The Psychedelic Frontier

Q: I’m a psychedelic practitioner, and I’ve been thinking about safety in ceremony. I’m wondering about your thoughts on background checks. It feels like it goes against my value of holding space for everyone seeking transformation. How do you navigate this?

A: There’s a very frank conversation we need to have about background checks in psychedelic work. It challenges some of our deepest beliefs about redemption while honoring our responsibility to those who trust us. And it brings up questions about how to move forward with the information we find.

I used to resist this completely. It felt like spiritual judgment and contrary to everything I believed about the medicine’s power to transform. I also trusted my intuition, karma, and angels to keep me safe and give me all the information I needed. I was naïve. But experience has taught me to make more informed choices. But information isn’t the end of the conversation. It’s the doorway to a much more honest one.

A background check isn’t always a determination on its own. It’s information that allows for fuller conversation. Our intuition, discernment, capacity, skill level, personal history and biases, and the person’s genuine engagement with accountability all factor into the decision. Having all the facts leads to deeper understanding, better outcomes and safer ceremonies.

The first layer of decision making is not cognitive, it’s energetic discernment. We can and should deny service to anyone, anytime, if we have a strong intuitive “no” feeling. I mean that clear, unmistakable knowing that comes through our established and trusted channels for receiving guidance. Acting against this inner knowing damages the very work we do.

Our connection to the unseen realms depends on trusting what we sense, even when it’s inconvenient or challenges our desire to be helpful. The actions we take have ripple effects. When we give people access to rites of passage and sacred spaces they aren’t ready for, it isn’t a benign act of compassion. It’s a violation of the energetic integrity of the field we work in.

That said, there are times when someone’s history looks concerning on paper, yet we still feel clearly called to work with them. When this is the case, the motive must be held with brutal self-honesty. Are we choosing this client or work from ego? Trying to be a savior? Seeking validation or reward? If so, step back. These motivations put both you and the client in danger of real harm.

How someone responds when presented with their history is essential information. I’ve seen this go different ways. When someone meets the information with honesty, humility, and integrity about their concerning personal history, that tells me something important. When the response is defensive, deflecting, dismissive, or minimizing, that’s a massive red flag to proceed with extreme caution, if at all. Either way, if this awareness has not yet been met with actions like repair, accountability, and reflection, work in the psychedelic realms might not be helpful, and could even be damaging, leading to further ingraining problematic behaviors or beliefs.

If you feel it is within your skillset, capacity, and ethics to hold space for such a client, there can be compelling reasons to hold space for people with concerning pasts. When working with higher-risk populations, those with histories of criminal violence, hate/bias, fraud, negligence or anti-social behavior, it’s important to recognize manipulation and warning signs of personality disorders, to know your limitations, to have support, and to have clear and strong boundaries and ethics. Be open, cautious, kind, adept, and move without fear or judgement. This work requires a high amount of experience, presence, and skill. Learn to discern charm and spiritual jargon from true accountability.

The Sacred No

Sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is say no. Our ceremonial spaces are places where people dissolve their defenses to access profound understanding and evolution. If someone hasn’t done the foundational work of accountability outside the medicine space, they may not be ready for the vulnerability these containers require.

Don’t override your intuition to be a hero. It won’t work out the way you hope, and you’ll likely compromise the safety of others in the process. The medicine teaches us that everything is connected. The boundaries we hold in our individual work strengthen the reputation of the entire community. This path requires us to hold both grace and discernment simultaneously.

And one final word, if you do choose to use them, background checks should be done with consent and used fairly and consistently in your standard intake process. Include this requirement clearly on your website, intake forms, and bring it up in consultation conversations.

Have questions about navigating psychedelics? Send them to Mary@Myco.Vision for future columns.

This article appears in the Source June 25, 2026.