Fireside Project Launches Psychedelic Peer Support Hotline

A psychedelic experience can be mystical and exciting. But it can also be downright intense, drudging up past trauma and even near-death experiences. For users having a bad trip—or just wanting to connect with a like-minded friend—the Fireside Project’s Psychedelic Peer Support Line may help. 

The hotline connects callers with peer volunteers who provide free, confidential support to people during their own psychedelic experience as well as those who are trip-sitting for another person. Volunteers will also follow up to help users process the experience. 

The hotline is only intended to provide support, so if there is a medical emergency, 911 should be called, Psychedelic Peer Support Line co-founded by Joshua White said. 

White recalls a psychedelic trip about 15 years ago that prompted him to leave a career as a lawyer and become a psychedelic therapist. As part of his training, he volunteered for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) Zendo Project, a harm reduction service, and was inspired to create the Peer Support Line based on the organization’s Safe & Sound’s TALK Line. 

Fireside Project’s Psychedelic Peer Support Line is free to anyone in the United States by texting or calling 6-2FIRESIDE (623-473-7433). It operates Thursday through Sunday from 3 p.m. to 3 a.m. PST, and Mondays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. PST. When someone calls or sends a text messages, they are routed to someone who will connect them to an available peer volunteer. 

“Our primary goal is to meet people where they are,” White told Mic. ““When the line launches, everyone who has a phone with them will never have to be alone during an experience with psychedelics or after an experience with psychedelics ever again.”