Presentation: Psychotherapy, Psychedelics and Meaning

Abstract:  There is now significant evidence to suggest that various psychedelics might be therapeutic for a range of illnesses, including PTSD, depression, addiction and so forth. Protocols for their use generally place them within a psychotherapeutic context. The standard approach, labelled Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy (PAP), involves a small number of preparatory sessions which are undertaken prior to a supervised drug induced experience in a controlled environment. This is followed by further sessions which aim at the psychological integration of the patient’s experience. There is a great deal of uncertainty about the mechanism(s) of action of psychedelic drugs, including the role(s) played by neurochemical/ neurophysiological effects of the drugs as well as the actual experienced psychedelic induce and the surrounding psychotherapeutic processes. Nevertheless, it seems likely that both their neurological and their subjective effects play a role. 

Psychedelic experiences are commonly perceived as being intensely meaningful and highly affective, both during and after they occur. It is likely that this is central to their therapeutic value. If so, we might consider whether it is appropriate to embrace or further realize forms of meaning that are rooted in psychedelic experiences or to draw any kind of (metaphysical) conclusions on their basis. The latter is something that might include spiritual or mystical type beliefs but may also include the way in which we (affectively) perceive or understand death, or our own mortality. Noting that psychotherapy can be a valuable undertaking in the absence of any pathology and that existential approaches take meaning to be a central concern, I suggest that if psychedelic experiences can be appropriately culturally situated then there is no reason why it should not be something we turn to in our efforts to realize meaning in modern life, not only as a part of a therapeutic endeavor but also more broadly.

Presenter:  Dr Nathan Emmerich is an interdisciplinary bioethcist who is primarily interested in medical ethics, but also various ethical questions associated with emerging biotechnologies. Nathan’s research is also concerned with the social and anthropological nature of morality and ethics, and the relationship between the intellectual field(s) of applied (bio)ethics and, one the one hand, fields of practice, such as medicine, and on the other, modes of governance, including professional regulation and broader political processes.  His current research is primarily addresses matters relating to psychedelic medicine, conscientious objection and abortion.