Understanding the attitudes, experiences, and needs of women in psychedelic retreats: A four-part blog series
In this four-part blog series, we delve into the unique experiences, attitudes, and needs of women who attend psychedelic retreats. Committed to advocating for safe and effective psychedelic use for all women, we recognise the importance of designing, conducting, and reporting research relating to psychedelic use outside of the clinical trial setting. Hence, this blog series will explore key themes in women’s psychedelic use within retreat settings, drawing from current research, opinion pieces, and records of women’s lived experiences:
Part 1: An introduction to psychedelic retreats and key considerations for women who attend them. This piece will introduce the reader to the psychedelic retreat industry, explore key considerations for research in retreat settings, and describe findings from our first-of-its-kind pilot survey conducted in collaboration with Beckley Retreats.
Part 2: Female-specific risks in psychedelic retreat settings. This segment will delve into the safety concerns specific to women in psychedelic retreats. It will examine instances of negligence and discuss evidence-based best practices to ensure participant safety.
Part 3: The role of the female participant and the importance of female participation. Here, we will explore how the gender make-up of the retreat group influences the experiences of female participants. We will compare women’s experiences in single-sex versus mixed-sex retreats and discuss the varying attitudes, needs, and outcomes.
Part 4: The role of the female facilitator and the importance of female facilitation. This final piece will consider how the presence of female facilitators shapes the dynamics, experiences, and outcomes of women who attend psychedelic retreats, featuring perspectives from an experienced female facilitator.
Through this series, as well as our Retreat Survey, we aim to gain insight into the specific attitudes, experiences, and needs of women who attend psychedelic retreats; themes which, until now, have not been studied systematically. We hope that this will guide future research, with the goal of:
Ensuring women’s physical and psychological safety and wellbeing;
Establishing sex-specific factors that contribute to ‘set’ and ‘setting’ within the retreat context; and
Including the attitudes, experiences, and needs of women into retreat program design.
***Part 1: An introduction to psychedelic retreats, and the attitudes, experiences, and needs of women who attend them.
With the rising interest in psychedelics for healing, self-exploration, and spiritual growth, the psychedelic retreats have become increasingly popular in recent years. Several factors contribute to this trend, including:
Accumulating evidence: A growing body of research highlights the potentially therapeutic benefits of psychedelics for a range of physical and psychological difficulties when administered in controlled doses and safe environments.
Evolving legal landscape: Changes in legal frameworks, such as Portugal’s broadband drug decriminalisation in 2001 and the legalisation of state-regulated psilocybin services in Oregon in 2020 and in Colorado in 2022, have paved the way for more widespread and regulated use of psychedelics.
Sociocultural dissatisfaction: In the face of climate, economic, and mental health crises, there is a wave of people actively seeking alternative ways to find healing, meaning, and solace.
Indeed, the psychedelic retreat industry is growing, particularly in Europe and the Americas, where drug policies permit the use of certain psychedelics (e.g., the use of psilocybin truffles in The Netherlands). Despite increasing popularity and media coverage from outlets like Condé Nast Traveler (1) and The New York Times (2), there remains a noticeable gap in research specifically assessing psychedelic use in retreat settings.
Retreat settings differ significantly from the controlled environments of clinical trials, and findings from clinical trials are not necessarily generalisable to retreat settings. Several key considerations specific to retreat settings cannot be adequately assessed in clinical research:
Participant intentions: People who attend psychedelic retreats are often motivated by factors beyond psychiatric treatment, including creativity, meaning-making, problem-solving, self-exploration, spiritual growth, and wellness.
Retreat group dynamics: Retreat programs are typically provided to a retreat group, with participants frequently engaging in group activities and even tripping in the same room. This fosters a sense of shared experience distinct from the one-to-one, therapist-patient dynamic typical within clinical trials.
Participant experiences: Many retreats incorporate holistic approaches (e.g., breathwork, meditation, movement) and/or spiritual practices (e.g., ceremony, ritual, use of sacred plants) which are not typically part of clinical trial protocols.
These considerations require systematic assessment to understand their impact on participant experiences and outcomes.
Whilst there is a lack of research investigating psychedelic use within retreat settings, to the best of our knowledge, no research has specifically and systematically focused on understanding the attitudes, experiences, and needs of women who attend psychedelic retreats.
Women’s attitudes, experiences, and needs are critical components of the set and setting of psychedelic experiences; the extra-pharmacological factors that shape acute and enduring responses to psychedelics (3). Set encompasses a wide range of factors, including attitudes, expectations, intentions, motivations, personality, physical and psychological state, and external stressors. A blog article by Psychedelics Today (4) highlights some sex-specific set variables: ‘Women may face self-doubt, fear of losing control, or concern about exposure to vulnerable emotions during psychedelic experiences’. Conceivable sex-specific setting variables include the gender make-up of the retreat group, the gender make-up of the facilitators, and tripping in a communal versus a private space. Sex-specific set and setting recommendations can then be integrated into retreat program design, adapting standard approaches to Screening, Preparation, Dosing, and Integration procedures to maximise the safety and wellbeing of female participants.
