PT583 – How Do You Find the Right Facilitator? The Art of Matchmaking in Psychedelic Healing, with Nico & Susan Simon
Jan 28, 2025
auto_awesome
Nico and Susan Simon, co-founders of JourneyŌM, share their insights on matching individuals with vetted psychedelic facilitators. Nico, who has personally experienced psychedelic healing, emphasizes the significance of trust and safety in these relationships. Susan brings attention to the critical need for community support for partners during psychedelic journeys. They discuss the importance of movement in healing, the challenges of supporting family members, and how their extensive vetting process ensures transformative experiences for seekers.
JourneyŌM emphasizes a thorough vetting process for facilitators, enhancing safety and accountability in the psychedelic healing space.
Nico and Susan stress the importance of support networks, especially for partners not directly involved in psychedelic experiences.
The personal connection between seekers and facilitators is crucial, ensuring a comfortable match that enhances the healing journey.
Deep dives
Concierge Matching for Facilitators and Seekers
The Journey Ohm project focuses on concierge matching between individuals seeking psychedelic experiences and facilitating practitioners. This approach aims to enhance safety and accountability, addressing the risks associated with finding random facilitators online. With a network of nearly 100 vetted practitioners across 34 states, Journey Ohm prioritizes personal connections between seekers and guides, ensuring that clients feel comfortable and secure in their choices. The project's unique in-person vetting process emphasizes the significance of understanding both the practitioners and the seekers.
Healing Through Personal Experience
The co-founders of Journey Ohm, Nico and Susan, share their transformative experiences with psychedelics, highlighting their significance in overcoming long-term mental health issues. Nico recounts his struggle with major depression and PTSD, and how his initial psychedelic journey provided clarity and a roadmap for healing. This personal journey fueled a desire to help others experiencing similar struggles by connecting them to safe practitioners. Their perspectives underline the powerful impact of psychedelics in guiding individuals toward emotional resilience and healing.
Integration and Support for Partners
The importance of support for partners of individuals undergoing psychedelic therapy is emphasized, particularly from Susan's perspective as a supportive spouse. She highlights the need for supportive roles during a healing journey, acknowledging the emotional challenges that arise within relationships when one partner is on a different healing path. Both Nico and Susan stress the significance of preparation and integration support for both seekers and their partners, fostering a better understanding of the healing journey and promoting communication between them. This insight encourages a holistic approach to healing that includes both the journeyer and their partners.
Art and Science of Facilitator Matching
Journey Ohm employs a meticulous process for matching seekers with facilitators, combining both art and science. Through extensive intake assessments and personal interviews, the team builds a comprehensive understanding of the seekers’ needs and backgrounds. This careful approach ensures alignment between the seeker’s experiences and the facilitator’s skills, emphasizing the intangible aspects that contribute to successful matches. The goal is to find the right vibe and connection, aiding in optimal outcomes for the seeker’s journey.
Building a Supportive Community
The conversation highlights the growing recognition of community as a vital aspect of healing, particularly within the psychedelic space. Through discussions of integration circles and supportive networks, Nico and Susan reflect on the importance of connection in enhancing the healing process for individuals. They note that many men’s groups have formed, where participants can share and process their experiences together, fostering a sense of belonging and support. Creating such connections helps individuals navigate their journeys while also rediscovering collective healing practices from the past.
In this episode, Joe interviews Nico and Susan Simon: Co-founders of JourneyŌM, a concierge service looking to address the question many people are asking: How do you find the right facilitator?
Through a dedicated vetting process, JourneyŌM is adding a layer of risk reduction and accountability to this strange new world, by traveling the country and amassing a network of trusted facilitators who work with all types of medicines and modalities. By getting to know guides and seekers personally, they’re able to offer possible matches – and they usually agree on who would work best with each other.
They talk about:
Their process for building their network and finding the right facilitator for someone
Their concept of going “beyond the bio” and getting to the heart of what drove someone toward becoming a guide
Susan’s struggle with supporting Nico through his psychedelic healing, and the need for support options for spouses not sharing in the experience
The importance of community and the amazing work Nico has seen in men’s groups
The healing powers of movement and living as your authentic self
and more!
If you’re interested in JourneyŌM’s matchmaking, head to their site and take their assessment to begin the process.