Chasing Consciousness Dr. Rosalind Watts - PSYCHEDELIC THERAPY EXPLAINED
What is the protocol for psychedelic therapy? How does it work? Who is it appropriate for?
Today we have the interesting topic to look into, of how psychedelic compounds are now being used in psychotherapy. With promising results in clinical trials from Imperial College around the mid 2010’s, a flourish of trials at other medical schools across the world has seen a renaissance of the psychedelic movement for treating, particularly depression and PTSD, that was started by transpersonal psychologists like Stan Grof in the 1960’s before then being banned.
Along with this renaissance has come interest from pharmaceutical companies and psychonauts, psychotherapists and members of the general public suffering from treatment resistant conditions. With all this activity there is confusion about what the results from the studies actually show, how the treatment should be done safely, ethically and with lasting results and who to be contacting if you want to try it out. So I thought it was important to speak about these matters here for anyone interested in getting a data led picture of the fast evolving situation, among all the noise out there on the internet.
Fortunately my guest today is a clinical psychologist who’s been at the centre of the field since the beginning of the renaissance, and not just as a researcher but as a hands on psychologist in the therapy room with the subjects at all stages of the process, Dr. Rosalind Watts.
Dr. Watt’s work as the Clinical psychologist Lead for Imperial College London’s psilocybin trials, have made her one of the most prominent voices and minds in the field of psychedelic research. She has been named as one of the 50 Most Influential People in Psychedelics; however, what sets Dr Watts apart is her focus on integration, harm-reduction and inclusion in the psychedelic space.
Apart from treating she also builds tools and structures to foster connectedness after psychedelic experiences, finding inspiration for their design from nature. The most recent of which is the integration community she’s created - ACER Integration.
What we speak about:
00:00 Intro
04:30 Clubbing community
07:40 The psychedelic therapy process: step by step
08:40 1. Screening: for people it could suit VS cause problems for
09:50 2. Preparation: Building trust and safety in vulnerability
11:15 The psychedelic experience is the beginning not the end of the work
13:05 Sharing meals; music and essential oils used to encourage relaxation and surrender
16:50 At least two guides needed for ethical and practical reasons
19:50 The ‘Pearl Dive’ analogy, deep down to the hidden traumas
26:50 3. The therapy session itself
28:50 A non-directed approach to the journey from the guides
33:05 4. Integration: after the experience, maximising benefits
35:10 Planting the pearl of insight to nourish and nurture them
35:40 6 months later the depression was back
44:20 The role of ritual and ceremony in effective results
46:20 Appropriated from Mexican Mazatec tradition of psilocybin for healing
49:50 How to talk about the ceremonial without deities and religions
54:50 Opening up to the sacred wound VS numbing the feelings
58:50 Ros’s first experience: Fear before and transformation after
01:07:35 The ‘brain reset’ analogy and the expectations it created
01:12:05 Mystical experience’s importance in the transformation
01:18:05 Adverse psychedelic effects: actively facing the hardest places
References:
ACER Community Integration Group
Dr. Rosalind Watts, A.C.E. Accept, Embody, Connect model
Maria Sabina, Mexican shaman - Life magazine 1957
Adverse effects trial at Greenwich University: Jules Evans and David Luke
Increased brain connectivity following psilocybin treatment
Little Pharma (Dr. Ben Sessa)