Knowing and being known: Psychedelic–assisted psychotherapy and the sense of authenticity
Frontiers in Psychiatry September 20, 2022 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.933495 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy |
| Topics | Psychedelic-assisted therapy |
| Citations | 9 |
| Key points | Proposes that the sense of authenticity in MDMA- and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy derives from a simultaneous feeling of knowing and being known, facilitated by reduced defensive barriers that allow intersubjective sharing. |
Abstract
Participants in MDMA- and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy often emerge from these treatments with new beliefs about themselves and the world. Studies have linked changed beliefs with mystical experiences reported by some participants during drug sessions. While there has been some debate about the epistemic value of drug-induced mystical experiences, and about the need for consent to treatments that may alter metaphysical beliefs, less attention has been given to the sense of authenticity that attends these experiences. In this paper, I consider the intersubjective context in which these changed beliefs arise. I suggest that the sense of authenticity people experience with MDMA- and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy derives from a simultaneous feeling of knowing and being known. The medications used in these treatments reduce the defensive barriers which ordinarily prevent powerful feelings from being intersubjectively shared, allowing the subject to experience knowing and being known with the therapist and/or internalized or imagined others. In explaining this thesis, I discuss Ratcliffe's "existential feeling;" ipseity in incipient psychosis and psychedelic states; Winnicott's notions of the True Self, omnipotence, creativity, and transitional phenomena; implicit relational knowing and moments of meeting; infant-mother dyad research; predictive processing and the relaxed beliefs model of psychedelic action; the role of the "partner in thought" in knowing and feeling known. I propose that a "transitional space" model of MDMA- and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is well-suited for working through "not-me" or dissociated experience.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on psychedelic-assisted therapy, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Theorizing that Psychedelic Assisted Therapy May Play a Role in the Treatment of Trauma-Induced Personality Disorders. | 2024 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Learning to Let Go: A Cognitive-Behavioral Model of How Psychedelic Therapy Promotes Acceptance | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Awe: a putative mechanism underlying the effects of classic psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy | 2018 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Ethical and legal issues in psychedelic harm reduction and integration therapy | 2021 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Towards psychedelic apprenticeship: Developing a gentle touch for the mediation and validation of psychedelic-induced insights and revelations. | 2022 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 9
- The Bright Side of Psychedelics: Latest Advances and Challenges in Neuropharmacology International Journal of Molecular Sciences January 10, 2023
- Psychedelics in the age of reproducibility: Reflections on aura, set and setting and the medicalization of mystical-type experiences. International Journal of Drug Policy 2026
- Psychedelic-Related Psychosis: From Model Psychosis to Psychotherapy. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences 2026
- Fearful symmetry in altered states: a bi-logic account of psychedelic action. Frontiers in Psychology August 19, 2025
- Touching and being touched: where knowing and feeling meet. Frontiers in Psychology 2023
and 4 more in the library
Cites 29
- REBUS and the Anarchic Brain: Toward a Unified Model of the Brain Action of Psychedelics Pharmacological Reviews June 20, 2019
- MDMA-assisted therapy for severe PTSD: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 study. Nature Medicine June 1, 2021
- Mystical experiences occasioned by the hallucinogen psilocybin lead to increases in the personality domain of openness Journal of Psychopharmacology September 28, 2011
- Mystical-type experiences occasioned by psilocybin mediate the attribution of personal meaning and spiritual significance 14 months later Journal of Psychopharmacology May 30, 2008
- Mapping the self in the brain's default mode network Neuroimage February 15, 2016
and 24 more in the library