What is Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy?

Mental and emotional suffering may come from external triggers (such as past trauma and present life conditions) and also, importantly, from how we perceive and respond to those triggers. Our perceptions and responses are determined by deep beliefs and behavioral patterns, influenced by genetics, and shaped through early and later experiences – both positive and negative. We are only sometimes aware of these processes that shape how we perceive and respond to our life challenges.

All psychotherapy attempts to improve how we perceive and respond to past and present life challenges. When memories emotions and experiences arise which we feel powerless to respond to effectively, or are otherwise unbearable, they arouse anxiety and our defenses kick in so we can cope. Therapy helps us bear these emotions, feel safe with another person, and soften maladaptive defenses so that we can act more effectively. Such change takes time because anxiety can be overwhelming and protective defenses are entrenched and habitual.

We develop a rigid pattern of defenses and a perception of ourselves that is based on these rigid patterns. Neuroimaging reveals a system of interrelated brain structures – called the ‘default mode network’ – that operates when we are actively monitoring and making decisions based on these limited patterns, and our limited sense of self.

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Psychedelics seem to temporarily relax this default mode network through acting on the serotonin 5HT-2A receptors in the cortex and layer 5 pyramidal neurons. This releases the constraints on the raw here-and-now data coming in from our senses. As the psychedelic experience recedes this information is re-integrated in surprising ways that challenge our rigid patterns. We can rewrite our sense of ourselves and the world in profound and lasting ways.

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We can make the most of this opportunity with careful preparation: setting a clear intention, ensuring an experience of curiosity and openness to new learning and integrating the insights into new knowledge.  The intense connected experience provided by the combination of medicine and therapist can provide a corrective emotional experience, changing a previously frightening or avoided emotional memory into one infused with compassion and hope. Deliberate psychotherapy can result in deep and lasting change, sometimes far more rapidly than with psychotherapy or use of psychedelics alone.