Integration and post-session debriefing

The manuals converge on the idea that integration and post-session debriefing happen after the acute psychedelic effects have passed, and that this period is used to help participants describe, process, and make sense of the experience. Across the extracts, debriefing is linked to clinical containment, follow-up, and support for recovery or treatment goals, rather than being treated as a separate or optional add-on. They also agree that debriefing commonly includes open-ended or structured discussion of the session, with attention to meaning, mood, functioning, and any clinically relevant themes. Several sources connect this work to broader change processes, including alcohol-related behaviour change, treatment goals, values, spirituality, and support for challenging experiences. Follow-up on adverse reactions, residual effects, or unresolved concerns appears repeatedly as part of the same post-session phase. The sources differ in emphasis. Some manuals frame debriefing mainly as integration and behaviour change work, especially in the alcohol trials, while others present it more as post-session psychiatric evaluation, safety checking, and discharge readiness, especially in the ayahuasca studies. The depression trials vary in how much structure they specify, from a detailed interview or integration session model to a more general supportive discussion and ongoing post-dose contact.