Looking Up at the Stars from the Middle of the Lake: Dare We Speak of Spirit? A Model of Psychedelic Consciousness for Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalytic theory and practice can be extended to engage expanded states of consciousness induced by psychedelic medicine. Using a clinical illustration of ketamine-assisted psychoanalysis, the author proposes the concept of the intra-collective as a transpersonal holding environment that contains the intersubjective field, where highly organized, undifferentiated, and developmentally mature psychic states occur. A new lexicon is needed to access unitive experiences beyond the traditional analytic register. The term Spirit establishes a pathway to this non-dualistic level of consciousness and preserves sacred experiences that exist beyond the symbolic realm.

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Abstract

This discussion extends psychoanalytic theory and practice to engage expanded states of consciousness elicited by psychedelic medicine. The author utilizes Peoples and Rundel’s clinical illustration involving ketamine-assisted psychoanalysis to propose the intra-collective as a transpersonal holding environment that encompasses and contains the intersubjective field, where highly organized, undifferentiated, and developmentally mature psychic states transpire. The author argues that a novel lexicon is needed to access and commune with unitive experiences beyond the traditional analytic register. He speaks of Spirit to establish a pathway to this non-dualistic level of consciousness, and to preserve sacred experiences that exist beyond the symbolic realm.