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"When we\u2019re with people who are reviewing the end of their life or saying goodbye to a loved one, there\u2019s this heightened sense of connection and awareness, a lot of times in crisis and sometimes difficulty. Psychedelic journeys can be \u2014 not always be easy and expansive, sometimes they\u2019re challenging. And so there are a lot of \u2014 lot of our training, I think crosses over well into psychedelic therapies. And in particular, chaplains have this capacity to help assess the spiritual and religious landscape for a person before they go into a psychedelic experience.

Because what can happen is, you can have a very powerful existential, you know, awareness of like the presence of a being or maybe a feeling of connection and \u2014 and then it becomes important to integrate that with your \u2014 you know, understanding of the cosmos and the \u2014 your religious and spiritual commitments. So people can go into some degree of existential crisis or just transition \u2014 it\u2019s a very creative space. And chaplains are good at navigating those spaces as they\u2019re unfolding.

So that\u2019s what chaplains I think, have to bring to the field, but at the same time, there are a lot of religious taboos and a lot of teachings within the religious traditions that encourage staying away from psychedelic medicines. And so that conversation is very much happening in the field right now and among religious leaders and professionals and chaplains and it\u2019s \u2014 it\u2019s an interesting conversation that\u2019s taking place you know about the right use of these medicines and plants and how we can also do that without harming the communities that they come from."

Special Guest: Jamie Beachy.

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