Analytic Explorations in Psychedelic Therapy

Analytic Explorations in Psychedelic Therapy is a 12-week course that focuses on applying psychoanalytic concepts and theory to contemporary psychedelic therapy.

Participants will learn how psychoanalytic theory and practice can shed light on such concepts as the inner healer, connection, ego death, spiritual, unitive, and challenging experiences, while exploring how contemporary psychedelic research and theory may bring about revisions or extensions to psychoanalytic theory. Through reading relevant papers, sharing reactions to music, art, film, and poetry, and exploring the experiential component of the course, participants will develop a deeper understanding of the dynamic concepts of the psyche, consciousness, and the psychotherapeutic process.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to analyze the concepts of DIED, attachment, object-relatedness, and transference, as well as the reduction of defensiveness, transitional phenomena, implicit relational knowing, and native healing intelligence. They will also be able to apply these concepts to using eyeshades, music, headphones, and the couch in psychedelic-assisted therapy, and discuss the ethical guidelines for touch in recent psychedelic therapy trials.

The course will contrast psychoanalytic and shamanic models of psychedelic healing and explore the implications of touch on transference and countertransference.

This course is given each quarter and qualifies for 15 continuing education (CE) credits.