João Ribeiro & João da Fonseca
Venue: ESS | P.Porto
Date: 18th April 2024
Duration: 3 hours (from 2pm until 5pm)
Agenda:
Psychedelic-assisted therapy is one of the greatest innovations in mental health and currently a hot topic of scientific research. Stanislav Grof, a pioneer in this field, wrote that “psychedelics would be for psychiatry what the microscope is to the study of biology and medicine or the telescope for astronomy”, given the potentially revelatory and transformative nature of psychedelic experiences.
Modern psychedelic therapy started in the 1950s and combines the use of different psychedelic substances with specific psychological interventions. It requires clinicians to engage and support the patient in powerful evocative experiences which are emotional, surprising and sometimes mystical. Currently, psychedelic therapy is already being delivered in the form of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy.
The primary goal of this workshop is to provide skills for therapists and mental health professionals who are working with patients who underwent psychedelic-assisted therapy or some other psychedelic experience with a therapeutic intention. This process is called integration: making sense of a past psychedelic experience and learning from it.
In the first part, we will introduce psychedelic therapy, discuss research, go through the therapeutic process with practical examples and a focus on ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, explain potential risks and debate ethical challenges. In the second part, we will approach integration of psychedelic therapy into long-term psychotherapy, talk about bringing the experiential and the spiritual into therapy and experiment with some practical exercises and skills.
Part 1 – Psychedelic-assisted therapy with a focus on ketamine
- Introduction to psychedelic-assisted therapy
- How does psychedelic therapy work? A focus on ketamine-assisted psychotherapy
- Risks and ethical challenges of psychedelic therapy
Part 2 – Integrating psychedelic therapy into long-term psychotherapy
- Making sense of psychedelic experiences with different psychotherapy models
- Bringing experience and soul back into therapy
- Integration skills for psychedelic experiences
5th International Mental Health Meeting of Romão de Sousa Foundation