Acid redux: revisiting LSD use in therapy
Contemporary Justice Review November 18, 2008 Adam Jacobs 3 citations
After decades of dormancy, clinical research on hallucinogens in therapy has resumed, with Harvard approving psilocybin trials for terminally ill patients. This article re-evaluates earlier legal research on LSD as a therapeutic element, focusing on three cases: Stanislav Grof's Freudian LSD psychotherapy, Mendota Mental Health Center's psychedelic therapy for alcoholics, and Harriet Whitehead's discussion of Scientology auditing and Piagetian schemata. The article reviews sociological and pharmacological perspectives, discusses 1960s and 1970s LSD therapies, and evaluates this research through developments in cognition. While early enthusiasm was overstated, LSD may still have some utility in therapy when combined with other elements.