Introduction
We believe that having a profound and transformational experience starts with safety. It is only once we feel safe enough to let go into the experience that we open ourselves to the possibility of change. We see keeping you safe in your journey as our most fundamental and sacred responsibility.
This page sets out how we screen you before you come, how we hold you in ceremony, what we do if something goes wrong, and how we support you afterwards, at both Self Contact Retreat and Personal Passage Retreat. For what the research says about the safety of the molecule itself, see Safety and Contraindications.
Before You Come
How We Screen
- You tell us about yourself and why you would like to work with us through our application form.
- If there might be a good fit, we send you our pre-consultation questionnaire, which covers medical safety and your goals and background, and a link to book a free 50-minute consultation over Zoom.
- We conduct a comprehensive review of your medications and supplements, medical and mental health history, and professional and personal supports. For complex and rare medication profiles, we run your medication profile with our pharmacology consultant, Dr. Trina Nguyen, PharmD.
- If you and we both feel good about proceeding, you pay your deposit and sign our Informed Consent and Release of Liability Agreement. You are welcome to read it before your consultation and ask us about it there.
- You complete our preparation process, including journal prompts, and keep us informed about any change to your medications.
Our sanctuary is on a small island in Howe Sound, a 20-minute ferry from Horseshoe Bay near Vancouver. We will share the exact address after registration.
Our Pharmacology Consultant
Dr. Trina Nguyen holds a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the University of Winnipeg and a Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Washington. She developed a contraindications and interactions guide for pharmaceuticals and psychedelics, published in the Manual for Psychedelic Guides, and co-founded Toad School, a 5-MeO-DMT facilitator training.
Who We Can't Work With
5-MeO-DMT can be dangerous for certain individuals. This is not the right time to take a 5-MeO-DMT journey if you:
- are taking an MAOI or lithium
- have a cardiac condition for which your doctor has told you to avoid moderate to intense exercise
- have unmanaged high blood pressure
- are pregnant
SSRIs are not on this list: we do not require you to taper off SSRIs, and the research and our own experience support that.
We ask about your mental health history in the questionnaire and follow up about anything you mention in our consultation, including any suicidal thoughts. Having had them doesn't rule you out. If we think now isn't the right time, we tell you why, point you toward support, and welcome you to come back to us when your circumstances are more supportive. If we don't think one of our retreats is right for you, we will tell you, and where appropriate we will recommend other programs or practitioners that might be a better fit.
In the Room
At Self Contact Retreat, Sagan and Helena lead every medicine circle with two experienced assistant facilitators. The low and medium doses are taken together as a group, up to six journeyers with four facilitators in the room; for the high doses, two facilitators are at your side at all times.
In our Personal Passage Retreats, Helena and Sagan are with you at all times in the medicine, and are available for integration support between doses.
We discuss every dose before offering it, and only offer it if you and we both agree to proceed. We start low and build the dose gradually over the day, with time for conversation, checking in, and integration in between doses.
People in the 5-MeO-DMT experience can have sudden movements and roll around. We and our team are experienced in spotting journeyers to prevent injury, while also giving you your full range of expression within your journey. The peak of a smoked dose lasts 5 to 10 minutes, and people are back to ordinary consciousness within 30 to 45 minutes.
Consent and Touch
You can decline any dose, or stop, at any time. All medicine and activities are optional and entered into with active ongoing consent.
Touch for your safety. When you need it, we will touch you to keep you from injury during involuntary movements, to position your body safely, or to guide you away from a hazard.
Supportive touch, such as grounding touch or holding your hand, is optional. You tell us your preferences in writing during intake and we share them with our team, we check with you again before your first dose, and you can change them at any time. Throughout your doses we keep an open channel of communication about how you would like to be supported.
In a group, everyone agrees to keep who was there, and anything personally identifying they shared, confidential. No one photographs or records anyone without their consent.
You can read our full Informed Consent and Release of Liability Agreement before you apply.
