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Welcome to Tricycle Day. We're the psychedelics newsletter with a very colorful personality. Mostly #D15B25 if you speak hex code. 🧡

All this talk of ego death, rebirth, and transformation might sound awesome.

You know, if you’re into that sort of thing.

But it can also make psychedelics sound terrifying. Especially if you actually like who you are (imagine that). Maybe you just want to feel a little better or more connected, not overhaul your entire identity.

So for today’s newsletter, we asked our network of licensed psilocybin facilitators: Can psychedelics change your personality? 

Here come some personal answers to a personal question.

This experience is for professionals who've hit a wall they can't think their way past or are craving a career pivot. It's a private psilocybin program in Portland with career-specific preparation, a full-day guided session, and integration that includes a 30-day follow-up coaching call to keep the clarity and momentum going.

Some say psychedelics don't hand you a new personality so much as show you who you already are. Terry Turner describes the psilocybin experience like turning up the volume on your traits: “Psychedelics are non-specific amplifiers of different aspects, conscious or unconscious, of our personalities.” 

From the outside, sure, others might notice a change. But Char McKendrick says that’s usually a misread: “It may look like someone has become a different person, but often they're reconnecting with a more authentic, embodied version of themselves beneath old conditioning, roles, or survival strategies.”

Kate Schroeder likens the shift to taking off armor: “What often changes isn't your core self; it's the protective strategies you've developed to survive.” And Monica Ramunda names what the armor was guarding: “It is more about reclaiming parts of the self that were suppressed, protected, or felt unsafe to express.”

While most facilitators agree your core self won’t change, some argue certain measurable traits can. Clayton Ickes points to the science: “We used to think the personality was stable over the course of a person's life but we're now learning that psychedelics can indeed change traits like openness and neuroticism.”

Ann MacKenzie explains how it works: “[Psychedelics] can help create conditions that make lasting personality change more possible by increasing psychological flexibility, disrupting habitual patterns, increasing openness, reducing neuroticism, and increasing compassion and empathy.”

Set and setting, of course, make a difference here. Angela Bean says a psilocybin experience “can contribute to lasting changes in certain personality traits and patterns of thinking, particularly when used in a supportive therapeutic setting.”

Whichever way you slice it, there’s a catch. Psychedelics don’t change your personality (for better or worse) by themselves. Terry says the credit ultimately goes to “the laborious inner work of the journeyer after the experience.”

When it does happen, it’s usually slow and steady. Masha Steiner-Renoir describes the pace: “The change is usually subtle and unfolds over time, not all at once.“ Benjamin Dancer sees the process in pieces: “Our personalities are made up of parts. As our parts heal, we become more and more ourselves.”

Growth is possible, but it’s definitely not guaranteed. Ann is blunt about the limit: “Psychedelics do not automatically make someone kinder, wiser, or emotionally healthier.” They might provide an insight and window of opportunity, but you still have to choose to change.

Last year, New Mexico became the first state to pass a psilocybin access program through its legislature. Ground Game’s latest podcast breaks down how that happened and what it means for other states.

Huh. Personality’s more complicated than we thought.

And that’s coming from a team that can recite its Big Five scores, Myers Briggs type, astrological sign, and Hogwarts house from memory.

If you love yourself (and why wouldn’t you?), it’s probably a relief to hear psychedelics won’t one-shot you into a completely different person overnight.

Phew.

But what about decisions downstream of personality?

One recent study tracked major life changes after a psychedelic experience and found 83% of users shifted a habit, goal, or value afterward, and rated the change positively.

Pretty attractive teaser for what a psychedelic-assisted personality can do, if you ask us.

Reply to this email to shoot your shot. If it’s a juicy one, we may select it for a future issue.

That’s all for today, Cyclists! Whenever you’re ready, here’s how we can help.

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DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. The use, possession, and distribution of psychedelic drugs are illegal in most countries and may result in criminal prosecution.