On Therapy, Psychedelic or Otherwise

Professor Christine Hauskeller has pointed to what she calls the 'colonization' of psychedelics, among others in a medical and a commercial sense, whereby the psychedelic experience is captured by particular therapeutic methods or commercial interests. (See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-ohClaXgUM&pp=ygUVY2hyaXN0aW5lIGhhdXNla2VsbGVy)

Regarding therapeutic processes, she notes how each therapist will have been trained to a specific methodology, that processes are tailored to promote specific outcomes, for example by having a music playlist structured in a certain way, or may be influenced by the therapist's metaphysical outlook. Therapy sessions are also often conducted with eyemasks and headphones, disconnecting the client from their environment, and take place in a room isolated from nature.

From the point of view of Physical Spirituality, such colonization is equivalent to placing architective constraints on the experience that diminish their connective impact, while the primary benefit of psychedelics is to demonstrate our connectedness to each other and with nature.

I do not doubt the effectiveness of psychedelics even within such a therapeutic setting, but suggest that psychedelic therapy be deployed only when the primary purpose of the experience is to remedy a behavioural dysfunction. Otherwise an experienced facilitator or dispassionate "trip sitter" could provide a less constrained experience by allowing it to proceed in whatever direction the client feels is necessary, while ensuring the necessary safety buffers.

One may be inclined to approach psychedelics through a therapist in the belief that it is safer and the experience less challenging, but this will be at the possible cost of a greater benefit from the experience. Trepidation before a psychedelic experience is universal no matter how experienced the tripper and unless a specific remedy is needed, should not deter one reaching for the greater benefit.

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A major element of contemporary approaches to psychedelic therapy is the resolution of unresolved difficulties such as past traumas, waking inadequacies and suppressed antagonisms by identifying and engaging with them so as to disempower their deleterious influence on our behaviour.

Our dreams are often used to indicate or symbolize a source of difficulty, as are the images we encounter in psychedelic sessions, but as I have previously mentioned these need not be sourced in our personal histories but in our Planetary Deity as the theatrical dramatist of our planet.

This raises the issue of false traumas or false memories arising during a psychedelic session, just as they might in dreams, for once again they need not be sourced in our personal histories but in that of our Planetary Deity.

Even when we are able to resolve our difficulties, there can, and will, always be more, for our Planetary Deity is an indefatigable font of grisly drama and has aeons of history - and its own imagination - to draw on.

A consequence of the connective/architective regime is that the resolution of unresolved difficulties may only be of secondary importance to our well-being when compared to the benefits brought about by a recognition of our connective spirituality, viz. that we are intimately connected with the cosmos in its entirety - as evidenced by the fact that psychedelic sessions have the most long-lasting benefits when they include such an experience.

This suggests that the primary aim of therapy should be the recognition of our connective spirituality and that resolution of other psychological difficulties should be put aside when such efforts would distract from this primary purpose.

So here we get to the nub of what the definition of 'spirituality' in Physical Spirituality entails: contemporary psychology works on the principle that we are the masters of our destiny, that the sources of our problems lie solely with us, probably subconscious, and that we can work on our own psyches to remedy our psychological ills like trauma. To some extent this is true, but the sources of many of our problems are bigger than us, they are the things that influence us and we have no control over. They are 'spiritual'.

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Another consequence of the connective/architective regime is that traditional belief in a singular all-encompassing universal God or aesthetic implies a belief that some sort of ultimate perfection is attainable, perhaps a complete and ultimate harmony of being, perfect health and well-being, perhaps even wealth and 'true' happiness; and that one's inability to attain such perfection lies in one's own inadequacy. I believe that this sense of failure to attain spiritual perfection, an ultimate spiritual guilt, is a great contributor to our psychological discomfort, and that it is totally unnecessary since perfection is an architective chimera.

I believe there would be great therapeutic value in accepting the impossibility of any ultimate personal perfection.

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The very nature of connective spirituality is that it is infinite and that the profundity of a connective spiritual experience is limitless. There is no specific or ultimate end that can be achieved. Even such spiritual highlights as cosmic integration and the attainment of cosmic selfhood lie on a continuous spectrum of connective profundity.

