Ethical Principles
About Us
Navigating psychedelic work
with integrity and purpose
At Gather Well, we understand the importance of approaching this work with the utmost care and intentionality. We believe that psychedelics have the potential to be powerful tools for personal growth and transformation, but we also recognize the risks and potential pitfalls that come with this territory. That’s why we are dedicated to upholding a clear set of ethical principles, grounded in a strong foundation of practice.
As we continue to navigate the unfolding developments of psychedelic care, we remain resolute in our commitment to these guiding principles, allowing them to illuminate our path and ensure that every step we take is grounded in a profound respect for the individuals we serve, the communities we engage with, and the transformative potential of the work we undertake.
Safety & Ethics
Ethical Principle: We place the safety, well-being, and dignity of those we serve at the forefront of all our actions and decisions.
Ethical Commitment: We commit to integrating robust safety protocols and ethical considerations into every aspect of our practice and teaching, ensuring the care we provide is grounded in a deep sense of responsibility and respect for each individual’s unique needs, experience, vulnerabilities, and innate wisdom to heal. We commit to taking all possible measures to prevent those we serve from experiencing harm.
Transformational Justice & Accountability
Ethical Principle: We acknowledge that even with the best of intentions and the application of rigorous ethical practices, harm can occur. When harm occurs without malintent, we are, first and foremost, committed to doing all we can to ensure the protection of those in harm’s way. We also commit to making an earnest effort to address the growth of all involved, focusing on compassion, accountability, healing, and the prevention of further harm.
Ethical Commitment: We have clear pathways for addressing ethical breaches or instances of harm, and we provide an option for an accountability process for those inflicting harm based on the principles of transformative justice. Our accountability processes will prioritize the needs of those impacted while also supporting the responsible party’s understanding, growth, and change.
Systemic Awareness & Emergence
Ethical Principle: We embrace the potential for uncommon experiences, such as those brought forth by psychedelics, to transform limiting patterns and systems, both within the individual and within the culture, catalyzing growth and transformation. We commit to cultivating a culture of openness and emergence and calibrating our practices to better serve our mission and the well-being of those seeking healing.
Ethical Commitment: With intentionality and honesty, we are committed to shedding light on systems or cultural norms that limit someone’s growth potential such as those that are exclusionary, binary, perfectionistic, reductive, or otherwise built around maintaining the status quo. We are committed to ongoing engagement with our own emerging growth areas, even when it’s uncomfortable.
Individuality & Affirming Cultural Experience
Ethical Principle: We recognize the inherent humanity in all individuals and honor the unique ways in which each person’s journey unfolds, respecting the aspects of their identities, beliefs, cultures and experiences that shape them.
Ethical Commitment: We commit to making our best effort to create compassionate spaces that honor and adjust to meet the inherent worth and dignity of every individual, offering care attuned to their unique needs and cultural frames while maintaining appropriate boundaries and standards of professional conduct.
Honoring Indigenous Wisdom & Lineages
Ethical Principle: We acknowledge the immense debt of gratitude that western culture owes to the indigenous communities who have developed and stewarded the wisdom and practices of psychedelic rituals. We also acknowledge the ongoing colonization and lack of reparations to and reciprocity with indigenous communities globally, particularly as this relates to the development of psychedelic services in the west.
Ethical Commitment: We invest our energy in maintaining and developing respectful relationships with indigenous communities, seeking out opportunities for learning, collaboration, support, reciprocity, and reparations. We will share about the lineages and traditions that inform our work. We will continue to grapple with how to learn from Indigenous cultures respectfully and strive not to misappropriate wisdom and practices.
Confronting Systemic Injustices
Ethical Principle: Based on the principle of interconnectedness, we believe the individual’s experience is not separable from the systemic and cultural injustices and privileges of their surroundings, cultural lineages, and the global cultural tides. Likewise culture, and systemic injustices and privileges are formed by the individual’s participation, whether one is aware of it or not.
Ethical Commitment: We commit to actively examine and address the ways in which systemic inequities like white supremacy, colonialism, and patriarchy influence our behaviors and practices. We strive to maintain awareness, humility, and receptivity to feedback as we work to uncover and dismantle these patterns within ourselves, our organization, and the broader field.
Transparency & Public Engagement
Ethical Principle: We believe in the power of transparency and open dialogue to foster trust, collaboration, and collective wisdom. We recognize our responsibility to engage with our community and stakeholders in an honest, accessible, and responsive manner.
Ethical Commitment: We commit to maintaining a high standard of transparency in our communications and decision-making processes, proactively sharing information and insights while creating channels for public input and dialogue as we work together to responsibly steward the transformative potential of psychedelic care.
Social Responsibility & Collective Well-being
Ethical Principle: We recognize that our work is intimately interconnected with the well-being of the communities and world around us. We believe in the power of psychedelic healing modalities to catalyze individual healing and that individual wellbeing is intrinsically tied to social and ecological well being.
Ethical Commitment: Gather Well and its guides commit to engaging in our work with a deep sense of social responsibility, considering the broader impact of our actions and actively seeking out feedback for improvement and opportunities to contribute to collective healing, resilience, and positive change.
Humanness & Continuous Improvement
Ethical Principle: We recognize that we humans are in a continual and ongoing process of growth and change. We believe in the importance of remaining open, curious, and responsive to new insights, and extending grace to others who are engaging in processes of growth.
Ethical Commitment: We commit to cultivating a culture of compassion, humility, and continuous growth, actively seeking out opportunities to refine and expand our knowledge, skills, and ethical frameworks through ongoing education, research, self-reflection, and collaboration with diverse stakeholders.