Anyone experienced with MDMA assisted psychotherapy?

[Changa707]

Hey guys and girls, I am very interested in MDMA assisted therapy...though most MDMA users do it to have fun and party, my priorities have changed recently and I want to experienced an empathogen in a different setting (not just in a club, or at a rave)...I want to uncover my past and find out the source of my anxieties and fears that cause me to smoke tobacco and weed so much...not to mention I have been dabbling with opioids a lot recently and my body feels weak.

I have about 0.2 grams of MDA powder here, and am hoping to make the most of this 0.2. The closest person to me right now is my girlfriend, but I don't know if I would feel comfortable opening up to much to here. I also have a good male friend, but the same thing there...not sure they are ready for it. I mean, I don't know anyone who is a trained psychotherapist...who deals with these situations.

The thought of me taking MDMA and going to a therapist is also bothersome...because most therapists I have visited seemed to shy away from deep stuff...and they make me paranoid becuase they record so much information and just seem threatening to me sometimes (like they get inside your head).

Does anyone here have experience taking MDMA/MDA and doing psychotherapy on yourself?....that is, without a second individual to guide you? I always felt like with psychedelics at least that the drug is the teacher...you don't need another person to intervene. Is this not the case with empathogens?

Hope my question/comment was consise...let me know if I should elaborate further, but I think you guys get the gist.

 

[Erikmen]

IMO, MDMA is hard to deal with when you are dating someone. It´s all about options and priorities. If you have a girlfriend, I believe it´s difficult to combine a healthy relationship with using MDMA or any other substance.
Most women would prefer to have a full relationship without 'drugs'. They want special diners, flowers, sex, date, kissing and, most importantly, attention. Therefore, unless they are addicted, in my opinion, I don´t think we can have both.
I have lots of experience in psychotherapy and I honestly don´t know how you can truly be opened to your feelings if they are mixed with substances that will change your perception about your own feelings.
I´m sorry if my response is not what you are expecting. Probably you will get others.
It´s not that I don´t like it. I actually like it too much. However, reality has shown that drugs will always be bad for me.
Maybe you are only using it with moderation and maybe it can work.
I wish you can accomplish what you are looking for!

 

[Changa707]

IMO, MDMA is hard to deal with when you are dating someone. It´s all about options and priorities. If you have a girlfriend, I believe it´s difficult to combine a healthy relationship with using MDMA or any other substance.
Most women would prefer to have a full relationship without 'drugs'. They want special diners, flowers, sex, date, kissing and, most importantly, attention. Therefore, unless they are addicted, in my opinion, I don´t think we can have both.
I have lots of experience in psychotherapy and I honestly don´t know how you can truly be opened to your feelings if they are mixed with substances that will change your perception about your own feelings.
I´m sorry if my response is not what you are expecting. Probably you will get others.
It´s not that I don´t like it. I actually like it too much. However, reality has shown that drugs will always be bad for me.
Maybe you are only using it with moderation and maybe it can work.
I wish you can accomplish what you are looking for!

Interesting you say that MDMA shouldn't be mixed with relationships...I would have thought it might help forge stronger bonds between two people. And besides, my girlfriend is smart enough to tell the difference between a "drug" and a "tool", if you will. Although I understand where you are coming from when you say that all drugs essentially change your brain chemistry...so its hard to tell if what you are feeling is real, lol. But to me anything can be real...its up to us to decide.

Now, i took MDMA maybe ten times...especially at music events, and always a good experience it was...except for my last experience where I became quite depressed after taking MDMA and had a panic attack the next day ( I read that MDMA can cause panic attacks post-use)

So since then I have been more wary of the substance, but I feel like it has great potential to change ones outlook on life...probably moreso than some classic psychedelics, simply because the MDMA experience is easier to integrate into ones life context IMO....psychedelics like mushrooms can be very mystical and philosophical, but the revelations are fleeting and hard to hold onto.

 

[drugs_for_parents]

I have acted as therapist using 5-MAPB before (quite similar to MDMA chemically and in effects) as well as numerous psychedelics. I am a physicist, not a professional therapist, so take what I say with a grain (or more) of salt.

Erikmen is wrong in my experience, there are definitely girls who like occasional empathogen use in relationships, there are also girls who don't. My advice here is to talk to her about it and see what she thinks.

I also disagree about being open with your feelings on drugs. Certainly drugs cause us to view the world through a different lens, and this lens brings with it a new set of biases. The useful aspect is that these new biases differ from our usual ones and can sometimes let us see things that are obvious with this new bias set, but very opaque with our normal biases. I always remind people to think whatever they want while high, but to evaluate the ideas they came up with high while sober to ensure that they still apply. Usually about 50% of the revelations turn out to apply sober. This can still be the equivalent of years of progress though.

My main use as a therapist for people on 5-MAPB was to ensure that they stay somewhat on topic. The tendency seems to be to get lost talking about minor points without addressing the major ones. There's some art in knowing which tangents are useful and which are not... Reading this manual (http://www.maps.org/research-archiv...otherapy_Treatment_Manual_Version_6_FINAL.pdf) may be useful for whoever is going to act as your therapist. Its specifically written for PTSD treatment, so some parts may be less applicable in your case. It was very useful for me my first time.

My advice is to have your male friend be the therapist. When taken with someone you are romantically interested in, there is the tendency to focus on that relationship rather than on your own issues. It is certainly still possible (I have played therapist for my gf before) but it was difficult to keep her from focusing on our relationship rather than her issues. Someone with no experience might not be able to do this. Also, why would you not feel comfortable opening up to her?

Drugs are medicine. Taking too much medicine is bad for you, but that doesn't mean you should refuse to use medicine ever. That MDMA can be useful in psychotherapy (in moderation!) is becoming well established scientifically thanks to a number of recent studies (these can be found on the same site I linked to earlier).

About the panic attacks: this is usually a sign of serotonin depletion. Are you waiting long enough between uses and using reasonable amounts? Using small amounts (100mg-150mg without re-dosing would fit this) no more than once every two months I have never seen anyone have bad after effects from serotonin releasing agents. On the other hand people who use them twice in a week or redose usually seem to have nasty comedowns.