The Renewal of Psychedelic Research: Implications for Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychology.

Abstract

A number of medication trials at major U.S. research universities are now, once more, legally exploring psychedelics' vast potential for treating various physical and psychological problems. These studies have been approved based on a medical model that considers psychedelics' effects as primarily biochemical, but some are also addressing wider humanistic and transpersonal implications for research and praxis. These studies may challenge the prevailing medical model of psychopathology that not only reduces humans to just their biology but also has led to widespread medical treatments through formularies that predominantly constrict, rather than enhance, human potential. Psychedelics offer great potential as tools for researching elusive areas within humanistic and transpersonal psychology, as well as powerful ways to facilitate humanistic and transpersonal growth.Psychedelics, a term which means mind-manifesting, was first used in 1956 by Humphry Osmond to define a group of substances with potent psychoactive properties that had previously been called by more pejorative names, such as hallucinogenics (i.e., causing hallucinations) and psychotomimetics (i.e., mimicking psychoses; Williams, 1999). Grinspoon and Bakalar (1979) defined psychedelics as nonaddictive substances that do not cause major physiological or psychological disturbances while reliably producing strong changes in mood, perception, and thought in a fashion similar to what is sometimes found in dreams, memory flashbacks, psychoses, and religious ecstasy. Although the boundary between psychedelics and other substances that may alter consciousness is not always clearly delineated, current consensus broadly includes a number of substances that are

Ketamine-Enhanced Psychotherapy: Preliminary Clinical Observations on its Effects in Treating Death Anxiety

“…These non-ordinary states of consciousness offer an additional or alternative mechanism of ketamine's effects over and above purely biological explanations. One of us (Friedman, 2006) previously speculated that psychedelic drugs such as ketamine are specifically useful due to their transpersonal, rather than solely neurobiological, effects. This is also congruent with the conclusions of numerous researchers that spiritual factors are crucial in treating many psychological problems, such as is frequently discussed for alcoholism (e.g., Robinson, Brower, & Kurtz, 2003;Amodia, Cano, & Eliason, 2005).…”

“…Ketamine's lawful availability avoids the complex bureaucratic morass that must be navigated in researching other psychedelic substances, a process in which simply obtaining stringently restricted drugs for research purposes can take years to negotiate. In addition, the recent lifting of the ban on formal research on psychedelics in the US, which has opened the way for a number of important psychedelic studies that are now being conducted at major US universities (Friedman, 2006), leads to an exciting opportunity for expanding the already impressive line of therapeutic studies utilizing ketamine for treatment of addictive and mental disorders. Further, the recent study conducted by investigators at the National Institute of Mental Health (Zarate et al, 2006) reporting ketamine's positive effects among treatment-refractory patients with major depressive disorder adds to the legitimacy of examining ketamine's psychotherapeutic potential.…”

“…This war emphasized psychedelics' potential for harm (Cornwell & Linders, 2002) while overlooking their significant promise, thus potentially extracting a huge cost on society as a whole (Miron, 2004). One of the consequences of the suppression of psychedelic research (with the exception of ketamine) was an unjustified minimization of their potential therapeutic value, even though there is voluminous research literature supporting both the therapeutic efficacy and safety of psychedelic drugs when used by professionals for treating numerous addictive disorders and mental health problems (Friedman, 2006). However, this prohibition on research has changed recently with approval of several US studies of psychedelic psychotherapy for treating psychological/ psychiatric problems, including those related to terminal illnesses (Friedman, 2006).…”

“…One of the consequences of the suppression of psychedelic research (with the exception of ketamine) was an unjustified minimization of their potential therapeutic value, even though there is voluminous research literature supporting both the therapeutic efficacy and safety of psychedelic drugs when used by professionals for treating numerous addictive disorders and mental health problems (Friedman, 2006). However, this prohibition on research has changed recently with approval of several US studies of psychedelic psychotherapy for treating psychological/ psychiatric problems, including those related to terminal illnesses (Friedman, 2006). One such study at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, for treatment of existential anxiety in end-stage cancer patients, started in 2004 and was the first known legally-conducted study on this topic after the decades of prohibition; this study utilizes a psychedelic agent psilocybin (4-phosphoryloxy-N.N-dimethyltryptamine) and was developed and funded by the Heffter Research Institute (see www.canceranxietystudy.…”

Near-Death Experiences and the Possibility of Disembodied Consciousness: Challenges to Prevailing Neurobiological and Psychosocial Theories

“…Additionally, there are many reports of other psychedelic-induced experiences (e.g., LSD) that are also allegedly similar to NDE reports (Luke, 2008 for an extensive review of the literature on this). Unfortunately, since most of the research with psychedelic substances has been highly regulated until recently, developing this area of research was hindered for many years and had to rely primarily on anecdotal reports; fortunately, this is now changing with several studies using these substances being allowed (Friedman, 2006). Clearly exploration of the effect of psychedelics regarding NDEs is an area of research that needs further investigation.…”