers to my wrist. Cool. I agree to that, they agree to that. But if they go into non-ordinary reality, and then they enter an altered state, and if all of a sudden they're like, I want you to touch my forearm, no, because we didn't agree to that in a sober state. So maintaining integrity for that.

(00:49:59):

But yeah, there's a lot more that can be talked about with couples work that could probably be a talk of its own as well. But moving on, psychedelics are paradoxical applicable to specific intentions or avoid disease. I personally love this because if someone comes in and they're like, I don't want this to happen. I don't want this to happen, I don't want this to happen, it's probably going to happen. And if they say, if someone comes in, I want this session to be the most life-changing session ever. I want to come out of this whole new person. That's likely not going to happen.

(00:50:46):

I really like to say, Hey, have no expectations and just see what happens kind of thing. But absolutely set an intention, right? Have your intention know what you're moving into. So why are you choosing to use MDMA? Why are you seeking this very powerful type of work? Why now? What other parts of your life are you focusing on improving to better yourself all day life? And when I say that, I'm saying when we hear about psychedelics, people might assume that they're a bit of a silver bullet. Hey, I did an MDMA session and I'm all better. It's not true. It can help. But we need to do things in our actual lives for creating new habits, creating new patterns, and putting things in place to really increase our quality of life and to be the change that we seek. What are you calling in? What are you releasing?

(00:51:58):

So I'm calling in more joy. I'm releasing shame. Those are just two examples I can think at this moment. But Visa intention setting really helped shape that scope for us. And I personally, I like to keep this type of work. Sacred things sometimes can feel clinical when we hear about what's happening with ketamine, going in, getting s bravado injected in the nose, and then just be sent on the way. It takes out a bit of the sacredness to it. And I believe incorporating a sacred vibration into this kind of work helps integrate it better into our lives. I personally like the science and I like the spiritual. So additional prep for the client. Let friends family know that anyone else and anyone else you need to, that you'll be unavailable for the day of the session. Arrange transportation. Do not drive, avoid alcohol the week prior and after. One of the benefits for me in this work is I don't drink alcohol anymore, very, very rarely, maybe like half a beer a year. And I notice for other people when I hear if they drank before or even during or after, it can be more hard on the body.

Speaker 2 (00:53:50):

What

Speaker 1 (00:53:50):

Are my thoughts on avoiding cannabis? Oh, hold on one second. I'm just going to mute somebody. Okay, the day beforehand, does it blunt the experience? I actually, I don't work with cannabis. I can't speak to that question. It's a great question. I can look into it if you reach out to me after, yeah, I'm sorry. I don't have an answer for that at the moment. Avoid caffeine, especially on the day, because MDMA is an amphetamine, and so it will keep you up. You will feel active. So I recommend avoiding caffeine, wear comfortable clothes, and have a change of clothes just in case.

(00:54:52):

Ellen, yes, a recording will be available. Record your session with a voice recorder is a really great way to prepare for any psychedelic experience, but especially MDMA. And then inter-Family Systems is also a really, really great therapy for practicing and for doing in general, whether or not you're doing MDMA, if you're looking to do work on yourself, inter-family systems and parts work, I highly recommend. And that can be very beneficial when bringing it into psychedelic work. So breathwork on its own, in my opinion, is a psychedelic. It can bring us into a psychedelic state, and we can do so naturally.

(00:55:57):

And so the breath is really powerful, and the breath helps us regulate our nervous system. And when we alter our breath, we can also alter our consciousness. We can have really powerful experiences through breathwork. And one of the great benefits of doing breathwork is that we can control it. We can step on the accelerator when we want to go faster, we can step on the brake when we want to slow down and come to a stop. And when we come to a stop, we know that there's not a substance in our body that is going to prevent that from stopping BRE on its own. I highly, highly recommend. I do. I do shamanic breathwork. Onna Mandala is a really great, sorry. Onna is a really great, really great YouTube video on that. And if you reach out to me after, I'm happy to send you some recommendations and videos about it.

(00:57:12):

So set and setting, you want to make sure that your space is private. There's no interruption, there's minimal stimuli. I once worked with a man that had a cat that had a bell around hiss neck, and it was just like this constant dinging. And I told him before we started, I was like, that bell is really going to influence you whether or not you realize it now or not. So we took the bell off. Also, just like here in New York City, we can sometimes hear airplanes fly over. Those little subtleties can make a big difference in one's experience. So I highly recommend a really quiet, minimal stimuli environment, comfortable furniture, aesthetically pleasing, like nice eco plants, artwork, have some snacks, food, beverages, art supplies, creative arts is a really great way to go deeper in one's experience, whether it before, during, or after space for movement. If some people get called to do yoga or Qigong, tai chi or just lie out on the floor. So having some space is beneficial. And then if you're called to it, antar space. So I really love this quote, trust in medicine, surrender to the process, receive what comes up.

