'Everybody's creating it along the way': ethical tensions among globalized ayahuasca shamanisms and therapeutic integration practices.
Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 2023 DOI: 10.1080/03080188.2022.2075201 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Ethnography Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Curanderos, mental health practitioners, and ayahuasca retreat centers in San Martín and Loreto, Peru |
| Topics | Ayahuasca Shamanism |
| Keywords | Psychedelic-therapy Indigenous-medicine Cross-cultural-healing Medical-anthropology Traditional-shamanism Amazonian shamanism Medical anthropology Peru Psychedelics Vegetalismo |
| Citations | 29 |
| Key findings | Practitioners and ayahuasca centers face ethical tensions as they navigate globalized mental health concepts while attempting to remain authentic to local ontologies of healing, care, and safety. |
Abstract
Ayahuasca has a variety of traditional uses, yet there is a growing global interest in its potential therapeutic benefits for mental health conditions. Novel approaches to psychotherapy are emerging to address the needs of ayahuasca users to prepare as well as to guide them in 'integrating' their powerful psychedelic experiences, yet there is little discussion on the ethical frameworks that may structure these therapeutic processes or the social and cultural assumptions that influence the assignment of ayahuasca as a medicine. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in San Martín and Loreto, Peru, I examine the varied social meanings and uses of ayahuasca in the Peruvian vegetalista tradition and the potential ethical tensions among curanderos, mental health practitioners, and ayahuasca retreat centers. Practitioners and ayahuasca centers are left with navigating globalized concepts of mental health and ethics while attempting to remain authentic to local ontologies of healing, care, and safety.
Comparable studies
Other qualitative studies on shamanism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Plantas con madre": plants that teach and guide in the shamanic initiation process in the East-Central Peruvian Amazon. Curanderos, apprentices, and herbalists in East-Central Peru, including Mestizo,... | 2011 | Qualitative study | n = 36 |
| Purging and the body in the therapeutic use of ayahuasca Healers and participants in shamanic tourism contexts of the Peruvian Amazon and... | 2019 | Ethnography with literature review | n = 227 |
| The Globalization of Ayahuasca Shamanism and the Erasure of Indigenous Shamanism Western tourists and indigenous peoples in Iquitos, Peru | 2016 | Ethnography | |
| Shamanism and Rock Art in Far Western North America Historic hunter-gatherer cultures of California and the Great Basin | 1992 | Ethnographic review and analysis | |
| Working with “La Medicina”: Elements of Healing in Contemporary Ayahuasca Rituals Ayahuasqueros and Western participants in shamanic tourism in Iquitos, Peru | 2012 | Ethnography |
Citations in the library
Cited by 23
- Psychedelic-induced mystical experiences: An interdisciplinary discussion and critique Frontiers in Psychiatry April 5, 2023
- Psychedelic Science, Contemplative Practices, and Indigenous and Other Traditional Knowledge Systems: Towards Integrative Community-Based Approaches in Global Health. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 2023
- Critical Doses: Nurturing Diversity in Psychedelic Studies Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 2023
- Ethics of Psychedelic Use in Psychiatry and Beyond—Drawing upon Legal, Social and Clinical Challenges Philosophies August 24, 2023
- Ethical issues with psychedelic-assisted treatments in psychiatry: A systematic scoping review Psychological Medicine 2025
and 18 more in the library
Cites 26
- Antidepressant Effects of a Single Dose of Ayahuasca in Patients With Recurrent Depression Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology December 11, 2015
- Ayahuasca-Assisted Therapy for Addiction: Results from a Preliminary Observational Study in Canada Current Drug Abuse Reviews June 1, 2013
- Antidepressive, anxiolytic, and antiaddictive effects of ayahuasca, psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD): a systematic review of clinical trials published in the last 25 years Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology March 18, 2016
- Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy: A Paradigm Shift in Psychiatric Research and Development Frontiers in Pharmacology July 5, 2018
- The globalization of ayahuasca: Harm reduction or benefit maximization? International Journal of Drug Policy December 5, 2006
and 21 more in the library