Psychedelic harm reduction & integration

Psychedelic Harm Reduction and Integration (PHRI) is a therapy model that includes harm reduction, psychedelic-assisted therapy, mindfulness, and psychodynamic therapy.

PHRI is a framework that examines working with the psychedelic experience, including clinical therapies, spiritual practices, with peers, or on one's own.

As a psychologist, Natalie does not currently administer or prescribe psychedelic substances. However, she is actively preparing for the possibility of legally administering psilocybin in a therapeutic context once federal approval is granted. The current practice is an invitation to explore, make meaning, and problem-solve experiences and insights acquired from a past or a future psychedelic journey and how they land in daily life.

PHRI consists of a total of 6 to 10 sessions:

Preparation sessions explore the desire for a psychedelic experience — hopes, concerns, and expectations of the journey; the perceived problem, how and when it takes place, how it affects a person's life, and how such a situation becomes a problem.

We cover psychoeducation about the different compounds and plant-medicines; research; and respect for wisdom traditions, indigenous and alternative treatments. The individual process and the collective process run in parallel, and we hold ancestral trauma, racial trauma, and past and current trauma in mind.

Common physical & psychological responses

It is important to understand that there are some possible common physical and psychological responses to the psychedelic experience. You may have one or more of these, or you may have none.

• Increased heart rate; muscle relaxation or tremors
• Digestive upset; dilated pupils; dry mouth
• Sweating and chills; numbness
• Jitteriness or drowsiness
• Heightened awareness of normal physiological processes (like the heartbeat)
• Heightened senses — visual acuity, synesthesia
• Trouble focusing, confusion, or disorientation
• Tension, paranoia, or euphoria
• Visual illusions; proprioceptive changes
• Feeling merged with the environment and/or the universe
• Connection to or identification with other people, animals, plants, or objects
• Changes in sense of time; concern that the experience may never end
• Highly symbolic mystical or spiritual experiences
• Regression to a younger age; reliving of birth; sensations related to past illness or surgery
• Loss of identity or ego dissolution; experiences that transcend time, space, and the senses
• Projection of strong emotions, past or present, onto the self or environment

Dr. Cohen focuses on the preparation and integration of psychedelic work — not the administration of psychedelics or the conducting of psychedelic sessions.

She provides professional services, including Psychedelic Harm Reduction and Integration, that are within her scope of practice to the public in ways that are aligned with all applicable laws and regulations. As a psychologist, Natalie does not administer or prescribe psychedelic substances. However, as the regulatory landscape continues to evolve — including recent executive action directing the FDA to accelerate approval pathways for psilocybin — she is actively preparing for the possibility of legally administering psilocybin in a therapeutic context once federal approval is granted.

What we do with the psychedelic experience may be more important than simply having the experience. PHRI starts from a belief that healing and learning reside within each of us. This inner intelligence can help us resolve inner conflicts and acquire greater knowledge and spiritual awareness.

The following days, weeks, and months of a psychedelic experience are a fertile time for integration. Whether the psychedelic experience was blissful, smooth, or complicated — with integration, one can open up new ways of understanding ourselves and the world around us, becoming more psychologically flexible.