This article uses Matthew Ratcliffe's theory of existential feelings to explain how psychedelic therapy can relieve mental suffering. It argues that mental disorders share common existential feelings, and that psychedelic experiences can shift these feelings, particularly through oceanic feelings. The authors describe how this shift allows for existential reorientation, which is key to therapeutic change. They characterize the phenomenological process during psychedelic therapy and outline conditions needed for a successful therapeutic experience, such as set and setting. The account integrates phenomenology with clinical observations to show why certain psychedelic experiences lead to lasting relief.
Pain remains a major societal problem without fully effective treatment. This paper develops an enactive account of pain and its transition to chronicity. Acute and chronic pain are distinguished by changes in the field of affordances—the possibilities for action perceived by someone in pain. The dynamic process of chronification involves behavioral learning, neural reorganization, and socio-cultural practices that generate and maintain pain. An enactive approach avoids reductionist and fragmented accounts, offering a comprehensive understanding that respects patients' lived experience. It serves as a useful heuristic for pain therapy by addressing the heterogeneous yet dynamically intertwined factors contributing to pain and its chronification.