(00:58:51):

Going into the session, having the experience. Are you making it ceremonial? Are you going in with the, have you set your intention? Does the music reflect the kind of experience that you're seeking? Do you have your noise canceling headphones or is there a stereo? Or is there both having your blindfold, right? So a lot of the work is about going inward and actually not talking, being with oneself. And then really important to fast three to four hours before and having the supplements. So food interferes. Yes, food does. So I recommend fasting before, but having food later on in the experience, like a couple of hours experience or just in case a person starts to feel fatigued or just needs some nourishment, you have to just kind of see how things go.

(01:00:03):

Timing of the experience. So this is a chart that basically portrays how the timeframe will look. So you'll see that the peak starts to happen around hour and a half between two, and then starts to float very gently down and can last over six hours sometimes. But typically by this point, it starts to mellow out and plateau. And then if there is a booster dose, it's not that it will increase the peak, it will elongate the experience wherever it is. So the booster dose can be taken at different times based off of what's happening. The booster dose may bring it up slightly and it will also elongate it.

(01:01:11):

Yeah, the booster dose can be different for everybody in that sense. Stay with the breath. So when you're in the session, if a particular memory comes up that's become upsetting or overwhelming, that's an indication that the body might be trying to release something. So encouraging safety and consensual non-violent in non-sexual way, encouraging that to happen. And then staying with the breath, breathing into it, practicing emotional release and somatic practices may help with that. Fully experiencing and finding release through it instead of avoiding is a path for healing. So moving into integration, Integra is the Latin word for integration, and it means I make whole, I renew, I repair, I begin again.

(01:02:21):

And I love this. And this is one of the big reasons why I got into integration. And so it's like you've had your experience and someone might feel like a new person. They might feel like they repaired something, they might feel like they've filled a hole in them as well. And so in this sense is how do I keep that hole plugged? How do I form being the new me? What does it mean now that I'm starting from a different perspective or different looking at life in a different way, whether it's the world or myself, reprocessing, reinhabiting, re embodying, reassociating, restoring, releasing, reclaiming. And so all of these things, moving and integration, moving into the life that we are choosing to have, that we are building for ourselves, mind, spirit, and body.

(01:03:38):

So the day after, I always recommend having, whether the day after or two days after having a session with the practitioner, how are you feeling? How are you different? Has any lifelong mindsets that you've held upon yourself shifted? Is there more strength and trust? How are you speaking about yourself at this moment? Are there older relationships that you want to end or new relationships you want to form? Does anything else need more attention? And then getting more into integration, what rituals are we creating in our lives? How do we practice it? And what frequency are we feeling like we want to go deeper into our religion or spiritual practice? What somatic and movement practices can we do to help continue this? And so for me personally, I practice five rhythms. It is a form of movement. It's like it's a guided meditation movement, dance ritual.

(01:05:07):

Through that, I've built community through those people. I like to encourage building community and connecting with that are like-minded or we share similar things with. And that is a really valuable thing that I view for integration, helping feel deeper sense of connection and for moving forward in the life that we're choosing to journaling. It's a really great method for integration, spending time in nature, doing art, singing, tending music, creating plans for the future, and finding new experience and other insights from moving into as well, like travel. I personally find travel and adventure to be really, really great for integration, taking time, hiking, exploring, dining, a new cuisine. It's great.

(01:06:13):

More in terms of nature, avoid the news. Avoiding the news, I would say is pretty important in terms of prep. And after, when we're doing prep work, especially the week before, our subconscious is taking in what's in our environment. And so things for us might come up based off of what is happening for us the few days before. When it comes to after, given that MDMA is an pathogen, we may feel more sensitive, we may feel more empathy. So if a commercial comes on and it's asking for money to help feed the poor, help the hungry before we know it, we might be reaching into our wallet to give a hundred dollars to that fund. And not to say that's a bad thing, I'm just bringing awareness that what we put in front of us is very influential on us. Before, during, and after a psychedelic experience, I highly encourage yoga, dance, hiking, tai chi, qigong, working out, practicing wellness, spa, sauna, massage, acupuncture, chiropractic meditation.

(01:07:40):

And here I say grounding and discharging. So discharging energy may also be grounding in itself. So sometimes there was someone recently that said, after an MDMA session, they felt like there was electricity flowing through their body. And that might indicate that they have a lot of energy that they need to discharge from there. So what can we do to help discharge that energy? Someone might be feeling unbalanced. What do they need to feel balanced, more grounded, and then continuing to eat well and nourishing foods. And of course, I always recommend therapy like continue your work, continue talk therapy, keep doing the work that you need to do to make yourself the best self, whether you're receiving or giving this type of work.