It is thus not necessary to plumb the deepest depths of connective profundity to enjoy these spiritual highlights. A combination of connective perspicuity with a relatively small psychedelic dose can facilitate a conscious recognition of one's connective spirituality and the corresponding benefits that flow from that experience. There is no need for 'heroic' psychedelic doses. There is no need to storm the gates of heaven.

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In Physical Spirituality I cautioned against restricting a future legal use of psychedelics to licensed therapists. Nonetheless, therapists have a role to play in treating maladaptive behaviours by utilizing psychedelics. I also mentioned the value of orgasmic intercourse with a lover when cosmically constellated, yet therapists have a professional duty not to engage sexually with a client since the client-therapist relationship can be compromised. To this end I recommend that whenever possible, a client's lover partake of the psychedelic as well. There is an additional benefit in that any unresolved sexual tensions will not interfere with the psychedelic outcome. Perhaps a separate therapist could introduce the session to each partner, and once they are comfortable join with each other while the therapists give them privacy.

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In the context of the connective/architective regime demons encountered within a challenging psychedelic session, though clothed in our most prominent fears, are conjured by our Planetary Deity in order to distract us from a recognition of our connective spirituality.

Psychedelic therapy is often conducted with the patient prone and eyes shaded in an attempt to make the experience a purely internal one. It is generally proposed that at the appearance of any demons the patient not run away from them because that will leave the demons to subsequently haunt the patient subconsciously. Rather the patient is encouraged to approach the demons in spite of being frightened, and to explore them, or negotiate with them, perhaps confront them or even give in to them or play their game, again in the hope of disempowering them. Being a purely internal experience, patients are assured that the demons are only in their own mind.

In the case of an open-eye psychedelic session in a real life situation, this approach must be modified, for in this case the demons may present in one's external reality and thus dramatically affect the 'setting' of the session. Certainly external difficulties should be explored or negotiated, but if these approaches do not resolve the situation then attempts should be made to physically remove the difficulty, say by switching off an annoying fan, closing a window or changing the music; while if all else fails then the session should be relocated to a different place with a more conducive setting - say by going for a walk. In this case, giving in to the demon or playing its game will entail endless distractions and fearful ones at that.

In the case of an internal experience the patient has no option but to deal with a demon or keep running. When the experience is external one can choose to go somewhere else. While no one is going to get physically hurt by giving in to a demon internally, doing so externally can have real-life consequences.

While an eyes shaded session has the advantage of assuring patients that the demons they encounter are only in their mind, it gives our Planetary Deity freedom to conjure even more grotesque spectres than it could in external reality, in the same way that architectivity can become even more dominant in our dreams when our connective sentience has quiesced.

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By not acknowledging the role of our Planetary Deity in the creation of demons, there is a danger that failure to resolve a demon, especially in a closed-eye setting, will leave the patient feeling personally responsible for having created the demon, when it is quite likely not their doing.

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Under a psychedelic our Planetary Deity will use our vexations to clothe its demons. Knowing that our vexations are being used in this way, we could understand that the real problem is our Planetary Deity trying to distract us from connective participation, and behave accordingly.

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Rats benefit from an administration of psilocybin in much the same way humans do. (For example Nichols et al https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acschemneuro.9b00493#.) This suggests that therapy is not a necessary ingredient for a beneficial psychedelic experience since rats cannot undergo therapy. Therapy is only necessary when a specific intervention might overcome a behavioural dysfunction.

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Higher ratings of a "mystical-type experience" have a positive effect on the change in well-being after a psychedelic experience (Haijen et al https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30450045/). Since rats also show a positive change in well-being after a psychedelic I suggest that rats also have a mystical-type experience with psilocybin.

(A second thrust of the Nichols paper on rats is that "the basis for the antidepressant effects in humans is at its core biological in nature" and he also claims (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3LkvvvaBPQ) that "5-HT2A receptor activation alone is sufficient to produce long lasting and persistent antidepressant like effects." He bases this claim on the assumption that "...rats do not have a sense of self and are incapable of having existential anxiety.." which I strongly disagree with, while Yaden and Griffiths contrarily show that "Underlying neurobiological mechanisms are likely necessary but not sufficient to confer full and enduring beneficial effects." (https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acsptsci.0c00194).)