Dr. Charles Flores: Psychedelics and Addiction

Are you curious about psychedelic medicine for addiction and people in recovery?

Today’s guest, Dr. Charles Flores (Vital Puma Integral Recovery), has spent 25 years exploring transpersonal psychology and substance abuse disorders.

On the show we discuss how psychedelic medicine can facilitate breakthroughs in addictive patterns. We talk about “process addiction” and the default mode network and we do so through the lens of pornography and internet addiction. Dr. Flores cautions against seeing psychedelics as a silver bullet for substance abuse issues and that the integration process must be longer and more skillful.

Dr. Flores is a nationally certified psychotherapist and advanced drug and alcohol counselor. He is a professor of Chemical Dependency Studies at Cal State, East Bay and is also the new Psychedelics and Addictions Fellow for the CIIS Center for Psychedelic Therapies and Research.

There are no simple answers in addiction treatment, but over the next hour, Dr. Flores helps us better understand the landscape.

LINKS

• Vital Puma Integral Recovery: www.vitalpuma.com

TIMESTAMPS

• :05 - How Dr. Flores’ childhood inspired him to study addiction
• :11 - What is addiction?
• :18 - Psychedelics for process addictions - for example addiction to internet pornography.
• :26 - The default mode network and patterns of addiction
• :29 - If you remove the trauma do you remove the addiction?
• :35 - Can psychedelic use itself become an addiction?
• :44 - Working with addiction requires skill and longer integration practices
• :50 - Resources for psychedelic therapists working with patients in recovery.