Alumni Monthly Lunch n Learn

September Event: Psychedelics in Recovery: When Psychedelic Practice Meets the Recovery Community

What happens when people in recovery from addiction begin incorporating psychedelics into lives built around sobriety, mutual aid, and 12-Step participation? Psychedelics in Recovery (PIR) has spent the past decade creating peer-led spaces for people navigating precisely this question.

This presentation will introduce participants to PIR, its emergence as an international recovery fellowship, and some of the tensions and opportunities that arise at the intersection of psychedelics and traditional recovery culture. We will explore how people with histories of addiction are making meaning of psychedelic experiences within recovery; the distinction between clinical treatment, individual psychedelic use, and peer-supported recovery; and why established recovery communities have an important role to play in conversations about psychedelic healing.

The discussion will also consider what psychedelic facilitators and clinicians can learn from people with lived experience of addiction and long-term recovery, including questions of relapse, intention, spiritual experience, community accountability, and the limits of framing psychedelics primarily as therapeutic interventions delivered by professionals.

The presentation will conclude with a look at PIR’s next stage of development, including its 2026 Inaugural Convention, October 8–11 in Denver—the fellowship’s first international convention and a gathering of people exploring the evolving relationship between psychedelics, recovery, mutual aid, and community.

About Our Speakers:

Kevin Franciotti (he/him/his) is a Licensed Addiction Counselor in Colorado, and the Board President and co-founder of Psychedelics in Recovery (PIR) (webpage here), an international peer support fellowship supporting individuals in recovery who are navigating relationships with psychedelics. His work is informed both by traditional recovery communities and by emerging paradigms in psychedelic care, with particular attention to the ethical, cultural, and psychological complexities that arise when these worlds intersect. Over the past decade, Kevin’s advocacy work with PIR has contributed to the growth of peer-led meetings, conference programming, public education initiatives, and collaborative efforts with clinicians, researchers, policymakers, and recovery advocates working to expand safe and responsible approaches to psychedelic access and integration.

Lauren Doshier (she/her) is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Natural Medicine Facilitator, and person in recovery based in Denver, Colorado. Her clinical work is rooted in accountability and reciprocity, with a focus on creating collaborative spaces that support the reclamation of choice and authentic expression. Her approach is informed by clinical training and over two decades of lived experience exploring psychedelics - including her own journey with substance addiction and recovery through the use of plant medicine. 

Since 2023, Lauren has been a Fellow with Psychedelics in Recovery (PIR), with service roles including General Service Representative (GSR) Committee Chair, Board of Directors Secretary, and presently a member of the PIR Convention Subcommittee. As she continues to expand in the psychedelic community, she is passionate in helping individuals and organizations build bridges that foster ethical collective care. About Lunch n Learn:

This monthly series for Elemental alumni is meant to help create space for community and connection in our busy worlds. Free education, co-learning, and community are rare resources in our lives and we hope you will join us as you can in this free monthly drop-in space.

If you're interested in being a spotlight speaker for one of our lunch n learns, please fill out our brief speaker RFP here. Thanks for being part of our mycelial web. We look forward to weaving deeper with you this year and beyond!