Theoretical Foundations of Psychedelic Therapy, Fall 2022 | Online

Faculty

Course Description

Learning Objectives

• Describe and clinically recognize the emergence of increased interpersonal ”connectedness” as a central component of improvement from depressive disorders seen with psychedelic therapy
• Use the direct subjective experiences reported by participants in psychedelic therapy to establish and maintain abstinence in individuals with addictive disorders
• List the ways that psychedelic therapy helped individuals with cancer related anxiety regain meaning in their lives and recover from existential distress caused by their cancer diagnosis and treatment
• Describe the components of psychological rigidity and psychological flexibility and list the ways that psilocybin therapy facilitates improvement in anxiety and depressive disorders
• Explain the phenomena that occur during placebo psychedelic experiences and discuss the implications of these findings in terms of user expectation in psychedelic experiences.
• Critique the concept of creativity and microdosing of psychedelic medicines and describe how these medicines may be used to enhance creativity in the future.
• Analyze a recent research study on psychedelic and creativity to explain the historic anecdotal reports in enhanced creativity through use of psychedelic experiences.
• Compare indigenous concepts of ayahuasca cosmology with those found in contemporary neo-shamanism, and apply this knowledge to experiences that patients report in traditional psychotherapy settings
• Revise traditional meanings of terms used in Western psychology (light, dark, healing, change, spirit) in accordance with ones that patients learn in their work in neoshamanic ayahuasca ceremonies
• Prepare to understand the meaning of purging and vomiting during ayahuasca ceremonies in ways that are radically different from the meanings commonly used for those behaviors in Western psychology.

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.