C.G. Jung’s work has had a noticeable impact on conceptions about death and the dying experience, as well as on the therapeutic work methods that deal with anxiety, depression or terminal illnesses. This article analyses the reception of C.G. Jung’s work in the United States during the time period 1960-80. It examines ways in which Jung’s concepts were discussed and applied by psy practitioners...
Alcohol use disorder represents a serious clinical, social and personal burden on its sufferers and a significant financial strain on society. Current treatments, both psychological and pharmacological are poor, with high rates of relapse after medical detoxification and dedicated treatment programs. The earliest historical roots of psychedelic drug-assisted psychotherapy in the 1950s were...
Background: Conventional antidepressants are thought to produce their impact on clinical symptoms by increasing the central availability of biogenic amine neurotransmitters (the monoamine hypothesis of depression). These drugs continue to be the primary medicines used in major depressive disorder. Although they have biological effects after acute dosing, full antidepressant response generally...
A Gallup Poll reports that the nation&s;s college students have tried psychedelic drugs — an increase of 1800 percent in the past four years — at a time when the government has halted most research on the uses of these drugs as too dangerous and spends millions of dollars to control their use. Psychedelic drugs are powerful and unpredictable, and sometimes result in difficulties which need...
As we age or become terminally ill, we are confronted by our mortality. Being confronted by our own or another’s death can be a time of accelerated and profound growth and development. Using examples from research and personal experience working in a hospice, this article explores challenges facing our own dying as well as that of clients and family members. It discusses the relevance and...
The West African iboga plant has been used for centuries by the Bwiti and Mbiri tribes to induce hallucinations during religious ceremonies. Ibogaine, the principal alkaloid responsible for iboga's psychedelic properties, was isolated and sold as an antidepressant in France for decades before its adverse effects precipitated its removal from the market. An ibogaine resurgence in the 1960s was...
From the beginning of therapeutic research with psychedelics, music listening has been consistently used as a method to guide or support therapeutic experiences during the acute effects of psychedelic drugs. Recent findings point to the potential of music to support meaning-making, emotionality, and mental imagery after the administration of psychedelics, and suggest that music plays an...
Cancer is highly prevalent and one of the leading causes of global morbidity and mortality. Psychological and existential suffering is common in cancer patients, associated with poor psychiatric and medical outcomes. Promising early-phase clinical research (1960s to early 1970s) suggested a therapeutic signal for serotoninergic psychedelics (e.g. psilocybin, LSD) in treating cancer-related...
Recent research on psychedelics and hypnosis demonstrates the value of both methods in the treatment of a range of psychopathologies with overlapping applications and neurophenomenological features. The potential of harnessing the power of suggestion to influence the phenomenological response to psychedelics toward more therapeutic action has remained unexplored in recent research and thereby...
Objetivo. Evaluar el estado de la investigación actual sobre el potencial terapéutico de las sustancias psicodélicas. Metodología. Se realiza una breve revisión temática y se desarrolla un análisis crítico de la situación. Resultados. Se identifican diversas limitaciones y sesgos tanto en estudios observacionales como en ensayos clínicos. Conclusiones. Actualmente se cometen errores remarcables...