Reimagining the 12 Steps with Psychedelics

🔄 Reimagining the 12 Steps with Psychedelics

Groups like Psychedelics in Recovery (PIR) have adapted the traditional 12 Steps to reflect a more inclusive, spiritually open approach. While they honor the original AA framework, they tweak the language to reflect intentional psychedelic use as a tool for growth—not escape.

Here’s a flavor of how the steps are evolving:

• Step 1: “We admitted we were powerless over our addiction—but not over our healing.”

• Step 2: “Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves—and within ourselves—could restore us to sanity.”

• Step 11: “Sought through meditation, integration, and sacred medicine to improve our conscious contact with our higher self…”

These adaptations emphasize personal agency, spiritual exploration, and integration—core values in psychedelic healing.

🧠 Therapists Integrating Psychedelics into Recovery

Modern therapists are blending psychedelic experiences with evidence-based recovery models like:

• ACT (Acceptance & Commitment Therapy): Helps clients turn psychedelic insights into values-based action.

• IFS (Internal Family Systems): Supports people in dialoguing with “parts” of themselves revealed during journeys.

• Mindfulness & Somatic Therapy: Grounding practices to process and embody the experience.

Clinics and therapists in Canada (like those listed on CounsellingBC) offer psychedelic integration therapy, helping clients:

• Reflect on their experiences

• Apply insights to daily life

• Avoid spiritual bypassing or relapse

Some even use structured models like the ACE (Accept, Connect, Embody) framework to guide post-journey growth.

🌀 Three Models of Integration

According to researchers at Johns Hopkins and the MIND Foundation, there are three ways psychedelics might be woven into a 12-step journey:

1. Initiatory: A psychedelic experience early on to spark motivation and insight.

2. Intermittent: Periodic sessions to deepen self-awareness and maintain momentum.

3. Culmination: A capstone experience after completing the steps, to reflect and renew.

Each model emphasizes intentionality, safety, and integration—not just tripping for the sake of it.

🧭 The Bottom Line

This isn’t about replacing AA—it’s about expanding the map. For some, psychedelics offer a shortcut to surrender, a mirror to the soul, or a bridge to the divine. For others, they’re a no-go—and that’s okay too.