Mystical dynamics-the notion that mystical oneness may unfold involving ego disintegration, renewal, and luminous light-has been discussed anecdotally by psychedelic researchers and therapists but has not yet been empirically examined in controlled settings. This study investigated the occurrence and dose-dependency of mystical dynamics in healthy participants after administration of...
This thesis is the record of a novelist in the process of not being able to write a novel. What began as an attempt to complete a draft of a novel became instead a multi-genre text and an autocriticism in which a fiction writer’s process becomes the subject of study at the same time it generates a novel work of creative writing. This took what was once to have been a two-part thesis comprising...
Empathy is a core neurobiological capacity that enables humans to perceive, understand, and respond to others' experiences, yet its deliberate modulation as a therapeutic target is still in its early stages of scientific development. This manuscript presents a hybrid narrative-scoping review synthesizing evidence across pharmacological, neurostimulation, and behavioral approaches aimed at...
Data from previous psychedelic trials suggests that the intensity of mystical experiences positively impacts treatment outcomes. However, not many conceptual frameworks are available to measure how this seems to be the case. According to Yogic and Buddhist philosophies, Kleshas are considered obstacles to self-realization, inner peace, and liberation. Using validated questionnaires, we accessed...
Pain Within Altered States of Consciousness challenges conventional assumptions about pain. Rather than treating pain as a simple product of tissue damage, this book presents it as a dynamic construction of conscious experience—shaped by brain networks, attention, emotion, expectation, and the organization of the self. Bringing together anesthesiology, neuroscience, pain medicine, contemplative...
L’exclusion de tous les patients ayant des antécédents personnels ou familiaux de psychose de la recherche sur les thérapies psychédéliques soulève d’importantes questions éthiques. Après avoir résumé l’imbrication et la séparation historiques de la recherche sur les psychédéliques et la psychose dans la psychiatrie occidentale, j’aborde certaines des raisons cliniques et socioculturelles...
As direct-to-consumer ketamine prescriptions obtained via telehealth in the United States, along with psychedelic support, proliferate, some patients are turning to general-purpose chatbots as de facto "therapists" in unmonitored settings. These AI-guided altered-state sessions carry significant ethical, clinical, and legal risks. Current AI tools are not licensed professionals, lack consistent...
There remain significant gaps in knowledge about best practices for facilitated psychedelic care and psychedelic-assisted therapy. To inform the development of service models that support safe and beneficial experiences, this qualitative study explored expert perspectives on current and ideal standards of care, including key practices (e.g., screening, adapting care to diverse contexts) and...
Psychedelic substances have been increasingly recognised for their potential in treating various mental health conditions, yet they can also induce what we call ontologically challenging psychedelic experiences (OCPEs), a concept developed in our research to describe experiences that profoundly disrupt an individual's sense of self, reality, and existence. We present OCPEs not as a diagnostic...
Ketamine-Assisted Therapy (KAT) presents a promising alternative for addressing mental health challenges, particularly in treatment-resistant conditions, yet little exists in the literature guiding its implementation in an Indigenous context, for Indigenous participants, or describing culturally adapted delivery models. This paper presents insights and lessons learned from a collaborative pilot...