Structure in ceremonial practices

Preparation

Before their first ceremony, each member goes through this preparation process with us.

Before any participation we provide written information about the plant, its effects, its risks and contraindications, and about how the practice unfolds. We ask people to read it calmly and to note down any questions.

Each person goes through a personalised prior interview and fills in a harm-reduction questionnaire. These serve to understand their personal and emotional history and to assess possible physical, psychological or pharmacological contraindications. If you take medication, you can check possible interactions beforehand with the free ICEERS service.

We apply exclusion criteria: if there is a contraindication, the person does not take part. Where there is a history of psychological or psychiatric conditions, we recommend consulting a mental health professional beforehand.

Consent

Participation is always voluntary and informed. No one should recommend that another person take part, or put pressure on them to do so, and we do not proselytise. If someone does not want to take part, they should not: for us, that is the first contraindication.

Safety commitments are made in writing before taking part. Any work involving physical contact is explained beforehand and requires the person's express agreement.

Risk reduction

• Small groups, with at least two guides —one woman and one man— and trained assistants when the group is larger. We follow the guideline ratio of one support person for every five or six participants.
• Attentive, constant presence throughout the practice, with training in first aid.
• A rest area afterwards. The gatherings take place in private spaces and for members only: some in an urban setting and others over several days in nature. In the urban ones, when they end, each person goes home to sleep. Before leaving, we share a rest period of one to three hours to make sure everyone is fit to travel home. No one leaves or drives until the effects have worn off and the guides consider it appropriate.
• An action plan for possible incidents, explained to participants.

Risk reduction reduces risks; it does not eliminate them. Adverse effects are infrequent but possible, and we describe them in the information provided beforehand. In almost twenty years and hundreds of ceremonies, there have been virtually no difficult situations, and very few people, after a process that may have felt overwhelming, have needed specific support for a difficult integration. In those cases we refer them to the ICEERS Support Center, which offers up to five free online integration sessions with trained professionals. See research on safety.

Accompaniment

We accompany from our own experience: before guiding, we went through our own processes with teacher plants, and that experience gives us tools to approach, with respect and humility, what each person may be going through. During the ceremony we hold the space with presence, listening and music, attentive to each participant, respecting their pace and offering close support when they need it.

If you prefer, someone of your own gender will support you. Everything rests on respect and trust; the rules are in our code of good practice.

Integration

The experience is only one part of the process. A few days later an integration circle is held by video call, and we offer group spaces such as sharing circles, group singing or activities in nature.

And we remain available: each person can get in touch with the guides in the following days, weeks or months to share what is coming up.

Working with teacher plants brings many parts of the unconscious to the surface. From there, each person can begin to become aware of their automatic patterns, get to know themselves better, heal old wounds, and forgive others and themselves. It also helps people go through grief, as shown by ICEERS research on ayahuasca and grief, and in rediscovering purpose, the will to live, and reconnecting with nature and with our family.

It is like opening the instruction manual for how we function. Learning to use it takes time and other paths: psychotherapy, meditation, study and community life. That is why we encourage everyone who takes part to accompany this path with personal work. As Carl G. Jung wrote: “Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”

Confidentiality

All the information each person shares with the association is confidential, as is what is lived and shared in the group. We ask each participant to show the same respect towards others.

Limits of competence and referral

With some exceptions, those who guide are not medical or psychology professionals. That is why we recognise our limits: when a situation goes beyond our remit, we refer to specialist professionals, including psychologists with experience in integration with whom we collaborate.

No practice of the association is a substitute for psychotherapy or medical care.

Ongoing training

We see learning as a process that never ends. Those who guide undertake ongoing training and take part in peer groups where they review their practice and share criteria with other organisations within FERM.

AYNI's guides have completed ICEERS' AyaSafety training, a specific programme on risk reduction in ayahuasca sessions. It covers prior assessment and contraindications, emergency response protocols and informed consent, and it underpins many of the care criteria described on this page. More about AyaSafety.