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It makes you an essential leader in bringing psychedelic therapy for substance addiction recovery. So we’re closer than ever to integrating psychedelic therapy in mental health care systems. Likewise, it is also possible that those navigating their recovery from drugs can interpret the use of psychedelics in counterproductive ways.
Exposure therapy or systematic desensitization work on this premise to treat different anxiety disorders by slowly exposing a patient to different degrees of the triggering situation while guaranteeing safety. This can slowly reduce the activation of emotional stress responses by the nervous system. Poor or abnormal neuroplasticity is a physiological characteristic of mood disorders, including depression, anxiety, and PTSD. This can lead to reduced learning and concentration capacity, as well as a hindered capacity to reframe thought patterns and adapt to new situations. Although the focus of this article is on trauma, depression, and anxiety are frequent comorbidities of unresolved trauma and PTSD.
Introducing the idea that some psychedelics are actually any kind of aid in addiction recovery can blur the lines between the positive and negative effects of drug use, creating unnecessary confusion and risks. Extensive education is required with the use of psychedelics in addiction treatment to inform if such an approach is suitable for a particular patient. Danielle Nova is the co-founder of the Microdosing Facilitator Training, founder of Psychedelic Recovery and Executive Director of the San Francisco Psychedelic Society. Danielle is a leading trainer and guide in the psychedelic field, specializing in addiction recovery, microdosing, and spiritual transformation. With over six years of professional experience in psychedelics, she has impacted over 20K individuals worldwide through providing comprehensive education, training programs and integration services.
So, what is a psychedelic-assisted therapy session like, and what exactly happens in these treatments? This article will shed some light on these topics, providing more information on what PAT practices have been studied and what these treatments typically involve. Drugs are applied for one or more sessions lasting as short as 45 minutes (ketamine) or as long as eight hours (psilocybin). Some members of Psychedelics in Recovery have embraced these clinical approaches with therapists in their own lives, understanding that healing often requires addressing deep-seated trauma. Psychedelics like MDMA, psilocybin, and ayahuasca have shown promise in helping individuals process and heal from trauma, allowing them to break free from the patterns of addiction.
This substance is known for its hallucinogenic and stimulant effects that produce feelings of intensified sensory perception, elevated mood, sociability, and increased energy. There’s an increasing cultural shift highlighting that these hallucinogens can heal—and even cure—a range of conditions and symptoms. We sat down with Ellen Vora, MD, the holistic psychiatrist and author of The Anatomy of Anxiety, to dive deep into the world of therapeutic psychedelics for a three-part video series. In our new video series, the holistic psychiatrist breaks down how psychedelics rewire the brain—and how these treatments can change lives. Hawaii Island Recovery, the Big Island’s premiere residential substance marijuana addiction abuse rehabilitation facility for adults, offers a comprehensive treatment program in a tranquil and healing environment.
However, while traditional 12-step programs have been transformative for many, they are not one-size-fits-all. Some individuals find the abstinence-only model too rigid or feel alienated by the spiritual language. Psychedelics in Recovery honors the strengths of 12-step recovery while expanding its scope to include those who seek healing through psychedelics, which may not align with the abstinence-only model. First, it is essential to highly monitor the use of psychedelics to identify and prevent any development of replacement addictions. Despite the potential positive benefits, there is also a chance for abuse of psychedelics or adverse reactions to the practice, and heavily monitoring a patient’s responses to their use and one’s attitudes surrounding them is paramount to the approach.
Research came to a screeching halt with the criminalization of psychedelic drugs. During this time of shifting paradigms, psychiatric research was flourishing with promising observations about the efficacy of psychedelics to treat psychiatric concerns. Since people with PTSD https://ecosoberhouse.com/ often have increased activity in the amygdala, this effect may support nervous and emotional regulation and aid the process of trauma integration 17. This suggests that it has the potential to alter the way memories are perceived. In fact, study participants reported perceiving bad memories as less negative and good memories as more euphoric, vivid, and intensified while on MDMA 15. This could be a great tool in trauma processing and the reframing of traumatic memories.
This mitigation of fear response can create a stronger frame in order to face emotionally challenging memories such as those tainted by trauma. Since the synthesis of LSD in 1938, thanks to the work of Albert Hoffman, its use for psychotherapy has been studied and experimented with by some of the biggest names in the psychedelic space. LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) was one of the most researched and explored substances in the 40s-60s. Although many of these substances have been used for centuries and even millennia, modern scientific research and standardization of their safe use still have ways to go, and certain substances have far more substantial research than others.
It’s like trying to put out a wildfire with a garden hose – sometimes, you need a more powerful tool. What’s more, the nature of psychedelics makes them near impossible to test using the established ‘placebo’ method. Test groups immediately know they have taken a mind-altering substance, and not an inert control.
