9 questions and Answers about 5-Meo-DMT

Yesterday (4/16/26) I had a Zoom call with a researcher in England who provided me with a list of questions about 5-MeO-DMT. As university researchers need approval from their universities for "public appearances," we're not able to make the direct video available here. However, I've extracted the audio of my responses, which you can listen to in this video. Here are the questions, which are addressed in order in this video:

1. 5-MeO-DMT is often described as radically ‘contentless’ compared to other psychedelics, how do you understand the phenomenology of the state it induces?

2. Do you view the experience primarily as a neurobiological event, a psychological process, or something more ontological, and how does that framing shape the way you facilitate?

3. What are the key psychological and medical contraindications for 5-MeO-DMT, and how do you determine who should not work with this substance?

4. Given the intensity and rapid onset, what are the most serious risks during the experience itself, and what protocols do you have in place to manage them in real time?

5. In your experience, is ‘ego dissolution’ with 5-MeO best understood as a temporary loss of self-model, or does it represent something more fundamental in terms of consciousness?

6. When an experience is described as beyond language or meaning, what does effective integration actually look like in the days and weeks that follow?

7. There’s a profound asymmetry of vulnerability in these sessions, how do you safeguard against suggestion, dependency, or misuse of authority in your practice?

8. The harvesting of 5-MeO from the Sonoran Desert toad raises serious ecological concerns, how do you approach the ethical and environmental implications of sourcing, and what responsibility do practitioners have here?

9. What do you think is most misunderstood about 5-MeO-DMT, and what should people approach with far more caution?

Watch/listen to my responses on YouTube HERE