01What is your role?
Clarify training, qualifications and limits.
02How will you respect my choices?
Discuss touch, privacy and the right to say no.
03What is the plan if I need help?
Ask about emergencies, backup and follow-up.
Evidence reviewed: September 27, 2026.
It is easy to focus on whether someone seems kind or experienced. Those things matter, but they do not tell you what the person will do if you become frightened, need medical help or want to say no.
Have the practical conversation before committing. You are allowed to ask direct questions, take time with the answers and decide the arrangement is not right for you.
Start with their role
A friend sitting with you, a facilitator and a regulated health professional may have very different training and responsibilities. A title alone does not tell you what someone can assess or treat.
- What training and relevant experience do you have?
- What are you qualified to help with, and what is outside your role?
- If you claim a professional licence, where can I verify it?
- Who would you refer me to for medical or medication questions?
Research safety guidance includes screening, preparation, monitoring and follow-up. A familiar room and a caring person are not equivalent to that clinical structure. Johnson and colleagues’ safety guidelines.
Ask how they decide when not to proceed
A good conversation should include reasons to postpone. Ask how they respond to changes in your sleep, mood, health or circumstances. Ask what happens if you are unsure on the day.
Anyone who tells you to stop a prescribed medicine should be able to explain their role and involve your prescribing clinician. A blanket instruction to taper an SSRI is not an adequate medication review. Bring our medication questions to the person who manages your treatment.
Make boundaries explicit
Touch
Decide what kinds of contact, if any, you are comfortable with. Ask the sitter how they will get your permission before touching you. You can change your mind.
Privacy
Who will be present? Will anything be recorded? Who can see notes, messages or personal information?
Choice
How can you ask for quiet, a change of music or more space? What will happen if you become uncomfortable with the person supporting you?
Interpretation
Will they listen without telling you what a memory means, what you must believe or what major life decision you should make?
The Zendo Project’s peer-support manual emphasizes asking permission before touch and listening without imposing an interpretation. It is a practical support resource, not a medical screening tool. Zendo manual.
Sexual contact has no place in a sitter or facilitator’s role. Nor should you be pressured to accept touch, secrecy or humiliation as part of healing. If discussing boundaries is treated as distrust or resistance, take that seriously.
Ask about difficult moments and emergencies
- Will you remain sober and available throughout?
- What would you do if I became panicked or confused?
- What would make you call for medical help, and how would you do it?
- Who is the backup if you need to leave or cannot manage?
- How will I get home without driving, and who can be with me afterward?
“Nothing has ever gone wrong” is not an emergency plan. You want concrete answers that fit the setting. Someone should be able to acknowledge the limits of what they can manage.
Clarify cost and follow-up
If you are paying, ask what the fee includes, what happens if you postpone, and how concerns or complaints are handled. Ask what follow-up is actually available. “Integration support” might mean a scheduled appointment, a group session or something much less specific.
Oregon’s regulated psilocybin service has published client-rights and consent materials. They can be useful examples of questions to ask. They apply to that service system; they do not establish someone’s qualifications or legal status elsewhere. Oregon Health Authority client information.
Use our Preparation and Sitter Guidebooks to make a shared plan. You do not need someone with a perfect answer to everything. You need someone who respects your choices, is honest about their limits and will get help when it is needed.