The Bad Seed: Mystical Experience and Time Travel in the Treatment of Psychopathy
Noelle Burton
Psychoanalytic Dialogues November 2, 2023 DOI: 10.1080/10481885.2023.2264338 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Case study Case report Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 1 |
| Population | A psychopathic personality |
| Intervention | Psilocybin |
| Topics | Mysticism Mystical experience |
| Keywords | Psychoanalytic theory Psychotherapist Psychopathy Psychoanalysis Personality |
| Citations | 2 |
| Key findings | A psychopathic patient made dramatic improvements after a psilocybin-induced mystical experience combined with psychoanalytic treatment. |
Abstract
Psychopathy has long been considered untreatable. The purpose of this paper is to provide a report from the field on therapeutic gains made in the case of a psychopathic personality and to outline what appear to be the most effective aspects of the treatment, as well as to help integrate current psychedelic research and theory with psychoanalytic theory. These therapeutic factors include: tactful acknowledgment and confrontation of the patient’s behavior and the disclosure to him of the diagnosis of psychopathy; a focus on his resentment toward existence itself; the cultivation of a relationship between the patient and his future self through the engagement of his imagination using mental time travel; the patient’s psilocybin-induced mystical experience which occurred several months into treatment; and finally, the impact of the analyst’s spiritual work that shaped the countertransference. The patient made dramatic improvements subsequent to his mystical experience, and was able to make use of the psychoanalytic work done during the “pre-mystical experience” period of his treatment. This case is an addition to the accumulating evidence for the efficacy of psychedelic-induced mystical experiences, and provides guidance on the provision of psychoanalytic treatment prior to treatment with psychedelic medication.
Comparable studies
Other case reports and case series on mystical experience, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| This is your brain on death: a comparative analysis of a near-death experience and subsequent 5-Methoxy-DMT experience. An individual who had a near-death experience during a coma caused by bacterial... | 2023 | Case study | n = 1 |
| Immersion, Absorption, and Spiritual Experience: Some Preliminary Findings. Female participants scoring high and low on the Absorption Scale | 2020 | Case study | n = 4 |
| An exploration of mystical experiences through life histories Three individuals (one woman, two men) in their fifties with appropriate mystical... | 2009 | Multiple case study within narrative methodology | n = 3 |
| Mystical Experiences as Catalysts in Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy: A Case Study Patient with generalized anxiety disorder and migraines | 2026 | Case study | n = 1 |
| Neural effects and phenomenology of nondual meditation and 5-MeO-DMT in an expert meditation practitioner Advanced meditator and Lama from the Mahāmudrā meditation tradition | 2025 | Case study | n = 1 |
Citations in the library
Cites 14
- The entropic brain: a theory of conscious states informed by neuroimaging research with psychedelic drugs Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2014
- REBUS and the Anarchic Brain: Toward a Unified Model of the Brain Action of Psychedelics Pharmacological Reviews June 20, 2019
- Patterns of Brain Activity Supporting Autobiographical Memory, Prospection, and Theory of Mind, and Their Relationship to the Default Mode Network Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience July 6, 2009
- Psilocybin occasioned mystical-type experiences: immediate and persisting dose-related effects. Psychopharmacology December 1, 2011
- The safety and efficacy of {+/-}3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine-assisted psychotherapy in subjects with chronic, treatment-resistant posttraumatic stress disorder: the first randomized controlled pilot study. Journal of Psychopharmacology July 19, 2010
and 9 more in the library