Seminars offering mushroom therapy to business leaders are booming. Two participants and an organizer talk about their experiences.
“There were dark moments when I faced feelings of loneliness,” says Claudia*. “But there were also great moments where I felt like I was being held.”
Claudia still remembers the trip well. She and the others were blindfolded and lying on mats on the floor. Relaxing music was playing in the background. “My first hour with her was really tough,” she says, “I asked myself, ‘What have I gotten myself into?’ Then I talked to my supervisor and decided to take the medication. We have increased the amount.”
Claudia is 54 years old and has her own agency in Hamburg where she provides coaching to business leaders. She assists clients with topics such as communication, leadership roles, and personal growth. But as of September 2023, she was working on herself. She, along with other business owners, founders and self-employed people, attended a retreat hosted by the Evolute Institute “aimed at personal transformation.” They all ingested mushrooms containing psilocybin, also known as magic mushrooms.
Magic mushrooms are popular with business leaders
In recent years, psychedelic drugs such as mushrooms have permeated the business world under the keyword “psychedelic leadership.” Therapists have been experimenting with substances like MDMA, ketamine, and psilocybin for years in hopes of finding treatments for depression and other mental illnesses. For business leaders, these substances are attractive for other reasons as well. They want to advance professionally, release mental blocks, or develop more creativity at work.
Ivan* claims that he had no interest in drugs. But two years ago, he says, he was in crisis. Ivan is the founder of several companies in the fintech and blockchain space. But after the pandemic, business took a turn for the worse. He did not enjoy his job and his daily life was full of uncertainty and anxiety. He kept hearing about psilocybin from people around him. “I have a lot of friends who are entrepreneurs, and now I don't think there's anyone who hasn't tried this at least once.” This is how he learned about his Evolute, and eventually he I decided to participate in the year-end seminar.
In a survey of 3,150 managers in the US and UK conducted by Stockholm's Karolinska Institute, 18% said they had tried psychedelics in the past, most when they were in a management role. Google founder Sergey Brin is also said to have taken magic mushrooms, and Steve Jobs was also very attached to his own LSD experiences. Christian Angermayer, a German billionaire investor, has the chemical formula for psilocybin tattooed on his arm.
Psilocybin changes perception and thinking
This substance is found in more than 300 species of fungi. When ingested, it is converted in the body to psilocin, which is chemically similar to the “happiness hormone” serotonin. Psilocin binds to serotonin receptors in the brain. This leads to a series of processes that affect brain chemistry.
Psilocybin changes thinking and perception. Sometimes minutes feel like hours, and sometimes hours feel like minutes. Its effects vary from person to person, and most people find it difficult to explain in words.
Many subjects said they felt like they were part of something bigger. Psilocybin also often evokes memories that would otherwise be inaccessible. Ivan says he rode a merry-go-round, where each seat represented a different stage of his life. Claudia remembers the all-encompassing feeling of love and connection.
Consumption is legal in the Netherlands
The substance is banned in most countries, including Switzerland and Germany. However, the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) may grant exceptions for medical use. Hundreds of patients in Switzerland are being treated with psilocybin, LSD or MDMA.
However, psilocybin mushrooms are allowed to be consumed in the Netherlands. Companies offering psychedelic coaching have been popping up like mushrooms in recent years. Evolute is one of them.
The startup was founded in 2022 by entrepreneurs Dmitry Acherrod and Christopher Kabakis. Both describe this as a passion project. They usually work in other fields. Mr. Kabakis runs a consulting and coaching company, and Mr. Acherrod has a PhD in health economics and most recently worked at a data science startup.
Psychedelic travel as a passion project
Acherrod and Kabakis see their work as a way to improve the business world and, by extension, society as a whole. They emphasize that there is not a lot of money in the psychedelic-supported coaching format and they only earn enough to cover their expenses.
The company's EvoLEAD program is specifically aimed at entrepreneurs, leaders, and other “trailblazers,” and helps participants “unleash their creativity” and “connect with their innermost purpose,” according to its website. is designed to support. The participant decides for herself how much to pay, but the minimum amount is her 3,500 euros.
Preparation and follow-up are especially important
There's a lot more to this program than just the psilocybin trip itself. Participants work on themselves over the course of 2-3 months. During the preparation phase, which lasts several weeks, participants engage in individual and group discussions to define the issues that are important to them and the issues that may be holding them back. They will also be informed about the challenges and risks of psychedelic travel and learn how to deal with possible negative experiences.
Although preliminary discussions will be held online, the seminar itself will be held over four days in the Netherlands. “The day usually starts at 7:30 p.m. and ends at 9 p.m.,” says Dmitri Acherrod. The program includes meditation, yoga, individual and group talks, breathing exercises, and time in nature to help participants learn more about their inner selves and taste the psychedelic experiences that are yet to come. Designed. The “truffle trip,” as Evolute calls the psilocybin trip, is intended to be the climax of the conference. However, it does not mark the end of the road to a new you. In her subsequent two-month integration phase, participants will organize their experiences in further individual and group discussions and find ways to integrate the knowledge gained into their daily lives.
Claudia says the retreat “changed something for her on a very deep level.” She has become more determined in her attitude and actions. Many of my mental blocks were released. ” She says that in her daily life she has little time to address important issues.
Managers don't have enough time
This may also explain the huge success of these psilocybin trips among executives. MacLean, a health expert at Harvard University Hospital, told Bloomberg News that many managers work long hours and don't have enough time to switch off and address problems. For example, people who don't have time to exercise regularly or see friends and family often want quick, perhaps easy solutions to deal with their problems, he said. .
According to this expert, managers are usually expected to resolve problems independently and without fuss. As a result, he says, people are more willing to try new substances rather than giving up or admitting weakness. But he also warned that this was not a long-term solution as people risked developing addiction.
Ivan said psilocybin has helped him find more of himself and he is ready to stand up for himself again. “I began to compare myself less with others and at the same time understand them better. For example, I no longer get irritated with taxi drivers.” After the withdrawal, he took on even more responsibilities. I decided to take the risk again. For now, he doesn't think he plans to travel again in the near future.
*Name has been changed
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