BEFORE YOU SAY YES

How To Spot Red Flags and Stay Empowered

When Choosing a Psychedelic Facilitator or Retreat

Wednesday, Sept 30
5pm PT / 6pm MT / 7pm CT / 8pm ET

replay available for all who sign up

You read 212 reviews before you bought the car seat, and 15 reviews before booking a restaurant reservation. You have a dedicated group chat about which podcasts are worth listening to.

And yet every week, smart, careful, deeply researched mothers hand their psyche, nervous system and several thousand dollars to facilitators who don't live up to their marketing claims.

This seminar is not here to talk anyone out of a journey. A guided, high-dose psychedelic experience with a skilled, ethical facilitator or retreat center can be one of the most important things a mother ever does for herself. 

This seminar is here to make sure the person sitting next to you while you're more vulnerable than you've been since labor has truly earned the privilege to guide you.

And one important thing: if a retreat or guide didn't turn out as promised or caused you trauma, it’s not your fault. There is no shame in wanting to heal, and there is no shame in sometimes taking risks to finding your healing off the beaten path. While no one can reverse negative experiences in a journey setting, repair can happen, and we stand with you.

Why this seminar exists

Psychedelics are having a moment, and as Tracey Tee keeps reminding audiences: “America has no chill.” We jump into trends faster than Stanley drops a new cup color, and we rarely - if ever - take the time and patience to learn about and observe our desired support systems in order to determine the best path for us individually. 

More mothers than ever are booking ceremonies, retreats and one-on-one psychedelic journeys with mushrooms, MDMA, 5-MEO DMT, Ayahuasca, ketamine and more. Alongside this psychedelic renaissance is an unfortunate (but often well-meaning) wave of people serving this medicine with very little to no training, no mentors, a flimsy screening process, no emergency plan and, in some cases, no business being near another human being in an altered state. 

The known issues in this space are not secrets: sexual misconduct from "guides," people dosed with inadequate medical screening, medicines with “proprietary” ingredients, aggressive sales teams, and destabilizing experiences followed by no aftercare at all, deposits that vanish, and yes, deaths. 

A license or even a beautiful space is a starting point, but not a guarantee (Moms on Mushrooms is based in Colorado and supports the state's legal framework): we are aware that there are many newly licensed facilitators in Oregon and Colorado who have never worked with psilocybin before they got their paperwork, and the underground space (which we also support) has it’s share of bad actors with no regulatory structures.

Facilitators and retreats acting in integrity also exist in every lineage and under every legal framework. They screen carefully, put consent in writing, work alongside therapists and medical providers, price transparently, source impeccable medicine and answer hard questions without flinching. They deserve your business and your referrals. 

This seminar is as much about recognizing what integrity looks like as it is about spotting its absence. The more people who can tell the difference, the safer we are, and the harder it becomes for sketchy facilitators to fill a retreat.

What Sarah will cover:

• What integrity looks like from the inside: how an ethical facilitator screens, prepares, holds consent, handles money and follows up, so you can recognize it on the first call.
• Consent, touch & boundaries. What a written agreement covers, yellow & red flags, what to expect from facilitators and organization leadership, especially when you or a participant may form an extra attachment post-ceremony, and what to do when you witness boundaries being crossed unethically.
• Money. Deposits, refund policies, what needs to be in writing, and what should happen if you have to cancel because your kid got the flu.
• Who's in the room. Facilitator-to-participant ratios, whether your guide is sober, who has medical training, and what the plan is when someone has a medical event at 11pm in the jungle.
• Lineage and training. How to tell the difference between years of real apprenticeship and a weekend certification with a beautiful logo.
• Integration. What should happen in the 72 hours, two weeks and three months after a journey, and how to know if it's actually included or just mentioned on the website.
• The guru problem. Love-bombing, "only two spots left," secrecy, being discouraged from talking to your partner or your therapist, how to leave (before or during) if something feels off, and yes, screening for the very real problem of guides sleeping with clients.

Who this is for:

Anyone - but especially mothers considering a large dose journey for the first time. Mothers who already booked something and have a weird feeling they can't quite name.

Partners, sisters and friends who want to support someone without being the wet blanket. Facilitators and retreat organizers who want to see what informed clients will be asking them.

Anyone who had a bad experience and is still trying to understand what happened. This seminar is free, and open to everyone (not just moms).

This is a webinar, so your camera is off and nobody can see you. Feel free to join us from the bath :)

About Sarah Hope, LNMF, NCC, NBIC

Sarah Hope is a Licensed Natural Medicine Facilitator, Nature-Connected Coach, and Nature-Based Integration Coach with more than eight years of experience guiding hundreds of people through psychedelic preparation, integration, spiritual emergence, life transition, and initiation. She is also the founder and director of Nature-Based Integration Coaching, where she trains coaches and helping professionals in ethical, trauma-informed, and non-pathologizing approaches to integration.

Sarah brings a calm, open-minded, grounded presence to her work and a deep respect for each person's innate wisdom. Drawing from nature-connected coaching, ecopsychology, somatic practice, parts work, and mythic inquiry, she helps clients integrate their experiences and translate insight into lasting change. Her work extends beyond symptom reduction, supporting people as they develop a more coherent relationship with themselves, their purpose, their communities, and the living world.

Sarah's approach is rooted in consent, client agency, cultural respect, careful preparation, and clear professional boundaries. She understands integration coaching as part of a larger care ecosystem and works collaboratively with therapists, medical providers, and other practitioners when appropriate. Rather than positioning herself as the authority on another person's experience, Sarah offers steady companionship, discerning reflection, and a trustworthy container in which clients can encounter their own truth.

About Moms on Mushrooms

Moms on Mushrooms (M.O.M.) is a public education and harm reduction organization for mothers exploring psychedelic medicine, founded and stewarded by Tracey Tee. M.O.M.s four pillars of service are: Awareness, Public Education and Harm Reduction, Community and Advocacy. This seminar is part of M.O.M.'s free public education and harm reduction programming and will be hosted by Tracey. No one will be selling you a retreat. :)