Brian Murphy, LCSW

Brian Murphy is a licensed clinical social worker and psychedelic integration therapist based in Brooklyn, New York, who now works entirely online. He helps people prepare for psychedelic experiences and make sense of them afterwards.

Approach

Murphy, who also holds an M.Ed, has practised therapy since 1996 and has worked with people who take psychedelics since 2003, when a client came to him after taking ibogaine. He has also long counselled at a mobile needle exchange in Harlem and the Bronx. He calls his method Holistic Psychotherapy: part conversation, part guided inner work in a calm state, drawing on Internal Family Systems, Clean Language and Emotional Freedom Technique, or tapping. For addictions and compulsions he adds harm reduction and practical plans towards moderation or abstinence.

Who it is for

His work is meant for people still weighing whether to take a psychedelic, people preparing for one and people integrating an experience, including a frightening one. He also sees people who used ibogaine, ayahuasca or psilocybin to deal with drinking or drug use, and offers longer-term psychotherapy beyond the medicine.

Practical details

Sessions run by phone, FaceTime or Zoom. A 30-minute introductory consultation costs $30, and individual sessions are $200. The Disintegration Group, which he runs with Dimitri Mugianis, meets on Zoom every Tuesday at 7pm Eastern time. It is drop-in, costs $30 a meeting and is open to anyone who has taken, or plans to take, any psychedelic. For people with limited means he offers brief consultations to plan their own aftercare.

Care and safety

What clients tell him is treated as confidential psychotherapy, and his LCSW licence number is 075502. His site states that he does not endorse or encourage illegal behaviour, and that people using his services carry the responsibility for any consequences of taking psychedelics.