Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy is the first and currently the only type of Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy offered at our psychedelic therapy center. Ketamine is the only psychedelic that has been legally approved for medical use, outside of clinical trials. However, other psychedelics like MDMA and psilocybin are showing promising results in clinical trials. read more…
Studies have shown that around half of my participants suffering from treatment-resistant depression felt relief after their very first ketamine treatment. After a series of ketamine treatments, about 66% improved significantly. read more…
Magic Medicine is an armchair adventurer's guide to all substances psychedelic. From ayahuasca to LSD you'll find it in the 23 fascinating chapters of this illustrated hardcover. With mind-blowing facts and lore about psychedelic fish, "mad" Himalayan honey, and even the pitch-bending "audio hallucinogen" DiPT, even veteran trippers will learn something new. read more…Psychedelics are illegal out of medical ignorance and for political advantage, and remain illegal for those reasons. read more…The Truffle Transformation Experience is designed to facilitate transformational changes in your life. It is a unique and powerful combination of one-on-one coaching and a legal psychedelic experience induced by consuming magic truffles in the Netherlands, two proven catalysts for personal growth and deep psychological wellness. read more…
Microdosing as a tool for well-being and awareness!Microdosing Psychedelics is the act of consuming sub-perceptual (unnoticeable) amounts of a psychedelic, while still producing a detectable benefit. This can be done with most psychedelics, with LSD and psilocybin (mushrooms/truffles) being the most popular. read more…
In this interview we discuss Dr Matthew Clark's new book Botanical Ecstasies, how he first became interested in the question of soma's identity, plant experimentation, and the role of ethnobotany in understanding history. read more…
Dr Peter Sjöstedt-H’s Noumenautics traverses the mindscape of metaphysics, nihilism and psychedelic phenomenology. It navigates through subjects such as the sentience of cells, the constrictions of consciousness, the metaphysics of might, the magic of mushrooms, the narcotics of Nietzsche, and the neologism of neo-nihilism – the last of which may itself cause flashbacks. read more…
Getting Higher is a manual for exploring the use of psychedelic substances in the contexts of spirituality, self-transformation and magic. This is the psychonaut’s essential guide. The techniques presented here work whether you're a scientist or a shaman; there's no requirement to believe in anything other than the wonder of your own neurochemistry and the value of the psychedelic experience. read more…
Psychedelic Press Journal The Psychedelic Press quarterly journal explores the role, function, and reception of psychoactive substances in history, culture, and science. In it you will find papers and articles from the latest research in psychedelic studies, thoughtful comment and opinions on contemporary and historical topics in psychedelia, along with poetry, creative and experimental writing. read more…
She has a Master of Arts in somatic psychology and is trained in the Hakomi Method. Françoise has taught at CIIS in San Francisco, and she lectures at other academic institutions, such as Yale, Stanford, and UCSF. She runs online courses and contributes to advisory boards and organizations offering value-aligned trainings on the topic of mushroom ceremonies.Please enjoy!P.S. During this podcast, Françoise shares few stories of people participating in her retreats, and she wishes to inform the listeners that these people have given her consent to speak about them and their experiences. read more…
“It’s a very widespread idea that if you have personal experience with a psychoactive drug, this biases you in such a way that the research that you do is not trustworthy. But this is something that we don’t evenly apply to other disciplines. No one would ever say that an ethnomusicologist is biased because they’ve listened to music, or because they enjoy music themselves. Or that a sports commentator is biased if they have a past as an athlete. Instead, we would say that this is something that makes him an expert who is qualified to discuss the subject.”— Hamilton Morris read more…
This week has been a fascinating firestorm for me. Part of the excitement came after a series of tweets I published about some of the concerns I have as psychedelic medicine makes the leap from research to for-profit startups and companies. Here is what I wrote: read more…
A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both.— L. P. Jacks read more…
Rick Doblin, PhD, (@rickdoblin) is the founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). He received his doctorate in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where he wrote his dissertation on the regulation of the medical uses of psychedelics and marijuana and his master’s thesis on a survey of oncologists about smoked marijuana vs. the oral THC pill in nausea control for cancer patients. Rick was also one of the early students under the legendary Dr. Stanislav Grof. read more…
This is something I’ve been working on for ~1.5 years and something diligent scientists have been working toward for 20+ years.This episode features a recording of the press conference announcing the launch of the world’s largest psychedelic research center and the U.S.’s first psychedelic research center, The Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins Medicine. Among other things, researchers there will be investigating the effectiveness of psychedelics as a new therapy for opioid addiction, Alzheimer’s disease, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (formerly known as chronic Lyme disease), anorexia nervosa, and alcohol use in people with major depression. The researchers hope to create precision medicine treatments tailored to individual patient needs. read more…
Who Takes Psychedelics and Why?The people who choose to consume psychedelic substances and the reasons they do so are as varied as the effects they produce, which are unique for every individual and rarely the same twice. The people who take psychedelicsfit all demographics of age, gender, race, ethnicity, class, etc, and the various motivations people have for their psychedelic use in modern society are equally as diverse. read more…
What is Set and Setting?The term ‘set and setting’ refers to the importance of ‘context' when choosing to consume a psychedelic compound. As psychedelics are known to enhance a person's current state of mind and amplify the stimulus from one’s surroundings, this expression was designed to highlight the importance of factors that can shape a person’s response to psychedelic substances and contribute to the outcome of the experience. read more…
Psychedelic Press JournalThe Psychedelic Press quarterly journal explores the role, function, and reception of psychoactive substances in history, culture, and science. In it you will find papers and articles from the latest research in psychedelic studies, thoughtful comment and opinions on contemporary and historical topics in psychedelia, along with poetry, creative and experimental writing. read more…
