Recommendations for a therapeutic psychedelic

[pau]

I would say small doses of 2c-e....maybe the 10mg range (to start) for beginners, along with a sitter who understands psychotherapy. But personally I wouldn't introduce somebody to psychodelics...if it's in their destiny, they're going to take them on their own and get past the "beginner" stage that way.

 

[Eye]

You might look into MDMA (ecstasy). It has a long and glorious history of use in therapy.

-from http://www.thegooddrugsguide.com/articles/e_therapy.htm

Before smileys, glow sticks and Mitsubishis, before raves and techno, Ecstasy had a lengthy, respected, and legal career as a psychotherapeutic drug.

MDMA had been chanced upon by the German pharmaceutical company Merck in 1912 (they also extracted cocaine from coca leaves around the same time). It was patented but since it had no obvious use it soon disappeared off the radar. Contrary to rumors, it was not developed as a diet pill.

-healing the mind-
In 1965, the American biochemist Alexander Shulgin rediscovered Ecstasy while searching for psychotherapeutic drugs.

Uniquely, Shulgin had a special license from the Federal Drugs Administration to develop and synthesize psychedelic drugs. In his career (documented in his book Phikal), he created over 300 substances, including 2-CT-7 and 2CB.

After a dramatic experience with mescaline, he was personally convinced that drugs could heal the mind, and was determined to prove it.

After creating a batch of MDMA, he took a nibble.

"I made it in my lab and nibbled. It gave me a pleasant lightness of spirit. That's all. No psychedelic effects whatsoever. Just a distinct lightness of mood. And an indication to get busy and do things that needed doing."

-couples therapy-
In the early 1980s, Ecstasy (known then as 'Empathy' or 'Adam') was legal and available in bars across America, replacing cocaine as the middle class drug of choice. It was also widely and legally used by a network of over 4,000 psychotherapists in the US, proving itself particularly effective for couples therapy.

The public and unashamed use of such an obviously powerful drug, however, could only go on for so long.

*****

Shulgin devoted some space to the story in his book Pihkal. Shulgin gave it to a friend and therapist who was on the verge of retirement, and the drug experience caused the therapist to stay in practice and successfully shared the drug with many therapists and thousands of patients.

You can read more about it at Erowid, here: http://www.erowid.org/references/refs.php?C=MDMAhttp://www.erowid.org/references/texts/show/1120docid954, including an article by Greer and Tolbert. The abstract to that article is here: http://www.erowid.org/references/refs.php?C=MDMA and contains links to the entire article.

I have been using DXM successfully for its therapeutic properties. I can't tell you how much it has helped us. I started it for its creativity-enhancing properties but soon discovered it had great value for other purposes.

My partner was sexually abused for years as a child, and our sex life sputtered out because of it. We had not been intimate for a long, long time. But we have been experimenting with DXM for a few months, and she has been working on her sexual issues. It's not a direct approach but rather a way to view it as it comes out. We did not find it traumatic at all. In fact, besides mentioning that it might help her in that area as it has helped me with my own issues. Last week we had sex twice. TWICE. Her idea, no prompting on my part. And I don't get the sense it will go away any time soon.

Fair warning: DXM dampens sexual response but not desire. What we thought about while on DXM could not have been implemented while still under its influence. What that means is that what was resolved when on it did not dissipate when it left the brain.

For me, I was able to get angry with my parents for mistreating me as a child and an adolescent and then forgive them for their mistakes. I have been able to write about my feelings and share them with my parents. I have stopped hiding from people I once knew because of shame I felt for not being anywhere near successful in life according to other people's perception. My failures have more to do with social unacceptability of living as an open lesbian, the reason my parents' treatment of me was so inhumane. But they were products of their time, and whatever mistakes they made have been more than erased by more recent deeds and acceptance.

