Psychedelics and Psychotherapy: The Healing Potential of Expanded States

- Addresses challenging psychedelic experiences, spiritual emergencies, and the central importance of the therapeutic relationship

- Details the use of cannabis as a psychedelic tool, spiritual exploration with LSD, micro-dosing with Iboga, and MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD

Exploring the latest developments from the flourishing field of modern psychedelic psychotherapy, this book shares practical experiences and insights from both elders and newer research voices in the psychedelic research and clinical communities.

The contributors examine new findings on safe and skillful work with psychedelic and expanded states for therapeutic, personal, and spiritual growth as well as addressing challenging psychedelic experiences and spiritual emergencies. They explain the dual process of opening and healing--how opening the mind and the heart with psychedelics and expanded states can help dissolve psychic barriers and encourage deep healing. They explore new approaches for individual inner work as well as for the healing of ancestral and collective trauma. They examine the power of expanded states for reparative attachment work and offer insights on the integration process through the lens of holotropic breathwork. The contributors also examine the use of cannabis as a psychedelic tool, spiritual exploration with LSD, micro-dosing with Iboga, treating depression with psilocybin, and MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD.

Revealing diverse ways of working with psychedelics in terms of set, setting, and type of substance, the book concludes with discussions of ethics and professional development for those working in the field as well as exploring considerations for training the next generation of psychedelic therapists.