There is a proposal before Australia's poisons, medicines and drug regulator, the TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration) to down-schedule MDMA and psilocybin from Schedule 9 to Schedule 8, for use in limited therapeutic settings. The TGA will be considering their position (once more) in December 2021, following the September 30th tabling of an independent report. read more…
For the 2021 Mushroom day, EGA, PRISM and APS teamed up for this interview with Jonathan Carmichael, co-founder and President of EGA, and Martin Williams, PhD, a research fellow in Medicinal Chemistry at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne. Martin is founding and current President of the DGR-registered health-promotion charity, Psychedelic Research in Science & Medicine (PRISM), founding and current Vice-President of the botanical/education charity, Entheogenesis Australis (EGA), and co-lead investigator of the upcoming Melbourne psilocybin trials at St Vincent’s Hospital. read more…
Rescheduling psilocybin and MDMA in Australia - A process explainerThere is a proposal before Australia's poisons, medicines and drug regulator, the TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration) to down-schedule MDMA and psilocybin from Schedule 9 to Schedule 8, for use in limited therapeutic settings. The TGA will be considering their position (once more) in December 2021, following the September 30th tabling of an independent report. Nick Wallis from the Australian Psychedelic Society speaks with Dr. Stephen Bright from PRISM (Psychedelic Research In Science and Medicine), Dr. Samuel Douglas (APS President) and Simon Beck (APS) about the report, the proposal and the process. read more…
For a long time now, I’ve been fascinated by the possibility that ordinary humans alive today are experiencing reality in ways that resemble reports from mystics of the past. That this is even possible tends to be a contentious claim, evoking strong reactions ranging from the aggressively skeptical to the dogmatically narrow, with strongly held views of what these experiences mean and how words like ‘awakening,’ ‘enlightenment’ or ‘realisation’ should be used. read more…
Psychedelics can be a gateway to incredibly profound experiences, many of them matching closely to what mystics have proclaimed throughout the ages: a deeply felt peace and joy, interconnectedness between all things, undifferentiated awareness, and the sense of transcending both time and space. Whilst these experiences are often felt to be deeply ‘true’ and ‘real’, perceptions can appear paradoxical, and impossible to express in words. read more…
The psychedelic market is big and getting bigger. One company, Compass Pathways, which plans to offer magic mushroom therapy, listed on the Nasdaq in November with a $1 billion valuation. New funds like Atai are raising hundreds of millions to invest. New companies are listing, new training programmes for therapists are launching, new states are preparing to legalize or decriminalize psychedelics. read more…
I’m doing a talk on this topic at the Psychedelic Society UK, online, on March 3.When it emerged that the ‘Qanon shaman’, Jake Angeli, was not only the poster-boy for the Trumpist insurrection, but also a vocal promoter of psychedelic therapy, it provoked consternation among the psychedelic community. How could a psychonaut support Trump, and fall for an authoritarian and quasi-fascist conspiracy theory like Qanon? read more…
Therapeutic Practices in a Spiritual ContextThe extraordinary unrecognised healing potential of non-ordinary states of consciousness. More and more people are seeking meditation, psychedelics, and ancient tantric and shamanic practices because of great suffering in their lives, often due to challenging backgrounds in psychologically unhealthy environments. Many are dissatisfied with what society currently is offering them as remedies for their afflictions like psychopharmacological drugs or short term structured therapies. read more…
The neuroscience of enlightenment . For some, the word enlightenment brings to mind the European “Age of Reason” and the 17th-century origins of science. For others, it evokes the transcendence of self and suffering described by multiple Asian religions. Today, these two traditions have finally met, in the scientific study of meditative and psychedelic states. Most of this research has focused on health and productivity benefits, but these states are also capable of providing profound insight into the nature of the mind and even the total transcendence of suffering. In spite of the research bias away from these topics, we are now beginning to get insight into what happens in the brain during states of enlightenment. read more…
Towards a More Rational and Compassionate Drug PolicyI began this blog on my return from going deep with ibogaine with my friends at Iboga Quest in Tepotzlan, Mexico. What incredible medicine, especially for folks in the throes of opiate addiction. Ibogaine interrupts withdrawal and resets the dopamine system, while precipitating an intense “life review” psychedelic experience, giving insights into behavior, thought patterns, and underlying traumas. read more…
Information rules the world, needless to say I just had a confrontation that made me want to post this.. “Research success doesn't always align with practice results. That gap in outcomes, along with psychedelic misconceptions, could interfere with widespread acceptance. To convince the masses that psychedelic therapy is a mental-health innovation worth championing, clinicians must hold space for a data-driven treatment model” read more…
Can psychedelic therapy cure me?What is presented in the media is often a little less nuanced than reality, for practical reasons. In a culture where information has to be easily digestible, the media can’t present enough information to give us an accurate picture. So some show the highlights from one side and others show highlights from the other. You end up with black-and-white stories that often polarize and contradict each other. Some read articles from newspapers about MDMA deaths and LSD psychoses that confirm the existing beliefs of one side. And others read selected articles about how safe MDMA is compared to alcohol and what amazing results psilocybin has treating variety of mental illnesses. Both live in kind of a bubble and many of my clients have one leg in each bubble. Psychedelic therapy is no high risk sport, but neither a magic pill that fixes everything at once. Here I will try to present some nuances. read more…
Psychedelics have long been associated with fear of a «bad trip", Also called a psychedelic crisis. A psychedelic crisis is a period of anxiety and confusion triggered by psychoactive substances, most often classic psychedelics such as psilocybin / fungus and LSD, or cannabis. Many people just want to leave such an experience behind, but it's not always easy. read more…How does a "bad trip" occur?
