Psychedelic Psychodynamics: Relational Knowing and the Unthought Known
Psychoanalytic Dialogues September 3, 2022 Kevin M. Barrett 12 citations
After a two-decade moratorium on psychedelic research in the United States, new studies on psychedelic assisted psychotherapy have shown promising results for treating psychiatric disorders and improving well-being. Little has been written in contemporary psychoanalytic journals about using psychoanalytic theory to underpin this research. This paper examines three psychoanalytic concepts that may explain what is curative in psychedelic assisted psychotherapy: psychedelics as a catalyst for changing implicit relational patterns, the work of Winnicott and Christopher Bollas to explore the psychedelic experience, and the role of mystical experience in the therapy.