Summary: On July 15, 2015, staff and volunteers of the Zendo Project hosted a public Q&A session on reddit.com to spread awareness about psychedelic harm reduction. The Q&A session received over 57 comments, and volunteers answered a total of 32 questions.
Originally appearing here.
Hi reddit! We are the Zendo Project, a non-profit psychedelic harm reduction service for festivals, concerts, and community events where professionally trained volunteers provide a tranquil space, water, and compassionate care for attendees undergoing difficult psychedelic experiences.
Psychedelic harm reduction is an effective public health-based alternative to hospitalization and arrest. By assisting guests in changing their experiences into valuable opportunities for learning and growth, psychedelic harm reduction helps prevent and transform difficult experiences related to non-ordinary state of consciousness.
Psychedelics—such as MDMA, LSD, psilocybin, and many others—are illegal in the United States and most other countries, except in approved scientific studies. Using psychedelics can produce overwhelming and uncomfortable experiences, which becomes more likely with high doses, in first-time users, and when adequate preparation or setting are not available.
The Zendo Project’s mission is to provide a supportive space for guests undergoing difficult psychedelic experiences or other psychological challenges, in order to:
- Transform difficult experiences into opportunities for learning and personal growth
- Reduce the number of psychiatric hospitalizations and arrests
- Create an environment for volunteers to work together to improve their harm reduction skills through training and feedback
- Demonstrate that safe, productive psychedelic experiences are possible without the need for law enforcement-based policies.
Since 2012, the Zendo Project has assisted over 700 guests, most of whom were having challenging psychedelic experiences when they arrived. We have trained approximately 500 volunteers to provide psychedelic harm reduction services at events, totaling over 10,000 hours of volunteer time.
The Zendo Project is sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), a 501(c)(3) non-profit research and educational organization: maps.org
We have assembled a great group of volunteers to answer any questions that you have for us! To learn more and support the expansion of our work, please watch our new video and share our new outreach campaign: zendoproject.org
