Have you ever wondered what it’s like to sit with someone having one of the most profound experiences of their life? In this deeply candid conversation, psychedelic therapist Denise Rue brings a wealth of experience to our discussion about facilitating psychedelic therapy. We discuss her journey to the field, the nuances of guiding individuals through psychedelic therapy, the surprising ways clinical hypnosis and psychedelics intersect, comparisons between group retreats and 1:1 therapy, advice for aspiring therapists (e.g., informed consent, boundaries, harm reduction), the role of poetry in psychedelic therapy, and questions that every prospective client should ask before trusting someone with their psychedelic experience. 

Denise Rue, MA, MFA, MSW, is a licensed Clinical Social Worker, Clinical Hypnotherapist, Psychedelic-Assisted Therapist, and founder of the New Jersey Psychedelic Therapy Association. From 2019-2022 Denise worked as a retreat leader and lead therapist at a legal psilocybin retreat center in Jamaica, and continues to lead retreats in Portugal, Mexico, and Colorado.  Denise has had the privilege of facilitating over 1,750 psilocybin sessions, and as many group integration sessions. She has a profound respect for the healing potential of this medicine, as well as a deep sense of the responsibility practitioners hold in shepherding people on their journeys. Denise has a private psychotherapy practice in New Jersey, specializing in individuals with complex trauma, especially adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. She utilizes a variety of modalities in her work, including ketamine-assisted therapy, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), somatic therapy and clinical hypnosis. Denise will soon be launching her psychedelic education, integration, and harm reduction business, Interweave Healing, with her colleague, Jessalyn Maguire, LSW.