Psychedelic retreats explode into hot travel trend as experts say demand is growing

Hadas Alterman, a psychedelic medicine attorney in Washington, D.C., told Fox News Digital she's seen a rise in the popularity of these retreats.

"This paradigm could signal that the hard line between 'clinical intervention' and all other uses - spiritual, personal growth, recreational - is giving way to a spectrum, where psychedelics serve people who aren't in crisis but aren't merely thrill-seeking either," she said.

The retreats are usually led by facilitators, shamans or therapists. They take place in destinations in which certain substances are legal or culturally accepted.

"Legality varies wildly across the globe: Psilocybin truffles are sold in the Netherlands, ayahuasca is protected cultural heritage in Peru, and Jamaica has no restrictions on psilocybin," said Alterman.

"I think that's how we move this conversation forward … More people [need] to be out there [and] comfortable talking about their own journeys. Their spiritual journey, their medicine journey, their ceremonies. So we can bring this to people who need it," he also said.

"Psychedelics have unique properties that complicate the informed consent process. They often produce intense subjective experiences that are difficult to explain, predict or comprehend, especially for psychedelic-naive individuals," the authors wrote in the 2024 report.

The report added that patients may not truly understand what they're agreeing to when using psychedelics, and that there are seven risks involved. 

The authors added, "These effects can include profound perceptual changes or hallucinations, mood disturbances, paranoia and an altered sense of self and reality."

Tom Feegel, founder and CEO of Beond - an ibogaine treatment clinic network focused on addiction, PTSD, depression and anxiety, primarily in Mexico - told Fox News Digital that retreats have grown in popularity as people search for treatments that work for them.

San Francisco Bay area-based Feegel said demand is increasing for something that can "create meaningful, durable change, ranging from people who haven't found satisfactory relief in conventional care to high-performing individuals and professionals focused on optimization."

Fox News Digital's Ryan Morik contributed reporting.