🫠 Psychonaut POV

Welcome to Tricycle Day. We know when that hotline bling, it can only mean one thing… that someone wants to chat about psychedelics, of course. Oh, that’s just us? 🫠

Joshua White has never had a “bad trip” in 25 years. But for that, he considers himself lucky. In fact, Joshua’s so committed to harm reduction that he created a psychedelic peer support hotline, staffed entirely by volunteers. And it’s totally free.

We spoke to Joshua about the skill of active listening, the importance of inclusivity, and the essential role of non-clinical support in the present and future of psychedelic care.

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What led you to start the Fireside Project? Did you go through a challenging psychedelic experience yourself?

My journey with psychedelics began about 25 years ago, and I’ve always been lucky in my experiences. I had amazing support and community from the beginning, which made me want others to be as fortunate. My first mushroom trip was during a canoe camping trip on the Colorado River in my first year of law school. It opened my eyes to the magic I'd always believed existed in the world.

I didn't really dive deep into the psychedelic field for another decade, mainly because law school and my early career didn't leave much space for it. Around 30, I started using psychedelics more frequently and had an amazing therapist. I noticed the insights from my psychedelic experiences directly synergized with the deep work I was doing in therapy, addressing childhood issues and anxiety.

The turning point came in April 2013 at the MAPS Psychedelic Science conference. That's when I realized devoting oneself to psychedelics and psychedelic healing was a possible and noble career path. It took me about 10 years to figure out how to make a massive contribution to the field. My background as a lawyer and volunteer on a support line for parents with young kids eventually led to the idea of a psychedelic support line during the pandemic lockdown. That's how Fireside Project was born.

Since launching the support line, you've helped thousands of people. What are the most common reasons people call in? What concerns do you hear most frequently?

At Fireside Project, we've had about 30,000 conversations in three and a half years, split evenly between people tripping and those integrating past experiences. We support folks during their psychedelic experiences and also provide free integration support, whether the trip happened yesterday or a decade ago.

People often reach out to us in pretty agitated states, both during and after trips. But a lot of folks are just looking for support and connection, which is a beautiful part of our work. There are some common themes we see across calls. One big one is preparation, or the lack thereof. Some people read about psychedelics in the media and think it's like taking aspirin for a headache. When they don't prepare themselves for the amplification psychedelics can bring, it can get scary and destabilizing real quick.

Another major theme is community, or the opposite—isolation. A lot of our callers are either tripping alone or don't have a psychedelic-friendly community to help them integrate. They might feel judged by partners, friends, family, and even therapists for using psychedelics. This isolation can make it really tough to process the experience. Our first ever caller was in a near-suicidal state after their therapist told them they'd probably damaged their brain by taking mushrooms. Just providing a safe, supportive space and letting them know destabilization is normal can be incredibly powerful.

What's the first thing you teach new hotline volunteers? How do you prepare them for the wide range of calls they might receive?

The first thing we want our volunteers to understand is our overarching approach at Fireside. We see supporting people through psychedelic experiences as sacred work, connecting us to our earliest ancestors. Humanity wouldn't exist without fires, and we've always gathered around them to trip, chill, celebrate, and mourn. We want callers to feel like they're sitting beside a fire when they reach out to us.

The foundational skill we teach is active listening, which I describe as the art of being fully, lovingly, and radically present with our callers in a non-judgmental way. It starts with simply sharing what you're observing about the person's experience. For example, telling someone two hours into an acid trip, "You sound really scared right now. I can hear the fear in your voice, and I'm just so happy you reached out. I'll be here with you for as long as your journey lasts."

We're not trying to de-escalate people, though that happens. Our goal is to be deeply with them. This deep "withness" can have many positive consequences. Sure, the caller may feel more grounded and calm. But even more so, it’s the sense of belonging and community that often empowers them to turn towards their experience and see it as an opportunity to learn about themselves.

It's a fascinating energetic process. The caller feels something, and you as the active listener sense that energy. When you reflect it back, there's a palpable release that allows the conversation to move forward. It becomes this fluid dance that goes like, "Okay, I've been heard at this level. Now what's next?".

It’s clear that one of the ways you’re trying to improve access to psychedelics is by prioritizing inclusivity. Can you tell us how you do that?

First, we maintain a diverse group of about 150 volunteers. Currently, 60% identify as being from a marginalized community. This diversity helps us honor the community we're serving and allows us to learn and grow together.

Second, we empower callers with the choice to process with someone sharing an aspect of their lived experience, if desired. For example, a military veteran might want to speak with another veteran. While we can't have every identity on every shift, we try to honor this choice whenever possible, especially for integration calls.

Third, our 50-hour foundational skills training includes a component on providing culturally attuned care. We approach each conversation with humility, aware that everyone has a different worldview. We're not here to impose our perspectives, but to be present without assumptions. Throughout the year, we also invite outside speakers to present on various topics, including supporting people with different identities.

Ultimately, though, our foundational point is that we're all humans. Each person should have the skills, humility, and presence to support someone different from them because, in reality, everyone is different from each other. We empower our volunteers to feel they can support anyone.

I worry about the reductiveness in our world where people might think, "I'm not a vet, so I can't support a vet" or "I'm not a woman, so I can't support a woman." That's not true at all. We hold two truths: callers should have the choice to process with someone who feels right for them, and all people should have the skills and presence to support all other people.

Even if I haven't had a particular experience, I've likely experienced emotions similar to what others are feeling. The beauty of being human is drawing on the depth of your own suffering and experiences to understand the nuances of another person’s experience. As a listener, your job isn’t necessarily to share your own story, but to use it to deepen your presence and empathy.

What's your big vision for Fireside Project as psychedelic use grows in popularity?

My grand vision is to transform the psychedelic continuum of care and establish that non-clinical peer support has a vital, foundational role to play. Psychedelics are mainstreaming rapidly. If we rely solely on clinicians to provide support, we'll fail the field. There simply won't be enough clinicians. Besides, they're not always the right fit for everyone.

By incorporating non-clinical support like the kind our peer volunteers offer, more people will get the care they need to reduce risks and fulfill the radical healing potential of psychedelics.

We also want to fill a void in the training field related to experiential learning. At Fireside, we believe the best way to learn how to provide psychedelic support is to actually provide it, supplemented by classroom learning. The foundational skills that clinical and non-clinical support share are presence, active listening, non-judgment, deep curiosity, compassion, and welcoming all that arises. These skills can be learned on a non-clinical support line like Fireside.

Looking ahead, I want to partner with educational institutions to equip the broader field with the experiential training needed to meet the growing demand for skilled support providers. This is the only realistic way we’ll be able to support the growing number of people exploring psychedelics.

Want more from Joshua?

Subscribe to his personal Substack newsletter, and download the Fireside Project app before your next journey.

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DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. The use, possession, and distribution of psychedelic drugs are illegal in most countries and may result in criminal prosecution.