In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Kyle and David meet up to talk news, but end up mostly having a discussion about the numerous challenges facing the rapidly growing industry of psychedelic therapists, guides, and facilitators.
That discussion comes from the article, “Psychedelic workers of the world, unite!”, which breaks down the shortcomings and risks of an industry many are flocking to without realizing what they’ll likely have to deal with: unprecedented legal and financial risks, burnout, misalignment with management, transference and countertransference, and what happens when one finds themselves in the middle of a genuine emergency? While these issues could be found in any industry, a big reason why they seem so prevalent and dangerous in the psychedelic world is our lack of elders and passed-down experience – and the faster this all grows, the more we need that guidance.
And for news, they talk about Ohio State making history as the first U.S. University to receive a license to grow psilocybin mushrooms; a new study showing that LSD enhanced learning, exploratory thinking, and sensitivity to feedback; and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) funding $1.5 million to research the efficacy of psychedelics for substance use disorder – which spurs a conversation about research, funding, and the idea that maybe we’re spending too much time and money on neuroscience.
Links
(bolded links are the discussed articles)
Navigating Psychedelics For Clinicians and Therapists – Live Sessions (the next round launches in July)
Ecstaticintegration.org: Psychedelic workers of the world, unite!
Arizonaphysician.com: Challenging Medicine’s Status Quo: Sue Sisley, MD
Psychedelics Today: PT245 – Robin Carhart-Harris – Psychedelics, Entropy, and Plasticity
Neurosciencenews.com: How Neurons That Wire Together Fire Together
Mindmatters.ai: Why Pioneer Neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield Said the Mind is More Than the Brain
Beyond the Brain: Birth, Death, and Transcendence in Psychotherapy, by Stanislav Grof
