Psychedelic experiences can be spiritual and life-changing. But they can also drudge up difficult past experiences. The nonprofit Fireside Project is launching a new Psychedelic Peer Support app to make it easier for people to connect with like-minded friends for free, confidential support during their psychedelic experience, or help them process past psychedelic experiences.
The app is the first exclusively designed to provide compassionate peer support for current or past psychedelic experiences.
Fireside Project launched the Psychedelic Peer Support Line in April, which enabled anyone in the United States to connect with a peer volunteer by texting or calling 6-2FIRESIDE. Last month, awareness for the service increased when Rolling Stone wrote about it.
Beginning in October, the Psychedelic Peer Support Line will add an app, available by iPhone and Android. The support line will also expand its service from five to seven days a week, adding 32 additional hours of service. This will enable the support line to operate 7 days a week, 12 hours per day, from 3 p.m. to 3 a.m. PST.
The app will let people call or text the line without having to add the number to their contacts. It also includes Frequently Asked Questions explaining how the support line works. Fireside Project’s hope is that the app makes it easier for people to reach out in their time of need.
“We live in a world connected by mobile technology—in the U.S. alone it is estimated that 85 percent of the population have smartphones,” says Fireside Project co-founder and Cultivator of Beloved Community Hanifa Nayo Washington. “Our app was designed with accessibility and ease of use as top priorities, so that psychedelic users in any state of mind can connect quickly with our diverse and compassionate peer support line volunteers. Our hope is that the app makes coming to the warmth and belonging of Fireside Project just a click away.”
Since the support line launched in April, Fireside Project has had more than 450 conversations by phone and text messages, averted more than 25 emergency room visits and 911 calls, and de-escalated hundreds of people from psychological distress. As many as 92 percent of Fireside Project clients indicated that they felt heard, supported, and understood during their conversations and would recommend the app to others.
