The psychedelic “revolution” is gaining momentum around the world. As the landscape of psychedelic use evolves, so too will your questions and concerns about the legalities around the use of sacred medicines and psychedelics in your business. Let’s explore the challenges and possibilities that lie ahead for visionary entrepreneurs looking to make a positive impact in the world.
As a psychedelic business coach, I‘ve worked with healers and coaches who integrate microdosing into their practices, somatic integration specialists, plant medicine facilitators, and more.
A common concern I hear amongst my clients who offer these services is around the legality of promoting their psychedelic-related services. I also had this concern when I was starting out, and to put it bluntly, psychedelics are illegal in most places in the United States, but there are many ways around this.
I struggled with the legal concerns for many years. I felt the pull to talk about the intersection of psychedelics, sacred plant medicines, purpose, and business, but I was afraid and constantly asking myself “how legal is this?”. I feared that the all-knowing authorities would knock on my door one day, and I worried what my neighbors and people around me would think.
But I remembered a piece of wisdom someone had shared with me many years ago – “No risk, no reward.” The reality is, we all know psychedelics are everywhere. For example, there are people working with Ayahuasca in Norway, Japan, Australia, and Israel. It’s all over Europe, and as we know, it’s all over the US and Canada, too.
Even with the help of organizations with great initiatives and funding going towards changing the laws around psychedelic medicines, it will probably take some time to reach any new groundbreaking developments and legalization, and even then, there’s going to be a lot of gray area and red tape.
But we all know things are changing, and they’re changing fast. I always advise people to keep their eyes on the future, not on where we are now. And just remember that there will probably be a day in the future where certain psychedelics become as normalized in mainstream society as cannabis has become.
If you’re interested in learning more about legality of psychedelics, and how to navigate the laws, feel free to tune into these podcast episodes with attorneys working in the psychedelic space:
Rob Heffernan on The Legality of Sacred Medicines: Myths vs Realities
Greg Lake, Esq. on Navigating the Law & Entheogenic Churches
Embracing Your Calling and Overcoming Fears
As you embark on this journey, feeling the call to dive into the psychedelic realm, you might be eager to integrate psychedelics and sacred medicines into your coaching, healing, or therapeutic services.
I’ve even met some trained therapists who recognize the healing potential of plant medicines but struggle with the scarcity of formal psychedelic therapy training.
You may want to assist people in their healing with the use of psychedelics, but you really have to ask yourself if you are ready to take on the risks involved. As a psychedelic entrepreneur myself, I always advise people to think about what they’re most comfortable with, and what they’re willing to risk.
Because the reality is, there’s always going to be some level of risk, whether it’s judgment from family and friends or navigating around the law.
Here are a few questions I’d advise you to ask yourself:
- Where are your boundaries?
- What are you willing to risk?
- What are you not willing to risk?
- Are there ways to achieve your goals without putting yourself at risk?
- What are your specific concerns about the legal issues surrounding psychedelics and business?
- Are there resources or networks you can tap into to educate yourself about your specific concerns?
I tend to be more risk averse. I believe there are many good solutions to working with clients, without having to put yourself at risk, which is exactly what I do. I personally don’t facilitate, and I don’t tell people where to get anything. I don’t introduce people to anyone who sells anything. I keep myself 100% clear of that, because these facilitations would move me into a space of liability.
Alternative Ways to Assist Clients without Directly Providing Psychedelics
If the legal concerns feel overwhelming and are preventing you from taking action in your business, get creative and think about alternative paths towards your goals. Here’s a hypothetical situation: A spiritual entrepreneur is called to become a microdose coach, and out of their own risk aversion, they don’t sell or provide clients with medicine. They do however, provide their clients with publicly available resources on how to grow their own medicine.
For example, there are a large number of classes online teaching people how to grow their own psilocybin. The coach could also inform their client of the added benefits found in the process of growing it themselves. They can set their intentions and pray, sing, and speak to the mushrooms as they grow for their own inner healing.
If offering information about growing it still feels risky, the coach could direct clients to facilities around the world that offer the medicines legally. Most of the medicines popular in our field are legally offered at centers in countries like Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, The Netherlands, and Jamaica, but please do your own research into this because I’m not claiming to be well-versed in international laws.
Another model I’ve seen is to integrate a medicine retreat into a coaching program. Let’s say a coach offers services to help people heal their trauma. They have a method and a process that they guide their clients on, but they also want to give them the experience of, for example, an Ayahuasca ceremony. They can arrange for a group of their clients to join a retreat that includes the facilitation of the medicines.
Also consider the possibility of partnering up with a legitimate facilitator who understands the safety precautions around these medicines, has years of experience in the field, and who has a proper process for medical intake to ensure everyone is held in the right way.
These are options that minimize the risk for you. And yes, it puts the clients at risk, but that’s a risk they’re willing to take themselves.
Attracting Clients You Want to Serve in the Psychedelic Realm
When you learn how to properly communicate what it is that you offer, you will attract the exact kind of clients you want to work with. If you’re using language in your marketing that speaks to people who already have their own containers for working with certain medicines, you’ll be able to attract clients who won’t be asking you to provide them with their medicine.
When you work with clients who aren’t expecting you to be the provider, you can focus on offering your services adjacent to the medicines your ideal clients work with. This could be done by helping them with preparations by setting intentions before working with these medicines, and assisting with the integration process after.
If you’re not confident with developing your own processes and attracting your ideal clients, I can help. I work with psychedelic entrepreneurs and go into detail about these subjects and more inside all of my coaching programs.
Learn more about the ways you can work with me by visiting my business coaching offerings page here on my website.
Building Your Psychedelic Business in a Holistic Way
Whatever your own process is, just remember that doing any medicine one time is not going to heal or fix anyone in one or twenty sessions. The real healing comes through the continued support from service providers like you. The key is to determine what truly gives people you want to help the results they’re looking for.
It’s not just the medicine, it’s the whole entire journey before, during and after. The real healing and growth is found in day-to-day practice. Think about your business as a holistic psychedelic business, rather than a quick-fix, one-time support option. If you’re dreaming of just being a trip sitter and making a living doing that, I highly encourage you to consider the full spectrum of what it means to embark on this psychedelic journey as a service provider, business owner, and participator in this realm.
What is it that your clients will need to work on to get real results? Sometimes you have to reach beyond what you offer by bringing in other experts to teach what they know. I do this inside of my True Path Entrepreneur Group Mastermind Program.
While I’m the main coach for my program, I bring in other guest experts with different areas of expertise to help enhance the overall results and journey of my clients inside of my spiritually-centered business coaching programs. I only like to bring in teachers who I have personally paid and worked with myself so my clients can get a more holistic experience of growth and evolution, and in the end, get better results.
Discovering and Pursuing Your Calling
In the end, it really comes down to what you are willing to stand for. You have to be in tune with what is pulling you and what you feel called to offer. Think out of the box about ways you can provide support to your client without putting them or yourself at risk beyond your comfort zone.
You are the only one that can truly ask yourself these questions; if this is something you’re willing to do, that you’re willing to take risks for. And only you can determine if you’re truly prepared and trained for the services you’re being called to offer.
If you don’t feel like it’s the right time, then look into the alternative ideas I mentioned to help you push your mind creatively around what you can offer and how.
You can also seek out additional training, Group Mastermind Programs, tools, and supportive systems that will help you form the ins and outs of your business in a stronger way. You can build a thriving psychedelic business when you get clear on your offers and feel confident about how you intend to share your unique medicine with the world.
