Zendo Project
Founded: 2012
Founder: MAPS — Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies
Headquarters: San Jose, California
Website: https://zendoproject.org
Category: Harm Reduction
About the Channel
The Zendo Project is MAPS's psychedelic harm reduction and support training arm, operating at festivals, conferences, and events since 2012. Their YouTube channel publishes training material for peer supporters and the general public: how to recognize and respond to a difficult psychedelic experience, the principles of psychedelic-specific psychological first aid, and how to support someone through a challenging journey without escalating to emergency medical response unnecessarily. The channel's four principles of psychedelic support — Safe Space, Sitting Not Guiding, Difficult is not the same as Bad, and Trust the Process — are presented with clinical grounding and case examples.
Editorial Context
Zendo Project fills a practical gap that neither clinical research content nor cultural psychedelic content addresses: what do you do when someone near you is having a difficult psychedelic experience right now? The channel is harm reduction infrastructure. Anyone who facilitates events where psychedelics may be present, or who is part of a community where members use psychedelics, should know this content.
Key Topics
- psychedelic psychological first aid
- four principles of psychedelic support
- festival harm reduction training
- sitting versus guiding
- when to escalate to medical support