DISCLAIMER: Psychedelic medicines are potentially illegal substances, and we do not encourage or condone the use of them where it is against the law. This review is designed to enhance the safety of those who decide to use psychedelics legally.
Like intense dreams, peak psychedelic experiences can dissipate from your mind’s slippery memory stores, becoming little more than dinnertime conversations. Or they can become ingrained into the new person you seek to become. The difference may lie in whether you integrate the conceptual insights into the realities of everyday life. But there’s no hard and fast rule about how to do that.
Psychedelic integration looks different for everyone. You might seek an integration therapist or coach to guide you. Or you might sit with meditative intentions over weeks, months, and years.
Regardless, journaling is one of the best complementary integration tools to help you move from where you are now toward who you want to become.
Journaling Your Way Through Psychedelic Experiences
No one knows you better than you, so who better to guide your psychedelic integration journey? And what better conduit than a psychedelic trip journal because writing allows you to harness self-reflection into transformative change. And by simply putting pen to paper, you increase the chances of success. Here’s why:
- Writing helps you prepare.
Psychedelic integration starts before your DMT, magic mushroom, or LSD journey begins. Effective integration starts with setting intentions for what you want to achieve from the high-dose or microdosing experience. By journaling those desires into written words, you clarify your intentions, increasing the chances the plant medicine will reveal the lessons you need to receive.
- Writing makes the experience real.
If the journey only exists in your mind, it’s much harder to harness it for real-world change. But writing it down guarantees you a physical ledger of proof. More importantly, psychedelic trip journals help you recall the story before it becomes a scattered narrative that feels less tangible each day. Creating a written narrative from the visions, feelings, sensations, and breakthroughs you received allows you to coherently relate to your altered state from your present conscious reality.
- Writing is a tool for learning.
The brain processes information better through written words, especially those written by hand. Researchers say that handwriting’s unique, complex, spatial, and tactile approach improves your ability to recall memories later on. The ability to reconnect to your psychedelic story is paramount in practicing the change you seek. So when faced with a trigger, you can call on that memory and choose a healthy response rather than defaulting to the maladaptive pattern that has served you until now.
- Writing supports mental health.
Writing is a therapeutic process that allows you to freely document thoughts, feelings, and emotions surrounding the lessons you learned from your psychedelic experience. You don’t have to fear judgment from others as you explore the eternal love you felt during a psilocybin mushroom session or the traumatic memory you worked through. You can turn to your journal as perhaps the only space to reconnect with your 100% authentic self, owning your past, proclaiming your goals, and acknowledging the missteps along the way.
All that said, journaling may not feel so intuitive. Like many others, you may prefer a more structured writing experience. In fact, you might look at a blank notebook like a Pentamix Rubik’s cube. Sure, you like a challenge, but you’ll probably save this mind-twister for a stormy day that never comes.
Fortunately, there are a range of guided journals that can steer you past mental blocks and through to meaningful integration. Read on to learn more.
Psychedelic Integration with “The Trip Journal”
The Trip Journal, developed by ketamine therapy pioneers Kori Harrison and Ronan Levy, is the perfect place for psychedelic newbies and therapy patients to rest their thoughts.
Harrison, who created Trip App, one of the largest digital psychedelics communities, credits entheogens with helping her soften and expand at a time she needed to most. Levy—who co-created Field Trip Health and hosts the Field Tripping podcast—has built a career transforming global mental healthcare paradigms. Harrison and Levy harnessed their unique insights into a 10-trip integration journal for your healing pursuits.
The rest of The Trip Journal offers 16 carefully constructed pages for each psychedelic experience. These include:
- Preparation and intention-setting journal prompts
- Optional in-trip mind-dumping and doodling space
- Post-trip reflections on days 1-5, 7, and 14
Prompting you to reflect for five consecutive days and again after two weeks is brilliant because it keeps you accountable for participating fully in the integration process.
In contrast, blank journals might make you less inclined to revisit your thoughts days later, causing you to miss opportunities to record valuable insights. According to Levy and Harrison, that would be a mistake because intuitive lessons arise for days, weeks, or even months after the journey.
Here’s what we like about The Trip Journal:
- Built for maximizing long-term psychedelic therapy outcomes.
- Offers meaningful education without being overly technical
- High-quality hardcover book interspersed with colorful pages and inspiring quotes.
- Explains alternative integration protocols like therapy, breathwork, and meditation.
The Trip Journal is one of the only tools to provide such well-informed integration guidance. That said, it isn’t the only structured psychedelic trip journal on the market.
Comparing Other Psychedelic Trip Journals
Let’s say you’re looking for a peer-to-peer-style psychedelic journal with less mental health focus (like The Trip Journal) and more creative inspiration. In that case, The Psychedelic Trip Journal (available on Amazon) by psilocybin enthusiast Psil Silva may be better suited for you. Silva’s Psychedelic Trip Journal contains all the essential elements for experienced journeyers taking one-off expansive backyard trips.
For the traveling psychonaut, however, we’d recommend Wakeful Travel’s Psychedelic Integration Journal. Created by plant and fungi advocate Jenalle Dion, the Wakeful Integration Journal allows you to prepare for and recount experiences like three-day shamanic ayahuasca ceremonies, week-long psilocybin retreats, and single-day journeys. Unlike The Trip Journal, it’s a travel journal that also offers travel planning resources, packing lists, integration checklists, and a place for your trippy drawings.
Learn about various psychedelic medicines, how to use them, and methods to safely acquire them with Third Wave’s Ultimate Guide to Sourcing Psychedelic Medicines.
Final Thoughts
Integration practice is inextricably linked to what makes psychedelic therapy and plant medicine ceremonies so transformative. So it’s paramount that you find the modality that aligns with how you learn and relate to yourself. In our opinion, there’s no better place to start than a psychedelic journal.
Psychedelic drugs alone can’t heal you, but, used wisely, they can be a great tool for growth. If you’re interested in microdosing and want to do it with expert guidance rather than going it alone, sign up for our Microdosing Course. Using the latest research from cutting-edge scientists and doctors, we’ll help you develop a customized, step-by-step process to change habits, enhance creativity, and optimize performance.
Disclosure: This article contains offers and affiliate links. Third Wave receives a small percentage of the product price if you purchase through affiliate links. Read our ethics and affiliates policy here.
Are there legal therapists who monitor micro dosing mescaline in Oregon or Washington state
Hi Adrienne – Our Professional Psychedelics Support directory may be able to help you find what you’re looking for – https://directory.thethirdwave.co/