(01:08:38):

And then if you're here and you're interested in becoming a facilitator, it's really important to acknowledge self-care for yourself. So energetic work is very taxing and rest and rejuvenation is vital. So I really recommend listening to your body shake and practice emotional release. Don't overdo it. Burnout is very common in the psychedelic space. And the last thing that a client or patient would want is a grumpy or burnt out facilitator because they feel that energy, those vibrations really do spread. Eat well, treat yourself well. And again, do your own therapy. I highly recommend going slow. Less is more. Give yourself time to integrate the process. Likely will continue days and even weeks after any session, be aware of chasing peak experiences, always having to move from the next thing. I want to do psilocybin. I want to do ayahuasca. I want to do MDMA, I want to go to this retreat, I want to go to that training. Sometimes it's okay to just be still and do nothing. Transformation is possible with determination and time is my opinion and point of view. If you're interested in learning more specifically about MDMA, these are four books I recommend, one of which was written by a mentor of mine, Charlie Wininger, who is a psychotherapist here in Brooklyn and often does talks about MDMA as well. That's a really, really great book. I highly recommend starting with that one. The other three are excellent as well. And that's it. I

Speaker 3 (01:10:50):

Offer free 20 minute discovery calls,

Speaker 1 (01:10:55):

And if you have questions, we can take some now, but you're also welcome to email me josh@brooklynbalance.com. I'll put that in chat, not comm.org. Sorry.

Speaker 2 (01:11:21):

Cool.

Speaker 1 (01:11:28):

Yeah, if you have any questions, you're welcome to turn on your camera, unmute yourself or raise your hand or drop them in the chat,

Speaker 3 (01:11:48):

Donna. Yes.

Speaker 4 (01:11:52):

So my main concern, I first used to facilitate c-suite executives on psychedelic journeys and then would bring them to a Native American church in my area for Ayahuasca journeys. And I came across MDMA for the first time when my adult children invited me to journey with them on a visit in town. And that was just recently. And I'm wondering why one would choose MDMA over a natural organic plant medicine for therapeutic use. So that's my first question. And then it goes a little deeper, like what's the benefit for the individual? There's really no hangover or depletion that I would notice or have heard from clients on a psilocybin journey, whereas an MDMA, it didn't leave me depleted, but it does others, and I don't always understand that I get what you're saying as you presented, right? Because it's all about a lot of things, their own set and setting their own mindset, their own cleanliness, and did they have alcohol? Did they fast into this, right? So there's a lot of determining factors that come, but I'm going to allow you to answer why MDMA would be your choice for therapy over a natural spirit.

Speaker 3 (01:13:34):

Yeah, totally. Great question. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:13:41):

Why would someone choose a synthetic compound, a chemical versus something that the earth provides? Something that's been used for thousands of years by various cultures all over the world and shown up in many different ways through our history? Well, my first answer to that is different strokes for different folks. There are certain people that prefer to go to a doctor. There are certain people that prefer to go to an osteopath. And we all have experiences in our lives that shape who we are today. And from those experiences, they shape how we feel and they shape how we think, and they shape what we believe and do I think that plant medicine is very beneficial and very powerful? Yes, absolutely. I do. Do I think that synthetics and synthesized compounds and molecules also have tremendous benefit. I really do as well when it comes to certain things in terms of when we start talking about what's going to become legalized or medicalized in the future, it's going to come down to the science and the data and the research.

(01:15:30):

That's what a lot of the world is going to look at in terms of the benefits for things. So there are a lot of studies that are happening now with psilocybin, ayahuasca, iboga, and there's lots of really, really great developments with those plants. And there's also a lot of studies happening with ketamine and MDMA and potentially like MDA in the future. I haven't really heard much about that. And so there's going to be options. And so someone like myself, I'm going to look at the science and the data, and I'm also going to touch base with what's true for me inside as to how I want to approach my own healing path. Have, would I personally choose to choose a natural plant versus a synthetic? I think it just depends on the situation and where I am at that time and that moment. And yeah, I will be doing a talk about psilocybin assisted therapy probably before the end of the year. I've learned a lot and worked a bunch also with MDMA, and that's how I've gotten to where I am today. And giving this talk. Does that help with your answer?

Speaker 4 (01:17:09):

It helps, and it brought a little clarity. I guess the biggest thing that dropped in for me is that MDMA feels like to me a lot like peyote. It's like a love drug. It takes the ego out of the scene and it just brings you into the heart space of feeling ease and love and connection to everything. And there are so many ways to heal. It takes an aim, a vision for where you want to go, and the fastest route is just focusing on that aim. And to me, that's sort of where MDMA goes, where psilocybin, it takes you the old fashioned route of bringing the unconscious conscious for you to deal with it, accept it, right? Instead of reject it where the MDMA didn't bring up any shit for me, but it seems like in a real deep experience with whether it's mushrooms or ayahuasca, something comes up that's been unconscious for me to look at in a conscious form and fashion.

