Meet the Fireside project App: Your virtual Peer Support Line
The psychedelic community has been trying to find a way to describe what a psychedelic trip is to those who have never tried these compounds or have reached those states. The way we like to describe it is as if it were a random image generator of the mind, similar to how your vivid dreams happen once you enter REM sleep, imagery about what is happening in your day, life, imagery of your creativity or even your subconscious tends to creep in your sleep during these stages of sleep. When we cross paths with something that scares us or puts us in an alert state, our bodies wake us up in response. It is part of what our nature programmed us to do since the early forms of humans. This event is called the fight or flight response embedded in the reptilian part of our brain.
In the same way, we can’t predict what dream we will have. A psychedelic experience is a roulette of the mind. Sometimes, we can encounter situations that make us laugh, happy, uncomfortable, uneasy, or even scared. Psychedelic experiences can make us live past traumas once again or things that we throw onto our subconscious because we don’t want to deal with them in our day-to-day lives. Varying from superficial uncontrollable fears, such as the fear of bugs, snakes, you name it, to things with a deeper meaning and impact on how we live, like death or loneliness.
Facing our fears or experiencing things that shake us up or scare us gained the popular name Bad Trips amongst the psychedelic community. However, I would disprove this name. The reason would be simple. The fact that many people in the psychedelic realm start by describing how facing their fears was one of the most challenging experiences in their lives. But follow up by saying it was one of the best experiences they’ve ever had after years of consuming psychedelics. In reality, many people in the psychedelic community search and hope to find these experiences once again and face the unknown, reasoning why classical psychedelics can be labeled as “addictive to the mind” but aren’t considered to be physiologically addictive. Unfortunately, sometimes encounters with the unknown can get out of hand, or these trips can be too much to decompress, or at least to do it on your own, especially when, unlike when we are dreaming, we can’t snap our fingers and “wake up” from a psychedelic experience. Instead, we are in an altered state of mind for a limited period. Going back to the analogy of comparing psychedelic experiences to dreams, the REM state of sleep that can cause you vivid dreams in the psychedelic world is called the peak, or the peak of the experience. During this time, you can have vivid visuals and a potential augmentation of the first subtle symptoms you’ve felt after the intake of the substance (those could be a tingling sensation, sweating, nausea, tracers of objects, a slight differentiation in the color of objects, in between many others.)
A solution for exploring this roulette of what might happen during a psychedelic trip could be having a trip-sitter (in case you are doing these compounds recreationally or in a party scenario). But in reality, many people don’t want to have their friends worried about them while they are having a psychedelic experience or don’t want people to know about their psychedelic use. Sometimes, scheduling a trip seems weird, and we think it should happen more naturally, so we decided to explore these states of consciousness like a valiant knight traveling through the provinces of the mind.
Fireside Project took this into consideration and decided to develop the first app-focused free peer-support line to help people during and after their psychedelic trips. The app serves the same function as texting or calling the line (62-FIRESIDE), but it doesn’t require you to type your number into your phone.
Does this mean I can only call if I’m experiencing a bad trip?
Absolutely not, this support line is made for those who are in situations such as:
- You are during a psychedelic experience
- You are supporting others who are in a psychedelic experience
- You want to talk about a wide range of past psychedelic experiences – whether they happened days or decades ago
- You have provided psychedelic support to others in the past (e.g., facilitators, therapists, etc.)
What do I need to call or text the Fireside Line?
This one is easy. All you need is your phone and the Fireside Project app. The app is free and features two large buttons for easy access: one to call and another to text.
Since this app is from the psychedelic community to the psychedelic community, they know how much your anonymity means. So it’s okay to provide a made-up name or no name at all. They will leave this option for you to decide. Additionally, even if you share this information, it won’t be saved, nor will your phone number.
The other side of the line:
The Fireside Project currently has more than 100 volunteers who will lend an ear to hear you out, allow you to talk about your experience, and provide you with non-clinical emotional support. Many of them had psychedelic experiences themselves, so expect the result to be an amicable and compassionate experience filled with knowledge about the soul and the psychedelic realms.
Please note that the platform is a harm reduction tool and is not intended as psychedelic-assisted therapy or to assist in the administration of psychedelics. They don’t provide medical care, psychotherapy, psychiatric care, or any other professional service.
If you are experiencing a clinical or long-term health issue, consult a medical or mental health professional. The Fireside Project line is designed to support individuals by sharing human experiences. However, it is important to note that this support line is not a replacement for professional healthcare, mental health treatment, psychiatric care, or therapy of any kind. They do not provide any professional services, including but not limited to medical care, medical assessments, medical treatment, psychotherapy, or any treatment for mental health issues.
Can I call regardless of my location? When can I get in touch, and is there a calling limit?
Unfortunately, Fireside Project is currently based in San Francisco and only offers services to people in the United States. However, they hope to expand internationally soon, starting with Canada.
The Fireside Project line is open every day from 11:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m. PT. You can call back as many times as you’d like during your psychedelic integration journey, whether that takes weeks, months, or even years.
There are some exceptions:
- They don’t promise that the Services are perfect: they are provided on an as-is, as-available basis, without warranty.
- All users must agree to follow the law, respect others, and abide by the Code of Conduct (Read more about the Terms of Use here.)
- Users must be 18 years of age or older and in the United States (the Fireside Project aims to expand in the future, starting with Canada)
- If you have any other questions, email the Fireside Project at in**@*************ct.org or call to (213) 510-8075.
We were psyched when we found out about the Fireside Project during the pandemic, their goals for harm reduction as well as supporting the psychedelic community during their trips. From our perspective, this can be a game-changing app when we are in the trenches of a weird psychedelic experience, but also when we want to anonymously talk to someone about our experiences without being afraid to be judged or having someone question why we take psychedelics in the first place.
We want to emphasize that this is not a sponsored post, and we have no intention of selling you any product, especially since the app is free and takes up very little space on your phone. We believe this app can transform your psychedelic experience and prevent situations from becoming too scary or difficult. We hope you use this service wisely and appreciate it as much as we do.
In case the services of Fireside aren’t available in your country yet, you can also feel free to hit us up via email or our socials for any questions regarding these substances, harm reduction, or if you want to chat about a psychedelic experience.
Stay safe,
Spread love and knowledge!
