Welcome to the Psychedelic Blog. I write about the Impact of Psychedelics on Grieving, Relationships, Culture & Death.
This Week: Exploring how Psychedelics deepen intimacy, expose cracks & reveal the truth about connection.
“Psychedelics don’t teach you about others — they teach you how to meet others without the mask.” — Ram Dass
Intro
There’s a popular belief that Psychedelic journeys can break people up. It’s likely exaggerated, but not completely unfounded. I’ve seen it happen. These medicines are powerful mirrors, and what they reveal can’t always be unseen.
When two people journey together, everything between them — trust, fear, control, desire, projection, safety — comes into view. The experience becomes a shared mirror, exposing what’s been hiding beneath the surface.
Below are 5 medicines I’ve seen have the most profound impact on relationships — not in theory, but in practice. Each one can open doors, close chapters, or burn illusions to the ground. None are inherently good or bad. They simply reveal what’s there.
I. Psilocybin
Psilocybin opens you up. It melts the walls you didn’t know were there. It becomes easy to speak honestly, to laugh, to feel light with your partner. Even in small doses, it’s an incredible way to reconnect — part aphrodisiac, part emotional reset.
But the same openness that makes Psilocybin beautiful can also make it brutal. If there are unspoken tensions, resentments, or misalignment, the medicine will surface them fast. You don’t get to choose what comes up. I’ve seen couples spiral after a Psilocybin journey…the medicine magnifies whatever is already there.
In my own experience, microdosing is a lovely way to stay connected — to replace alcohol with something that actually deepens intimacy. With a former long-term partner, we’d do a macrodose every 5 or 6 months. While each of us had our own unique journeys within the experience, those sessions realigned us when we were drifting apart.
Ultimately, the relationship didn’t last. Psilocybin isn’t magic; it won’t make a relationship work without a solid foundation. But it did bring us joy, presence & connection when we needed it most.
II. MDMA
Nothing makes love feel more effortless than MDMA. It dissolves walls, quiets judgment & lets vulnerability take center stage. Conversations that usually feel heavy become natural; touch, eye contact & reassurance flow instinctively. You remember what it’s like to see your partner instead of analyzing them.
But the same thing that makes MDMA powerful also makes it dangerous. The love feels so pure, so real, that it’s easy to mistake that serotonin-fueled high for a permanent fix. MDMA shows you what’s possible, not necessarily what’s likely.
I’ve worked with MDMA alongside several partners. Each experience was incredible, bringing us to a level of openness & understanding that might’ve taken years to reach. Maybe even impossible without it. But I’ve also seen people confuse the chemical high for compatibility. Relationships that begin in that state rarely last.
Pro tip: don’t roll with a new partner right away. Let trust build first. Once it has, though, I highly recommend it — especially for high-IQ couples who live in their heads. MDMA drops you into heart space. And that novelty is so fucking fun.
III. LSD
LSD reveals patterns. It connects dots between past & present, showing you the stories you’ve been replaying in your relationship…sometimes for years. It’s incredible for exposing how your own fears, ego, or habits shape connection. When both partners can stay curious, LSD can turn conflict into insight.
But curiosity is fragile. LSD doesn’t just show you what’s happening — it makes you feel it, with cinematic intensity. Old jealousy, childhood wounds, superiority games…they all rise up. One of the most corrosive dynamics I’ve seen is spiritual hierarchy: one person believing they “understand” the medicine better.
In my experience, a small dose of LSD can absolutely heighten connection — it can make you fall in love with your partner all over again. But it’s also far less predictable than Psilocybin or MDMA. Sometimes it amplifies intimacy; other times, it sends you speeding through the cosmos on a Tron-style motorbike inside a supercomputer where love feels like the least relevant thing in the universe.
That’s the thing about LSD — it shows you truth, but not always the one you were looking for.
IV. Ayahuasca
Ayahuasca brings truth. It strips away everything performative. The roles we play evaporate. It shows us what’s real. It can expose alignment, remind you of what matters, and return reverence to the relationship. When couples surrender together, it can feel like returning to something sacred.
But Ayahuasca doesn’t protect illusions. It will also show you endings. Some couples realize they’ve been holding onto something that’s already over. Others are confronted with the ultimate truth — that even the healthiest relationships end, through death or distance. That’s not cynicism; it’s reality. And Ayahuasca doesn’t let you look away.
In my experience, with Tier 1 Psychedelics — the medicine fundamentally rewires how you see yourself & everything around you. These experiences are so profound, so life-altering, that they inevitably transform your relationships. Ayahuasca cracks you open. It shows you who you’ve been, why you’ve been that way, and what still needs to be released. From childhood to what you had for breakfast, every decision is delivered with startling clarity.
Your relationship won’t be spared from this clarity — which is a good thing, even if it means an ending is inevitable.
V. 5-MeO-DMT
5-MeO-DMT dissolves every barrier — not just between you & your partner, but between you & existence itself. When both people surrender completely, it can be the most profound shared experience imaginable. It’s beyond words, beyond story, beyond identity. Some couples come back with a deeper bond not because they saw each other, but because they ceased to exist together — dissolving into something infinitely larger than love itself.
But it’s not for everyone, or every relationship. 5-MeO can feel like dying. If one partner resists while the other lets go, that difference can create a rift that’s hard to bridge. It’s not about connection in the usual sense; it’s about annihilation. And that can be terrifying.
I’ve attended two Bufo ceremonies with a former partner, and while they were deeply transformative on a personal level, they also changed the relationship — not entirely for the better. These are Tier 1 Psychedelics, and with that level of potency comes risk. My perspective is simple:
we shouldn’t work with Tier 1 Psychedelics when life is going good. If you just landed the house, the promotion, the partner, the kid…enjoy that shit. Life itself can be Psychedelic. There’s no need to destabilize reality when reality is good.
The key is discernment. My partner at the time had everything — health, money, family, stability — but after Bufo, her reality cracked open in ways that weren’t always admirable. These medicines don’t just expand; they unravel. So tread carefully. This isn’t like eating Mushrooms or taking MDMA. The shifts can be real, and they can be lasting.
Travel wisely.
Closing Thoughts
Every Psychedelic has its own personality, its own terrain, its own tests.
But they all share one truth: they don’t fix relationships — they reveal them.
When used intentionally, these medicines can strip away the noise & remind us what connection really is. But they also demand honesty. You can’t hide behind your best self when your entire nervous system is online. You meet your partner without filters.
And sometimes, that’s where love actually begins.
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Some of my favorite experiences in a relationship were when my previous partner and I would lie down side by side on DMT. I’ve don’t love the words ‘feeling seen’ because I think it’s overused, but when we would talk to each other during and after I’ve never felt closer to someone. And the positive impact endured.
I vote yes for trying these.
I like the 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' warning on the tier one stuff. I used to say I don't use cannabis because it makes me depressed, or I only use cannabis if I'm depressed, I'm not sure what comes first. Now I'd probably just bore them with concerns over constricted blood flow to the brain. As for couples, although you kind of make it sound like it's inevitable relationships will end, I think you can't afford to have one person go off and make all this spiritual progress and the other have no bloody idea what they're on about. It's a relation ship not a relation fleet, it can't be travelling in different directions.