To address these knowledge gaps, Hystelica has launched a two-part survey to assess the attitudes, experiences, and needs of women who attend psychedelic retreats, both before and after their retreat experience. Findings from our pilot survey conducted in collaboration with Beckley Retreats revealed that:
Women with no prior experience of psychedelic retreats consistently rated female involvement as more important after their retreat, suggesting that the presence of female participants and/or female facilitators was a significant factor in their experience.
Women with no prior experience of psychedelic retreats consistently rated the importance of all-female involvement as significantly more important after their retreat, indicating potential differences in experiences between single-sex and mixed-sex retreat groups.
All women surveyed were experiencing female-specific difficulties that they hoped would be helped by the retreat program, highlighting the need for retreat programs to specifically attend to women’s health issues.
Our pilot underscored the need to further investigate these themes across the psychedelic retreat industry and informed the format of our final survey. A key theme that emerged was the importance of having the option of a women-only retreat, which was consistently and significantly rated as more important post-retreat. This suggests that women did not initially consider having a women-only option important, but that the retreat experience highlighted the value of having a women-only option. This preliminary finding indicates a need for women-only retreat offerings. We hope that our survey will elucidate why women need women-only retreats, what is different in mixed-sex settings, and how retreats can better cater to women’s experiences.
Additionally, understanding why women choose to attend psychedelic retreats is crucial. Whilst motivations may indeed include creativity, meaning-making, problem-solving, self-exploration, spiritual growth, and wellness, as mentioned above, many women attend retreats to specifically address difficulties related to women’s health. A report by the McKinsey Health Institute (5) on the ‘women’s health gap’ found that women spend 25 percent more time in ‘poor health’ relative to men, which is likely a conservative estimate given historical underreporting and data gaps in women’s health conditions.
Women’s health encompasses both sex-specific conditions (e.g., endometriosis, menopause, premenstrual dysphoric disorders) and other health conditions that may affect women differently (higher disease burden; e.g., PTSD) or disproportionately (higher prevalence; e.g., depression) (5). Due to aggregated data, the systematic exclusion of women from clinical trials, and underfunding of female-specific research, women’s health conditions represent areas of significant unmet need that may motivate women to attend a psychedelic retreat. In an interview with Hystelica, Mary Bonnet, a psychedelic retreat facilitator, indicated that, in her experience facilitating, all women who attend her retreats do so due to women’s health difficulties, mirroring our pilot findings. Psychedelic retreat programs must specifically address these difficulties to provide safe, effective support for their female participants.
As part of our commitment to conducting research to help provide women with safer, more inclusive, and empowering psychedelic experiences, we are signposting retreat programs we know to be comprehensive in their approach and delivery of such programs.
We are happy to share a special offer from one of our trusted partners, Beckley Retreats. Beckley is the world's only psychedelic retreats provider backed by 25 years of scientific research (building on psychedelic pioneer Amanda Feilding's legacy) and an ecosystem of expertise. Their comprehensive 11-week program includes 4 weeks of preparation and 6 weeks of integration (go-at-your-own pace) with fully legal 5-night retreats in Jamaica and the Netherlands. Beckley offers Women's programs and a Sanctuary for Black Women in addition to their mixed gender Signature program. Visit their website here to view their full program details, their comprehensive guide to choosing a psychedelic retreat centre, and their "what type of psychedelic retreat goer are you?" quiz. Use code BRAP500 at checkout for $500 off your first retreat!
References:
1. Psychedelic Travel Experiences Are More Popular Than Ever, Condé Nast Traveler: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/psychedelic-travel-experiences#:~:text=According%20to%20his%20research%2C%20the,it%20is%20considered%20an%20indigenous
2. The Rise of Psychedelic Retreats, The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/25/travel/psychedelic-retreat-ayahuasca.html
3. Carhart-Harris, R. L., Bolstridge, M., Day, C. M. J., Rucker, J., Watts, R., Erritzoe, D. E., Kaelen, M., Giribaldi, B., Bloomfield, M., Pilling, S., Rickard, J. A., Forbes, B., Feilding, A., Taylor, D., Curran, H. V., & Nutt, D. J. (2018). Psilocybin with psychological support for treatment-resistant depression: six-month follow-up. Psychopharmacology, 235(2), 399–408. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-017-4771-x
4. Gender Challenges in Psychedelic Retreats and Clinical Settings, Psychedelics Today: https://psychedelicstoday.com/2024/01/03/gender-challenges-in-psychedelic-retreats-and-clinical-settings/
5. Closing the Women’s Health Gap: A $1 Trillion Opportunity to Improve Lives and Economies, McKinsey Health Institute: https://www.mckinsey.com/mhi/our-insights/closing-the-womens-health-gap-a-1-trillion-dollar-opportunity-to-improve-lives-and-economies