What is actually known about integration practices

Integration is universally recommended — built into clinical trial protocols, every harm-reduction organization, and every major model — and almost none of it has been tested in controlled research. As of recent reviews, there is no controlled comparative research on any integration approach. That is the honest starting point.

What exists instead:

• Clinical practice models (Gorman and colleagues, 2021) describing how therapists support integration — based on practice, not trials.
• Survey research. The largest relevant dataset followed 608 people who had extended difficulties after psychedelic use (Evans and colleagues, 2023) and documented what they said helped (Robinson and colleagues, 2024): peer and community support (34%), meditation and prayer (27%), reading (14%), exercise (12%), breathing strategies (11%), journaling (11%), embodied practices like yoga (10%), and time in nature (10%). Self-report from people who struggled — useful signal, not proof.
• Long-standing practice consensus, catalogued by Bathje and colleagues (2022).

We state this because you deserve to know what “recommended” rests on. These practices are low-risk and commonly valued. They are not treatments with a demonstrated effect, and no one should promise you otherwise.