Psychedelic Therapy

Exploring Psychotherapy Combined with Psychedelics

What is Psychotherapy?

Psychotherapy is a form of treatment for mental and psychosomatic illnesses, emotional challenges, and behavioral disorders. It is based on a professional therapeutic relationship between a qualified therapist and one or more patients.

The aim is to improve mental well-being, reduce emotional distress, reinforce and/or learn health-promoting behaviors and to ensure general mental stability.

There are different types of treatment, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy or psychoanalytic therapy, and different methods are used depending on the needs and goals of the patient.

Sources: Nr. 1

Source: https://images.app.goo.gl/uRFVQyKohcNUDJ7a7

Including Psychedelics

Research on the use of psychedelics within medicine began in the early 1950s, with studies researching on thousands of participants.

These studies provided some indications that psychedelics could help with addiction disorders and severe or therapy resistant diseases.

In the early 1970s, research in this area came to a halt, largely due to the negative reputation and illegalization of psychedelics.

Nowadays, however, there have been increasing numbers of studies and therapies exploring and demonstrating the valuable effects of psychedelics in treating mental illnesses, such as depression, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and substance abuse.

Among the therapeutically valuable effects are often deeper insights into one's own emotions, perspectives, and problems. Additionally, psychedelics can assist in processing emotions, facilitate neural connections between brain areas that don't typically interact, and can lead to an altered perception of yourself and your surroundings.

Sources: Nr. 2, 3

Preparation and Risks

To ensure safe and effective course of therapy for the patient/participant, thorough preparation is essential for both the professional and the patient

It's crucial that the patient has no history of psychotic illnesses and that such illnesses do not run in the family, as the consumption of hallucinogenic substances can trigger these types of illnesses.

Additionally a good ''set and setting'' must be ensured. ''Set'' (short ''mindset'') referring to the consumer's expectations and mindset about the upcoming experience. The consumer should be sure they want to have this experience before taking psychedelics, to be able to engage with the effects during the process and prevent a negative experience.Creating a good ''setting'' involves providing an environment where the patient feels comfortable, they should feel safe and secure with the therapist/professional and the physical surroundings.

Failure to ensure this safety can lead to severe psychological consequences.

The psychological consequences may include a ''bad trip'' which shows as a highly unpleasant experience perceived while being under the influence of psychedelics and may be difficult to process afterwards. A bad trip can lead to a distorted perception of reality, potentially resulting in harmful behavior, such as seeing nonexistent parasites under the skin and attempting to remove them by excessive scratching.

Individuals may experience flashbacks, sudden episodes of feeling intoxicated without having taken a drug, flashbacks can occur even weeks or months after consumption.

The most severe psychological risk is the development of a psychosis, where individuals may experience persistent residual effects of the drug's influence.

Sources: Nr. 14, 15, 42