Empowerment at the Heart of Psychedelic Care
February 19, 2024 Fanny Charrasse, Nicolas Marquis
Despite being classified as dangerous substances with no therapeutic value under the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, psychedelics have seen a resurgence of interest in psychiatry, psychoanalysis, and psychology. Based on 14 interviews with psychiatrists, psychologists, psychoanalysts, and psychedelic guides, this chapter examines how and under what conditions these professionals came to consider psychedelics therapeutic. It tests the hypothesis that an essential element in the relegitimization of psychedelics lies in the ability of proponents to make their use compatible with contemporary ideals of autonomy, particularly as expressed in mental health care.