All posts tagged: psychedelic

Exploring the Psyche During a Psychedelic Session

Exploring the Psyche During a Psychedelic Session

Published by Miika Tikkanen

I believe that discovering, speaking, and living our truths, along with unconditional self-love, are the true medicines for our wounded hearts and traumatized bodies. Psychedelic psychotherapy (PAT) helps us access both. Each session of PAT is different, and like any kind of therapy, the actual process and results depend on each individual person. I use a 5-phase framework for my sessions, which helps me better work with where the client is. The phases include: grounding and dropping in; on-set of the medicine; therapeutic exploration; coming down; wrapping up. I will focus on the exploratory phase in this post. In the exploratory phase, we examine everything that comes up and arises in the client’s consciousness: images, sounds, shapes, textures, sensations, stories, memories, and emotions. This might include: doors, fields, stars, space, pyramids, forests, tunnels, catacombs, coffins, insects, trees, father, mother, sister, aunt, basements, and creatures known and new. Not everything has meaning, but we must explore and discover what does. The client is the explorer of the cosmos and their own psyche. The therapist is a …

A Novel Benefit of the Psychedelic Ibogaine

A Novel Benefit of the Psychedelic Ibogaine

Published by Jenni Sidey

Ibogaine is the primary alkaloid in Tabernanthe iboga root bark. It’s a perennial plant native to the tropical rainforests of West Central Africa. It has been used in traditional African medicine for centuries. It induces profound mental, emotional, and spiritual experiences. In the West, it has been more recently recognized for its well-established anti-addictive properties. Numerous studies link ibogaine administration with reductions in drug cravings, in symptoms of withdrawal, and in return to opioid use (Barsuglia et al., 2018; Mash, 2023). The benefits it offers to reduce opioid addiction are likely related to the complex actions of ibogaine at the brain’s opioid receptors. Ibogaine has truly revolutionized the treatment of opioid addiction. Multiple open-label trials of hundreds of patients have discovered that a single dose administration of ibogaine reduced the use of prescription opioids and heroin. A single administration of ibogaine reduced opioid craving, insomnia, and depressed mood for several weeks after treatment. Ibogaine also reduced the major symptoms of opioid withdrawal. What Other Conditions Might Ibogaine Treat? Some recent studies suggest that ibogaine might …

Bergman: ‘The time is now’ to push for breakthroughs in psychedelic treatments

Bergman: ‘The time is now’ to push for breakthroughs in psychedelic treatments

Published by Sam Flores

Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.) said on Tuesday that “the time is now” to push for breakthroughs in psychedelic treatments given President Trump’s recent support for this field of research. At The Hill’s “Rethinking Psychedelic Treatment for America’s Mental Health Crisis” event sponsored by Definium Therapeutics, Bergman, co-founder and co-chair of Congressional Psychedelics Advancing Therapies (PATH)… Source link

Ibogaine: A Psychedelic Solution to the Opioid Epidemic?

Ibogaine: A Psychedelic Solution to the Opioid Epidemic?

Published by Jenni Sidey

Ibogaine is a psychoactive alkaloid found in the root bark of Tabernanthe iboga, a shrub native to Central and West Africa. For generations it has been used in Bwiti spiritual and initiation ceremonies in Gabon and neighboring regions. Ibogaine produces a profound long-lasting psychedelic state, potentially 24-48 hours. Many describe the dream-like experience as a personal “life review.” In the late 20th century, people began to notice something remarkable: some individuals who took ibogaine reported that their opioid or cocaine cravings dramatically decreased, and that withdrawal symptoms were blunted or even temporarily absent. This kicked off decades of underground use and small research programs looking at ibogaine as a potential “anti-addiction” medicine. In the United States, ibogaine is currently a Schedule I substance—classified as having “no accepted medical use” and a high potential for abuse. It is not FDA-approved for any indication. Most treatment with ibogaine today happens in clinics in Mexico, Canada, Brazil, and a few other countries with more permissive laws. Trump’s new executive order, passed April 18, 2026, is removing legal impediments …