Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies for Nervous System Dysregulation
Psychedelic-assisted therapies (PAT) have emerged as a novel approach to treating nervous system dysregulation’s underlying causes and effects. This method, involving professionally guided, high-dose psychedelic sessions, offers an integrative strategy for addressing mental, emotional, and physiological imbalances.
Psychedelic-assisted therapy takes many forms, including group ceremonies, plant medicine retreats, and one-on-one sessions with medical professionals like nurses and psychotherapists. Varied approaches allow personalized treatment plans to align with individual needs and goals.
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Types of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies
One-on-one psychedelic-assisted therapy sessions:
Individual psychedelic therapy sessions involve a trained medical professional guiding patients through a controlled experience to address mental health challenges.
The process typically begins with preparation sessions where the therapist and patient work together to establish trust, set intentions, and prepare for the psychedelic experience. This stage includes a detailed assessment of the patient’s mental health, medical history, and specific symptoms.
During the psychedelic therapy sessions, which often occur in clinics, the patient ingests carefully measured high doses, and the practitioner remains present, providing support, empathy, and guidance as the person explores their inner landscape.
Group ceremonies:
Group experiences occur in various settings, like psychedelic churches, retreats, and underground circles worldwide. Trained and experienced guides lead these sessions, utilizing collective energy to steer individuals through their therapeutic journey.
Despite the communal atmosphere, participants do not typically interact during shared psychedelic ceremonies. Instead, they often lie on a mat with an eye mask, focusing on the inner experience.
Facilitators typically play music throughout the group experience to facilitate healing while asking participants to remain silent. This process allows people to focus on their subjective visions, sensory perceptions, and lessons.
Psychedelic retreats:
Plant medicine retreats are organized, immersive experiences that offer psychedelic sessions within a supportive container, often incorporating indigenous healing wisdom.
Ayahuasca retreats often occur in a sacred temple under the guidance of a shaman or wisdom keeper with extensive knowledge of plant medicine and spiritual realms.
During the ceremony, the shaman may use various tools like chanting, singing sacred songs called icaros, rhythmic drumming, and other ceremonial practices. These practices help align the energies of the group and allow people to navigate the often intense and profound hallucinatory state.
Benefits and Risks of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies
Whether in a group setting, sacred temple, or medical clinic, psychedelic-assisted therapies offer diverse pathways toward healing.
Psychedelics allow individuals to access and address underlying issues that conventional therapies might not reach, while enhancing one’s ability to change through neuroplasticity. This powerful combination supports long-lasting therapeutic effects for nervous-system-related conditions like depression, PTSD, anxiety disorders, and addiction.
However, long-lasting doesn’t necessarily mean permanent. Relapsing is a significant risk.
In a recent Andrew Huberman podcast, Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris admitted that, more often than not, people relapse in about three months following the psychedelic therapy experience. From his perspective, and that of most psychedelic experts, post-session integration is critical to mitigating this problem.
Psychedelic integration often involves discussions, reflection, and continued guidance from a therapist, shaman, or experienced facilitator to help people make sense of the journey and reinforce neuroplasticity by applying the insights into real changes in daily life.
“Life is a journey like the [psychedelic] trip is a journey, and there’s always work to do. So the [integration] work is ongoing. But [psychedelics give] people a foot up. It enables people to do the work more easily… That’s very true of classic psychedelics and also very true of MDMA therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder. It’s really making it easier to do very difficult work, going back to a trauma, to digest it, process it, integrate it.” – Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris.
Whether through integration therapy or personal practices like meditation and breathwork, patients must lead the charge in continuing holistic healing practices for the rest of their lives.
