Understanding the Health Intake Process

The health intake is the most important step between your initial interest and sitting in a session room. It's where we learn about your physical and mental health history, screen for contraindications, and determine how to keep you safe. It's thorough by design — because cutting corners on safety isn't an option when the stakes are this personal.

What the intake covers

The health intake form asks about:

• Current medications: Including prescriptions, supplements, and over-the-counter drugs. Many common medications interact with psilocybin, and some combinations are dangerous
• Mental health history: Current and past diagnoses, hospitalizations, suicidal ideation, psychotic episodes, eating disorders, and trauma history
• Physical health: Cardiovascular conditions, neurological disorders, liver and kidney function, seizure history, and pregnancy status
• Substance use: Current and recent use of alcohol, cannabis, and other substances
• Previous psychedelic experience: Helpful for calibrating the session but not required
• Goals and intentions: What you're hoping to address or explore through this work

How we process your intake

Meadow uses a tiered review system that combines AI-assisted screening with physician oversight:

Step 1: AI risk assessment

When you submit your health intake, our AI system performs an initial screening. It's looking for:

• Hard contraindications: Conditions that make psilocybin therapy unsafe regardless of other factors — lithium use within the past 30 days, active psychosis, active suicidal ideation with intent
• Medication interactions: SSRIs, MAOIs, lithium, tramadol, and other medications that interact with psilocybin in clinically significant ways
• Risk factors: Conditions that don't automatically disqualify you but require careful consideration — family history of psychosis, bipolar disorder, certain cardiac conditions

The AI assigns each intake a risk tier:

Step 2: Physician review (yellow tier)

Intakes flagged as yellow are reviewed personally by Dr. Tracy Townsend. She evaluates the specific clinical picture — not just the individual risk factors, but how they interact with each other and with the client's overall health profile.

In many cases, yellow-tier clients are approved with specific precautions or recommendations. Sometimes, a medication taper or a consultation with the client's prescribing physician is recommended first.

Step 3: Communication

Once your intake is reviewed, you'll hear from our team with one of three outcomes:

• Approved: You're cleared to move forward with preparation sessions and scheduling
• Approved with recommendations: You're cleared, but with specific guidance (e.g., discuss medication timing with your prescriber)
• Not recommended: Based on your current health profile, psilocybin therapy isn't safe right now. We'll explain why and, when possible, suggest next steps

Why we ask so many questions

Some people find the intake process surprisingly detailed. That's intentional. Here's why:

• Psilocybin is physiologically active: It raises heart rate, blood pressure, and cortisol levels. For most people, this is benign. For some, it's medically significant
• Drug interactions are real: Combining psilocybin with certain medications can cause serotonin syndrome (dangerous) or simply negate the psilocybin's effects (frustrating)
• Psychological safety matters: Someone with undiagnosed bipolar disorder or a family history of schizophrenia faces different risks than someone with treatment-resistant depression. The intake helps us understand who's sitting in front of us
• It builds trust: When you know that your safety has been carefully considered, you can relax into the experience more fully

Your privacy

Oregon's psilocybin program is governed by its own privacy regulations under ORS 475A.450, separate from the federal HIPAA framework. Your health intake information is stored securely and used only for the purpose of evaluating your eligibility and safety for psilocybin services.

We take your privacy seriously. Your information is never sold, shared with third parties for marketing purposes, or used beyond the scope of your care at Meadow.

Watch: Dr. Tracy Explains