I must accept that the difficulties I have faced were the result of my sexuality and my openness about it. I did it by choice because being open is the only way to change hearts and pave the way for better lives for others who come after me. It's okay to have failed at the usual measures of success. My life has been a huge success for what has been important to me. If that's not good enough, I can't imagine what could be good enough.

I'm proud of my relationship. I wish everyone had a partnership like ours.

 

[Perloo]

Wow... more great replies. I'm sorry I've not had chance to post here this week and catch up.

I'm not sure whether it's anymore valuable than staying sober and having therapy tho

Don't get me wrong, as a trained counsellor I'm a huge believer in the potential of talking therapies, especially humanistic approaches like those of Carl Rogers. I wouldn't necessarily say psychedelics are any more or less useful than talking therapies. I think they're both useful tools and that people get out of them what they put into the experiences. I've had great benefits from going through counselling but am intrigued by the possibilities offered by psychedelics as well.

As for trying to integrate the lessons of the LSD experience into your everyday life, I'm not sure that ever works. Incorporating the lessons of LSD into your job at the slaughterhouse killng chickens is going to be extremely difficult for example.

In terms of integrating the experience and relating it to everyday life, whilst the psychedelic experience isn't going to change the fact that I'm dissatisfied at work and am struggling financially I think the potential is there for them to help me reframe different aspects of my life and relate to the world in a diffferent, more beneficial way. Anything that helps increase self awareness and gives a new perspective on emotional problems is going to be beneficial IMO.

@Eye: Thanks a lot for those interesting references and for relating your personal experiences with DXM. I had not considered dissociatives as possible tools for self exploration but they have been mentioned a couple of times in this thread so may be worth further investigation.

I should hopefully have an opportunity in the next month or so to take this further so will report back when I do.

 

[skinwalker]

Mushrooms and dmt have helped me immensely, words cannot describe!
In my adolescent years I experimented with psyches but in a way that they weren't respected, so I gained
very little at that time, primarily from immaturity.
Now I have been working with both mushrooms and dmt at least monthly for the past year and have been the happiest in my entire life. Again words cannot do justice.
It has allowed for me to let go of my past haunting memories which in turn was affecting my day to day life to the point I was making myself physically ill, I was suffering from severe depression at best. It has allowed for me to look forward to what the future beholds not only for me but for everyone in my life.
I totally agree with psyches being a tool and not a silver bullet to enlightenment, based in my past experience as an adolescent it worked against me at that time, which just fueled my anxiety and frustrations.
The analogy I can only think of is your spirit is like a blooming flower, you have to reach within yourself to be the happiest possible by radiating positive energy to everyone and everything, by doing this you allow for yourself to bloom to your fullest potential. But just as easy as it is to allow for yourself to bloom it is just as easy to allow yourself to wilt and support the behavior that allows you to do so. It certainly isn't as easy as it sounds. Psyches has helped me to unravel many of my inhibitions that I built up throughout my life that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to; other than through many hours of therapy/counseling. These same inhibitions did nothing to help me but fuel the unrelenting misery I was experiencing. I am forever changed by these tools and will always have the utmost respect for them!

 

[Survived Abortion]

The analogy I can only think of is your spirit is like a blooming flower, you have to reach within yourself to be the happiest possible by radiating positive energy to everyone and everything, by doing this you allow for yourself to bloom to your fullest potential. But just as easy as it is to allow for yourself to bloom it is just as easy to allow yourself to wilt and support the behavior that allows you to do so. It certainly isn't as easy as it sounds. Psyches has helped me to unravel many of my inhibitions that I built up throughout my life that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to; other than through many hours of therapy/counseling. These same inhibitions did nothing to help me but fuel the unrelenting misery I was experiencing. I am forever changed by these tools and will always have the utmost respect for them!

Totally! (Beautiful) :D

 

[interleukin]

4-aco-dmt for mood stabilization. I was depressed for over 2 years - night after 4-aco-dmt I felt... normal. I have not been abnormally depressed since. I used many other psychedelics before it so it appears that this gem might have a special mode of action.