A Psychoanalytic Perspective on Psychedelic Experience
Psychoanalytic Dialogues September 3, 2022 DOI: 10.1080/10481885.2022.2106140 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that psychoanalysts should engage with psychedelics both theoretically and clinically, proposing that psychedelics can evoke ego dissolution and mystical states, support hyperassociative states and free association that bring unconscious material to the surface, and that set and setting shape psychedelic therapy. The authors contend that psychedelics deserve reconsideration as collaborators with psychoanalysis. |
Abstract
ABSTRACT As interest in psychedelics as treatments for psychological problems grows, it is important for psychoanalysts to learn about them. Our patients will come to us to discuss their psychedelic experiences; additionally, psychedelics deserve reconsideration as meaningful collaborators with our field, at both the theoretical and clinical levels. After a brief history of these agents, the paper engages three specific areas: 1) psychedelics’ capacity to evoke egolysis, or ego dissolution, and mystical states; 2) their capacity to support hyperassociative states, free association, and emergence of unconscious material, and 3) the role of set and setting in psychedelic therapy. Drawing from the fields of neuropsychoanalysis, phenomenological research and neuroanthropology, the paper offers a discourse that connects mind and brain and psychedelics in ways meaningful for psychoanalysts.
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- Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy: where is the psychotherapy research? Psychopharmacology August 1, 2024
- Psychedelic-assisted therapy for treating anxiety, depression, and existential distress in people with life-threatening diseases Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews September 11, 2024
- Psychedelic Therapy as Form of Life Neuroethics March 16, 2024
- Can psychedelics enhance group psychotherapy? A discussion on the therapeutic factors. Journal of Psychopharmacology February 28, 2023
and 30 more in the library
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