Looking Up at the Stars from the Middle of the Lake: Dare We Speak of Spirit? A Model of Psychedelic Consciousness for Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalytic Dialogues November 2, 2025 David Raniere 1 citation
Psychoanalytic theory and practice can be extended to engage expanded states of consciousness induced by psychedelic medicine. Using a clinical illustration of ketamine-assisted psychoanalysis, the author proposes the concept of the intra-collective as a transpersonal holding environment that contains the intersubjective field, where highly organized, undifferentiated, and developmentally mature psychic states occur. A new lexicon is needed to access unitive experiences beyond the traditional analytic register. The term Spirit establishes a pathway to this non-dualistic level of consciousness and preserves sacred experiences that exist beyond the symbolic realm.