Legal Psychedelic Retreat Programs for Veterans with PTSD
Heroic Hearts Project hosts retreat programs for veterans living with PTSD throughout the year and has helped over 1,500 veterans and veteran spouses significantly reduce their PTSD symptoms and improve their overall quality of life.
At the center of every program is the Heroic Hearts Process, the research-proven, veteran-built model of care we’ve developed in the time since 2017. More than a retreat, the Heroic Hearts Process provides a structured, community-based path to healing that includes careful screening, intentional preparation, the retreat experience itself, guided integration, and long-term alumni support. Rather than focusing on any single psychedelic substance, this model centers on the personal work, relationships, and conditions that make lasting healing possible.
We now provide legal psychedelic retreats in Oregon, where psilocybin has been legalized, and anticipate offering similar retreats in Colorado beginning in 2026. We also offer international retreats in countries where these medicines are currently legal, including Peru, Mexico, and Jamaica. All of our programs were designed by veterans for veterans, with the unique needs of this community in mind, and are grounded in the evidence-backed Heroic Hearts Process that has demonstrated over 80% effectiveness in significantly reducing PTSD symptoms and improving quality of life
Preparation
Preparation includes three, one-hour, private sessions and three one-hour, group sessions with an HHP coach to begin the inner work required to get the most out of psychedelic retreat program. Your coaches will help you set intentions for the retreat, safely follow the preparation diet, and get answers to any questions you have about how to approach the experience. You’ll also get to know the group you’re traveling with. It’s a time of reflection, mindfulness, and becoming aware of the patterns in your life that you hope to change.
What stood out to me most was their emphasis on the preparation prior and integration after—two vital components that turned a powerful psychedelic experience into something truly transformative. The preparation sessions helped me enter the journey with clarity, somatic tools, and emotional readiness.
All of our retreats are private retreats for HHP veterans, and they were designed with veterans in mind. You’ll have the support of HHP facilitators and coaches along the way. U.S. based retreats are supported by licensed facilitators while international retreats are supported by indigenous/traditional healers who have decades of experience working with their respective psychedelic medicine. You’ll experience between 1 and 5 psychedelic ceremonies (typically using ayahuasca or psilocybin), on-the-ground coaching, and activities to help you connect to the beautiful environment, other program participants, and yourself.
For the first time in years, I stopped surviving and started truly living. The Heroic Hearts Project retreat marked the beginning of my next mission, one grounded in healing, connection, and service. It didn’t erase my scars, it gave them meaning. I learned that healing isn’t about forgetting – it’s about remembering with compassion. If you’re a veteran standing at the edge, unsure of what’s next, know this: You’re not broken. You’re evolving.
Tim
US Army Special Forces (retired)
Integration
It’s said that the work truly begins after you come home from your retreat. Integration is the work of slowly making sense of your experience and understanding how the lessons you’ve learned apply to your everyday life. Although integration never truly stops, the first four weeks are critical. You’ll have three one-hour, private sessions and three one-hour, group sessions with an HHP coach to set the stage for your ongoing integration process.
The integration process helped me stay with new habits and remain connected with my coaches and brothers / sisters from the jungle. It helped me keep walking the path I started before arriving in Peru, while making sense of what I learned about myself in the medicine. This experience didn’t just shift my perspective—it gave me a new way to live my life and I am very thankful.
Curtis W. Osburn
USMC, retired
Long-term aftercare is provided via our alumni program. You’ll have access to ongoing community calls and be the first to hear about in-person integration opportunities near you. HHP also supports program alumni with referrals to long-term care practitioners and programs, as needed.
