FULL – Psychedelics & Psychoanalysis | Winter 2023

Faculty

Course Description

Learning Objectives

• Utilize familiar psychoanalytic concepts to understand the changes in consciousness that can occur during psychedelic states
• Discuss ego death and ego dissolution as central phenomena in the process of psychedelic therapy and how this relates to change processes in psychoanalysis
• Compare the applications of psychedelic treatment in mid 20th Century psychoanalytic work to current applications that are emerging
• Describe in detail the differences between psychedelic therapy and psycholytic therapy
• Critique the contributions of mid-20th century psychoanalysts to psychedelic scholarship, especially the work of Betty Eisner, PhD
• Utilize basic information from the field of neuropsychoanalysis to understand changes in narrative identity that occur both in psychoanalysis and psychedelic therapy
• Critique the concept of “reduction in psychological defensiveness” as an effect of psychedelic treatment
• Explain the components of the mystical state in the language of psychoanalysis, and integrate this knowledge with approaches to clinical treatment
• Discuss the contributions that Jungian psychoanalysts have brought to the field of psychedelic therapy
• Describe the phenomena of “hyperassociative” or “unconstrained” mind and relate this understanding to psychoanalytic change mechanisms
• Describe the altered states of consciousness that emerge in psychoanalysis, itself, and critique how this is similar/different from psychedelic states of consciousness
• Compare the behavioral therapy model of “psychological flexibility” to the methods and goals of psychoanalysis
• Describe contemporary unifying theories of psychedelic action using 21st-century models of predictive processing, integrated information theory, and Carhart-Harris’ REBUS model
• Explain how psychoanalysis, both as a method and a theory, offers a particularly valuable conceptualization of “set and setting” and bring this knowledge to the field of psychedelic therapy

Perks

• Registration includes access to our online classroom, course handouts, and private course discussion board. All attendees may opt to be added to our professional community email list of about 1,000 professionals who have completed this (or similar) courses with us.