Why our WORLD Needs Psychedelic Use!
I am writing this post today, truly exhausted after the most powerful and hopeful conference I have ever decided to attend. Home nearly a week, I am still processing all I learned and experienced from the experience. I want to share with all who will listen, and yet a part of me believes so many in our culture will be and are closed off to this discussion based on the very biased and misleading information that has emerged throughout most of our lives on psychedelics. I really hope those who have learned biases will at a minimum, read this post with an open mind, and heart.
The conference had over 12,000 people (yes, I said 12,000!) and over 500+ workshops/lectures throughout the week. There simply were too many options each day to choose from! My nerdy-therapist self was able to listen to the brilliant voices in the field like:
Bessel Van der Kolk, MD (The Body Keeps the Score)
Richard Schwartz (Internal Family Systems/IFS)
James S Gordon (Center for Mind-Body Medicine)
Melissa Etheridge (yes, that Melissa Etheridge who discussed how plant-based medicines)
Roland Griffiths (neuroscientist and researcher at Johns Hopkins)
Rick Doblin, the founder of MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Science) several times.
Hearing them all speak about their own experiences with psychedelics (yes, they all have had personal experiences) and the power of psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) was just what I needed to hear this week.
There is hope…
I’ve been in the field of psychology and social work for nearly 30 years now. Like anyone who continues to work professionally in this field of study, I’ve attended countless workshops and conferences, and trainings and often left energized but felt that energy and enthusiasm quickly fade. This time, it feels different as if our culture has this opportunity for a renaissance within the mental HEALTH (vs illness) field. What if our demonization of psychedelics for the past 50 years has truly been the missed opportunities for individuals to truly heal and live more fulfilling lives? Isn’t that better for our entire society?
One of the presenters had this very interesting reflection I want to share…. in his observation, we are fine with prescribing medications with a myriad of side effects that “sometimes” lift the symptoms of depression in that patients are no longer suicidal or harming themselves. However, they do not help people truly find happiness. Those who have regularly used psychedelics (and trust me, there were MANY in this space) either clinically or recreationally routinely express feeling happier and “healing” from their experiences after the effects of the psychedelics fade. Why isn’t that something we would support for all? To have the opportunity to be in an altered state to finally heal from trauma, heal from depression, heal from addiction, heal from disordered eating, and finally, be at peace with the transition for end of life care….why wouldn’t we want this for all of us, to have this option? If this is a path for true healing, true joy, and true happiness…. why are we not fully embracing this treatment modality?
I encourage any of you who are open enough and reading this post to do your own research. Visit MAPS or search for those who are doing medical/clinical research on psychedelics in our country.
(Ps. many other countries are already offering PAT to people in need…. we are WAY behind in our adopting of this treatment modality)
Hope on the horizon…. is not that far….
The use of MDMA (aka Molly or ecstasy) for veterans with PTSD has passed the Phase III clinical trial stage and is soon going to be submitted for FDA approval- to have the use of MDMA in psychedelic-assisted therapy. In a world that masks/numbs the physical/physical and emotional pain that is often associated with just being human, this offers hope, to truly be free and joyful!
Hoping for a world that puts JOY, HEALING, and HEALTH above profits or at a minimum, finds a way to make this modality profitable to those who need that assurance to get behind this movement.