(01:18:27):

And MDMA didn't do that, it just not a bypass per se, right? Because you're still getting to the same result of changing your mind about things and your state of being, right, and you're choosing. So it sort of just seemed like different strokes for different folks. So it brought me to another question because as a facilitator, I would never recommend anyone. I would never prescribe to someone this as therapy. I feel like you could get here without this. There's many tools. This is just a tool to aid you in the journey to speed it up to help things happen faster. So in that, are you saying that you too have clients that have a preference and you lean into what they're being called to as well?

Speaker 1 (01:19:24):

Yeah. For me, most people come to me knowing what they want to work with already. And if they don't, I just help educate them. I do not prescribe. I might share from my personal experience, I might tell them, well, if you work with this, that might happen. If you work with this, that might happen. But most people have already decided what they're doing before they walk through the door.

Speaker 4 (01:20:02):

Yeah. Thank you. That was really clear. I feel like legalizing it and having it medicinal makes it sound like doctors are going to be prescribing it. And that's a weird feeling when it's always been like a calling. We've known that we've been called to the medicine. Anyway, that was it. Thank you.

Speaker 3 (01:20:23):

Yeah,

Speaker 1 (01:20:24):

And if I may add on, I've spoken with a number of veterans associations just in terms of MDMA for PTSD. And so when it comes to prescription or medicalizing, there's a lot of people out there that may not have access at the moment to things or to maybe stigma to things. And if things do become more medicalized, it helps open a door for healing and opportunities for people to do so. There's always going to be pros and there's always going to be cons, and there's going to be some things we agree with and some things we don't agree with. But I really appreciate and value you being here and listening and sharing your experience and asking these questions for sure. They're really great.

Speaker 3 (01:21:39):

Anyone else? Hey, Josh. I think I saw Jay had her hand up just real quick.

Speaker 5 (01:21:47):

I did. Feel free to go first if you'd like though, Jeff,

Speaker 6 (01:21:51):

I just wanted to say, in my opinion, each of the medicines has their own characteristic and their own maybe appropriate clientele mix. And so I think each situation might vary. Mushrooms are certainly powerful healing elements, but also they can be a difficult experience. And sometimes I think someone mentioned in the chat, MDMA can be a nice opener to this in Theo world to help ease some of the maybe anxiety that would be there going into a psychedelic experience. That's all.

Speaker 1 (01:22:37):

Thanks, Jack.

Speaker 5 (01:22:41):

I was just going to ask if you had any thoughts on two CB versus MDMA? So my understanding, and feel free to correct me, it looks like you do have some familiarity with that. Am I correct?

Speaker 1 (01:22:53):

A little bit. If you give me a couple of months, I'll have more experience for you.

Speaker 5 (01:23:01):

So as background for my question, I think it's totally okay to not have an opinion. My understanding is that the shulgin's synthesized a number of substances that MDMA uses endogenous serotonin, but the two CB supplements it so there's not a Tuesday hangover, whatever you called it. I can't remember. And I, anyway, I'm curious, and my understanding is I suspect that MDMA is much more prominent because of maps work and the clinical trials that have been done around it. But I'm really curious about why two CB isn't more prominent in the psychedelics world.

Speaker 1 (01:23:39):

That's a great question.

Speaker 5 (01:23:41):

I haven't found an answer to it yet. I just thought I'd ask.

Speaker 1 (01:23:43):

I personally don't know. I'm personally very new to two CB and I'm going to be learning more about it next year, but at this moment, I'm not sure. And I'd love to look into that and find an answer about that. Absolutely. Right. I've heard absolutely nothing about two CB in studies for it. The one thing I do understand about it is that it's much, much heavier or much heavier on the body. That's what I've heard from other people, and that's what I've experienced for myself.

Speaker 5 (01:24:34):

Interesting. Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. Yeah. I have some very experienced psycho knot friends who used it and usually have very strict boundaries about their usage, and they ended up using it all weekend too, which is they broke all of their boundaries. So that might be a problem also. Just is so good. You don't want to stop. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:24:54):

Donna Lee asked, how often can one partake in MDM Max with MDM Max? My answer for that is less is more. I personally, if you're looking to do sessions, I would recommend putting six to eight weeks in between or more. I personally don't take MDMA more than three or four times a year, so every four months for me if that.

Speaker 2 (01:25:38):

Anyone else?

Speaker 3 (01:25:42):

Great. Thanks everyone for being here. Appreciate it. Reach out if anything.

Speaker 6 (01:25:50):

Thanks, Josh. Awesome. Awesome.