In contrast to the sitter model of psychedelic therapy where the transformation primarily occurs in an encounter between the medicine and the participant, or ceremonial containers which focus on a transcendent, transpersonal experience, you will find that Psychedelic Somatic Interactional Psychotherapy (PSIP) is a very different pathway into psychedelic healing. A premise of PSIP is that human relational wounding requires human relationship in order to heal.

Because PSIP is fundamentally a highly relational, autonomic nervous system-based, psychedelic trauma modality, we focus on...

1. ...The client’s personal, biographical, human experience instead of aiming for transcendence or unity consciousness. Spiritual development cannot undo early childhood, developmental trauma such as insecure attachment. You can know the face of god while still not being able to be in a relationship.

2. ...Dissociation because it is such a common biological defense to trauma. The release of endogenous opioids can not only make traditional therapy ineffective, but it can also disrupt any psychedelic response. If you have ever had a psychedelic experience where you felt sober or unaltered during the session, that is likely your dissociation making itself known. For more reading on this topic, see the PSIP case study on dissociation published in Frontiers in Psychiatry where a client diagnosed with the dissociative subtype of PTSD experienced a 98.5% reduction in her D-PTSD scores after 10 cannabis assisted PSIP sessions.

3. ...The PSIP therapist being an active participant in the psychedelic session. This makes the session far more relational in nature, and opens the door for the client to experience deep relational corrective experiences with their therapist such as corrective touch, being seen, attuned to, and protected. The PSIP therapist also becomes a vehicle for all the ruptures in the client’s relational history. This allows the therapist to maintain relationship with the client when they are in their worst, most alienated, and abuse-filled memories. This is often expressed through an embodied projection of negative transference onto the therapist.

As wonderful as the experiences of love and light are in the psychedelic space, there are so many healing opportunities that arise as relationship and embodiment are focused on in the psychedelic session.