If It Gets Hard
In the Ceremony
We don't treat a hard journey as one that's going wrong. In the medicine, people often meet difficult emotions that they have not given themselves space to process, whether fear, grief, or anger, and let those move through in tears, shaking, or sound. Our founders are trained through Crisis Centre BC's Distress Services Program, and our whole facilitation team is experienced in compassionately supporting people in emotional distress. Sagan and Helena also trained at Toad School with Dr. Trina Nguyen and Lucy Everylove, Phoenix Academy's Psychedelic Therapy Training, and other therapeutic modalities; see their full education and training.
If a dose becomes overwhelming, you are not alone with it. For your high doses, two facilitators are already at your side; in the group circles, one of us comes to sit with you while the circle continues. We stay with you through our voice, breath, song or musical instruments, and if you have said yes to supportive touch, with grounding touch or by holding your hand. We don't try to stop or steer the experience; we help you stay with it until it passes.
The dose passes quickly: the peak of a smoked dose lasts 5 to 10 minutes, and people are back to ordinary consciousness within 30 to 45 minutes.
Afterwards, we take time with you to discuss what happened and what came up for you. You get to decide how you would like to proceed from that point: some people choose to pause, take the same or a smaller dose, or stop for the day. If you are still unsettled in the evening or overnight, our team is available to offer support.
In a Medical Emergency
We have emergency protocols in place for recognizing and responding to emergency situations, whether in the medicine or during your stay with us. Our founders and over half of our facilitation team are trained in first aid and have current certifications. Our facility is equipped with an AED and other lifesaving equipment. In a medical emergency we will call Emergency Services (911). Our island has an ambulance and paramedics who will arrive within 20 minutes. If needed, you will then be transported by water taxi to the mainland, where another ambulance will bring you to the nearest available hospital. The nearest hospital to us is Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver.
After the Medicine
Our retreats are residential, so support is on hand after your journey as well as during it, and journeyers have extended their stay when they needed more support. For some people the integration period is challenging, sometimes with a temporary worsening of symptoms, known as a healing crisis. We stay reachable throughout your integration period.
The Medicine
We serve pure 5-MeO-DMT synthesized in a lab, not toad secretions, which contain only around 15 to 30% 5-MeO-DMT alongside cardiotoxic bufogenins and bufotoxins. The pure molecule allows accurate dosing. All of our 5-MeO-DMT is made in a trusted facility, and we send every batch for third-party testing at the University of Victoria.
5-MeO-DMT is not listed in Canada's Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
Integration Support
After your journey, our support includes:
- A physical integration guide, with journal prompts and affirmations, to take home.
- An individual 50-minute integration session with us over Zoom in the week or two after your retreat, with the option to book additional sessions as needed.
- At Self Contact Retreat, a 1.5-hour integration circle for your cohort two to three weeks later, and a WhatsApp group with your cohort.
- Referrals to practitioners for integration bodywork, therapy, or coaching.
We encourage you to stay connected with your therapist, other mental health or spiritual professionals, or trusted people in your life as you integrate.
In the week after your journey we watch for messages from you and reply quickly, and we can arrange a further call if you need one.
What We Don't Offer
Though Helena and Sagan have taken trainings and certifications in a variety of therapeutic modalities (read their bios), they are not licensed or registered therapists. While many people come to us and see remarkable improvements in a variety of mental health challenges, we do not diagnose or treat any mental health condition.
As of now, 5-MeO-DMT is not an approved medical treatment anywhere in the world. Our work is not a substitute for medical or psychiatric care, nor a reason to stop seeing your therapist or other professional supports. We do not advise you to stop or change your medications; we believe those decisions are best made in coordination with the physician who prescribed them.
The Research
What the clinical research says about the safety of 5-MeO-DMT, including adverse events in trials, dangerous interactions with MAOIs, what the evidence shows for SSRIs, and cardiovascular load, is on our What Is 5-MeO-DMT? page.
Our Programs
Earthlings Institute offers guided private and group 5-MeO-DMT journeys near Vancouver, BC, Canada.