Are you looking for a psychedelic therapist?In recent years, in line with increasing research and constant media coverage, more and more people are seeking therapeutic treatment with classic psychedelics and MDMA. The clinical trials have come so far that there is little doubt that it has good effect and when pop author Michael Pollan's book, How to Change Your Mind, (which also came out in Norwegian in the fall of 2019) came out in 2018, interest in the population began to grow significantly. read more…
Guide to tripsittingTripsitting others who are under the influence of psychedelics does not have to be very complicated. By reading this guide and following the instructions, you are already qualified as a junior trip sitter. With more experience and knowledge, you can help the traveler get even further and get more out of the experience, but it is not a requirement to get started. The information in this article is based on personal experience and great books like Psychedelic Explorer's Guide and Psychedelic Psychotherapy. There are three steps in a therapeutic psychedelic process, and all three are equally important. The first thing to start with is preparation. read more…
Which psychotherapeutic approach works best with psychedelic therapy?As many have experienced, the answer does not lie in psychedelics alone. Many take psychedelic drugs worldwide without experiencing any particular therapeutic effect. The studies that have been run in recent years are based on psychedelics in combination with psychotherapy. There are many psychotherapeutic approaches, but not all work equally well with psychedelics. read more…
Psychedelic therapy on its own - does it work?Many people think about the cost, and the most economical alternative is of course to do it yourself. On the one hand, I myself am an example of how psychedelic therapy on your own can work. On the other hand, most people I know who have tried it on their own have not been able to get the value that research suggests lies there. Therapy on your own can work, but it involves a higher risk, both for psychological harm and the risk of it not working. And it can take a long time to reach your goals. read more…
Post-traumatic stress disorder (or PTSD) is a disorder afflicted by over 50,000 Norwegians. It is triggered by one or more traumatic events that one has either experienced or witnessed, and gives symptoms such as lack of sleep, nightmares, aggression and panic anxiety. It has long been a disorder that has been difficult to treat with conversation therapy and traditional medicines (antidepressants), but in recent years some alternatives have emerged. read more…. MDMA for PTSD
Psychedelics-assisted therapy has shown very good results both from the studies in the 60s and in recent years. A few treatments are often all that is needed and in the long run you can save a lot of money on therapy and medicines. But the cost of psychedelic treatment is nevertheless considerable for many and and the community is often discussing how to make it financially accessible for everyone. So how much do the various alternatives cost today, how much will they cost in the future and what kind of support can you expect to get from the government in Norway? read more… Legal therapy
Therapy with ayahuascaAyahuasca (also called yage) is appearing more and more frequently in the media and in the common people these days, and many are reporting scavenging experiences with a strong therapeutic effect. I often get questions about ayahuasca and will answer some of these here. read more…
MDMA for party or therapy - what's the difference? MDMA is now in the final phase of clinical trials before it becomes an approved drug. The clinical trials are aimed at PTSD, largely because there are few effective treatment options and that many hit hard. Before MDMA became illegal, there were also many psychologists and patients who believed it was very effective in couples therapy and for trauma in general. So does this mean you can take MDMA, go out on the town and be cured for PTSD? Not likely. So what exactly is the difference between MDMA at party and in combination with psychotherapy? read mores…
Psychedelics for addiction I will begin by quoting Gabor Maté's definition of addiction; read more…
Psychedelics for personal development Research on psychedelic drugs in combination with psychotherapy as a treatment for mental disorders is well underway. And with promising results. But what about the treatment of a so-called healthy mind, or what many call personal development? read more…
