The dust is settling and we’re so curious to learn from our Burning Man community – how was your experience on playa this year? Did you or a friend need support? Were you able to find it? Did you provide support to anyone in need? Would you have come to the Zendo if it had been there? We’d love to know. If you’d like to tell us a story about needing support at Burning Man 2026, please share it with us.
While Zendo services were not on playa this year, a handful of our team attended to provide training, network with harm reduction initiatives, and explore community care models that help distribute support across the city, from theme camps to deep playa art car parties. As individuals of Black Rock City, a few of our leadership, along with Mitchell Gomez from Temple Harm Reduction, had the opportunity to go out and see what Robot Heart is doing to promote harm reduction and safety for their playa community. We were so impressed by, and grateful for, the care they put into making sure people at their parties can reach emergency care when they need it.
Robot Heart’s team carries first aid kits, Narcan, and emergency radios, along with clear radio communication guidelines. They’re also interested in building a care initiative where community members can support people through emotional distress and difficult moments, the kind that arise at any large gathering, wherever their parties happen. We are thrilled by their passion for safe and supportive party environments, and excited to be part of what they’re creating.
What feels poignant to us is the observation that folks who need support at these events are unlikely to be able to easily get to the Zendo, asking us to dream into how more support-in-place can be cultivated at Burning Man.
Next year, we hope to return to Burning Man with a full sanctuary. Alongside it, we want to keep building a community care initiative with camps and art cars, so Zendo’s ethos can meet people where they are (out at the party) and weave a web of care across the playa that gets people support in real time. To us, these are Burning Man’s principles of Civic Responsibility and Communal Effort in their truest form: a whole city learning to take care of itself. If you participate in a Burning Man camp interested in helping us build this web, please share your contact information with us.
We are so grateful for all the support Zendo Project received this summer, and for the encouraging partnerships making it possible to imagine coming back stronger than ever. We’ll keep doing everything we can to be there for Black Rock City citizens next year. If you want to support us in that effort, please reach out!
Ways to be part of Zendo Project’s Burning Man initiatives:
- Share your story from Burning man 2026.
- Help build the web. If you’re part of a camp or art car crew interested in community care, send us your contact info.
- Support our return. If you want to help us be there for Black Rock City in 2027, please reply to this email and we’ll connect!
Happy Autumn! Stay safe out there, and take care of each other.
In Psychedelic Service,
Chelsea Rose
Zendo Project
Executive Director
Showing Up for the Phish Community
Our team joined the Phish community in Colorado this month to offer psychedelic peer support and emotional care to 34 concertgoers.
Having somewhere to turn during a difficult experience matters. Thank you to the volunteers who brought their time, attention, and care to this work, and to everyone who helped make space for our support to be available at the event.
We’re grateful to be part of a music community that looks out for one another.
After the FDA hearing, keep community care in the conversation
On September 14, the FDA held a public hearing on the potential therapeutic use of psychedelics in supervised, supportive settings.
For us, this conversation also raises a question about the people who need support outside those settings. Psychedelic experiences happen at festivals, among friends, and at home. The person someone turns to may be a volunteer, a partner, or a friend.
That is why community education belongs alongside conversations about clinical access. More people need practical skills for recognizing distress, responding without judgment, respecting autonomy, and knowing when additional help is needed.
The FDA is accepting written comments through October 5 at 11:59pm ET. Read the hearing’s questions and share your perspective on the future of psychedelic care.
Read the hearing topics for discussion · Submit a public comment
Zendo SIT returns October 6 and 13!
When someone is frightened or overwhelmed, knowing how to respond can help you stay grounded and offer meaningful support.
Zendo SIT brings our Four Principles of Psychedelic Care into practice, with skills for listening, respecting boundaries, and supporting someone through a challenging experience. It’s for clinicians, caregivers, community members, and the friends people turn to when things get hard.
Join us live online on Tuesdays, October 6 and 13, from 2–6pm PT / 5–9pm ET. The course includes eight hours of live training, with eight CE credits available for eligible professionals.
Meet your October trainers
Sara Gael
M.A, LPC
Genesee Herzberg
PsyD
Allison Rees
M.A., LMFT
Sara Gael, M.A., LPC is a psychedelic therapist, facilitator, and founder of Psychedelic Stewardship. During her decade at MAPS, she served as Director of Harm Reduction and helped lead Zendo Project’s international expansion.
Genesee Herzberg, PsyD is a clinical psychologist and co-founder of Sage Integrative Health. She brings experience training and supervising practitioners in ketamine-assisted therapy and MDMA-assisted therapy, alongside her work supporting psychedelic integration.
Allykat (Allison Rees), M.A., LMFT has been part of Zendo Project since 2015. Her work with Zendo’s Pulse team focuses on putting models of support into practice and building networks of care.
Introducing Zendo’s Subsidized Access Program for NY Metro Area
If you live in the New York metropolitan area and cost has kept you from taking SIT, we’re thrilled to share that a generous donor has stepped up to reduce the barrier.
Spots are limited and awarded on a rolling basis. Apply ASAP, or share this opportunity with someone who could benefit.
Don’t live in NY? Reduced costs seats are available for people outside of NY. Apply here.
Join Executive Director Chelsea Rose at the free Harm Reduction Summit
Zendo Project Executive Director Chelsea Rose is a featured speaker at the Harm Reduction Summit, October 5–9, a free online gathering hosted by Andrew Tatarsky, PhD, and the Academy of Therapy Wisdom.
Alongside speakers including Gabor Maté and Maia Szalavitz, Chelsea joins a broader conversation about substance use, trauma, and compassionate care. She’ll be featured in Day 2’s program exploring harm reduction psychotherapy.
Psychedelics in Recovery celebrates ten years
Psychedelics in Recovery is marking its tenth anniversary with its first convention, October 8–11 at The Alliance Center in Denver, with portions of the gathering available online.
The convention will bring the recovery community together for peer-led workshops, speaker meetings, and discussions about integration and spiritual principles. It’s an opportunity to connect with others exploring the intersection of psychedelics and recovery, and to learn from lived experience.
Zendo Project’s Medical Director, Case Newsom, will be there to share his experience in psychedelic harm reduction and peer support. Come say hello!
Thank you for continuing to learn, practice, and care for your communities.
