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At-home retreat planner

Intentions, safety checklist, sitter agreement, the day's schedule and emergency contacts, on pages made to print.

Prints on A4 or Letter. Nothing to sign up for. Pair it with the integration journal.

1. Intentions

What I hope to understand, feel or change:

Why now? What is happening in my life that makes this feel right, or not right?

What I am afraid might come up:

If fear or grief comes, I will remind myself:

One sentence to return to during the day:

2. Safety checklist

Tick each one honestly. Any item you cannot tick is a reason to stop and talk to a doctor, or to choose a licensed centre or a screened retreat instead.

  • I do not take lithium, and I have checked every medicine I take on the interaction checker (mushroomretreats.org/tools/interaction-checker).
  • I am not taking an MAOI, ayahuasca, Syrian rue or any harmala product, and will not combine them.
  • If I take an antidepressant or other prescribed medicine, I have talked to my prescriber. I have not stopped any medicine on my own.
  • Neither I nor a parent, sibling or child has had psychosis, schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
  • I have no heart condition or uncontrolled high blood pressure, and I am not pregnant or breastfeeding.
  • I am in a stable patch of life, not in acute crisis.
  • I have a sober sitter I trust, who has read the sitter agreement and will stay the whole time.
  • I will start at the lower end of the dose calculator's range, weighed on a scale.
  • No alcohol, cannabis or other drugs that day or the night before.
  • The room is safe: no access to balconies, open windows, stairs without a rail, sharp tools or a car.
  • I will not drive or make major decisions until the next day at the earliest.
  • The next day is clear: no work, travel or obligations.

3. Sitter agreement

Read it together a few days before. The sitter's job is to keep the space safe and to be present, not to guide or fix.

  • The sitter stays sober, and stays for the whole session until effects have clearly ended.
  • The sitter keeps the space safe and quiet, and keeps phones and visitors away.
  • The sitter sits with whatever comes rather than steering it, and talks the person through difficulty rather than trying to talk them down.
  • Difficult is not the same as bad. Unless there is a medical emergency, the plan is to stay, breathe and let it pass.
  • No sexual contact of any kind. Touch only as agreed below, and only if asked for on the day.
  • The sitter will call emergency services for chest pain, a seizure, trouble breathing, fainting, or any risk of harm to self or others.

Touch we agree is okay (for example, holding a hand if asked):

Words or signals that mean I need something:

Anything the sitter should know about me (fears, history, what helps):

Signed (me)
Signed (sitter)

4. The day

Times are a plan, not a script. Effects usually begin within the first hour and last several hours; see the timing guide (mushroomretreats.org/guides/how-long-do-shrooms-last).

Wake, light breakfast
Set up the room, music ready
Read intentions together
Take the dose (time and amount)
Lie down, eyeshades on
Effects begin (note time)
Strongest effects
Starting to return
Sitting up, water, fruit
A few words in the journal
Simple meal
Sleep

Music playlist, downloaded for offline play:

What I want in the room (blanket, water, bucket, tissues, eyeshades, notebook):

5. Emergency contacts

Local emergency number
Nearest emergency department
Address of this room
Sitter's phone
Back-up person
My prescriber or doctor
Medicines I take
Allergies

US crisis line: call or text 988. Psychedelic peer support (US): Fireside Project, call or text 62-FIRESIDE (623-473-7433). In a medical emergency anywhere, call the local emergency number and tell them exactly what was taken and when.

When a retreat or licensed centre is the better choice

If you take any medication on the interaction checker, have a personal or family history of psychosis or bipolar disorder, have a heart condition, or have nobody sober and steady to sit with you, a setting with screening and trained staff is the safer choice. In trials, participants were screened first and supported by trained monitors throughout. [Human hallucinogen research: guidelines for safety, Journal of Psychopharmacology, 2008, read 28 October 2026]

If you need help now