The setting in which the treatment session is to be conducted must be comfortable
and quiet. Frequently the subject may feel like lying down. It is best to provide enough
chesterfields, cots or beds so that each person who has had the drug has a place to stretch
out comfortable.


The place should be quiet, not only as far as the general noise level is concerned
but particularly in terms of interruptions of intrusions of the outside world upon the
experience. Worries about getting home for supper or getting certain work done are
disruptive and all such interference should be reduced as much as possible. People
coming into the room can cause the subject to become upset, particularly from the second
to the eighth hour after he has taken the drug. If a group is to be used, all members
should be present when the experience begins. Other intrusions should be present when
the experience begins. Other intrusions should be kept to a minimum. This is more
difficult than it at first appears because LSD therapy usually catches the imagination and
provokes the curiosity of nearly all the staff members of the unit involved. Many people
will find excellent reasons to be in and out of the treatment room unless the policy of no
visitors is established.


The telephone too can be exceptionally disturbing. It is often the greatest
nuisance in a session. If the telephone is in the treatment room, the noise of its ringing is
a bother but no matter where it is, it is troublesome for the person called, whether or not
he has taken the drug, to completely alter his frame of reference such that he can conduct
a normal telephone conversation. As much as possible, telephone calls should be held
up.

At times, particularly in individual sessions, the subject may become extremely
restless or violent. At the height of this disturbed state he is apt to knock or throw things
about. For this reason it is wise to use fairly durable furnishings.


Washroom facilities should be relatively near by. It is often a severe strain on the
subject to have to walk through a ward or indeed to walk any distance under the effect of
the drug. Also, in subjects who become paranoid, the trip to the washroom offers
opportunity for them to attempt to get away from the session. ~LSD Handbook