Psyche & Praxis Forum: Preparing for and Responding to Challenging Psychedelic Experiences
Jasmine Virdi, MSc (Writer, Educator, Lyric Essayist, Activist & Integrative Somatic Coach)
Tuesday 10 March, 2026 8PM CET (7PM GMT, 3PM EDT, 12PM PDT)
Online via Zoom
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This forum invites us to examine the clinical, ethical, and relational challenges that arise when psychedelic experiences do not conform to hopeful expectations. How do we distinguish between a transient “challenging experience” and a true adverse event? How do preparation, screening, and expectation management shape outcomes? And what responsibilities do we hold when distress lingers beyond the acute session?
We intend not to pathologise challenging experiences, nor to undermine the therapeutic potential of psychedelic work, but to create a grounded space where clinicians can speak honestly about complexity, uncertainty, and responsibility.
Drawing on the From Hard to Helpful: Training for Difficult Psychedelic Experiences webinar featuring Anya Loizaga-Velder and Roman Palitsky, we will reflect on difficult topics such as expectation management, preparation practices, and how clinicians may unintentionally promote unrealistic narratives of transformation.
What to Expect in the Forum
This session will be discussion-based, using the recording as a springboard for small-group and whole-group dialogue. Together, we will explore questions such as:
- How do our cultural and clinical narratives about “transformation” shape client expectations?
- Where might optimism in the field obscure realistic risk?
- What constitutes adequate preparation for distress or non-breakthrough experiences?
- How do we respond when integration is not straightforward?
- What does ethical informed consent look like in a field still defining its risk profile?
Participants are warmly invited to bring examples from their own practice, supervision contexts, research settings, or personal experience. This may include cases involving difficult acute sessions, prolonged destabilisation, unmet expectations, adverse events, or complex integration processes. We ask that all shared material be fully anonymised and handled with care to protect confidentiality.
Jasmine Virdi, Coordinator of Professional Events at the OPEN Foundation, will facilitate and moderate the discussion, supporting participants to engage with care, groundedness, and mutual respect. These sessions will not be recorded in order to protect participant privacy and encourage open dialogue.
