Grofians Unauthorized
Discussion Group
Grofian Peyotists
Prevention and Management of Complications. . .
The following excerpts are from
LSD PSYCHOTHERAPY. Grof, S. 1980
ISBN 0-89793-166-1
http://www.promind.com/bk_lps.htm
--excerpts from Chapter 5:
PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT OF COMPLICATIONS IN LSD PSYCHOTHERAPY
"Understanding the basic dynamics of the complications that arise in LSD psychotherapy is absolutely essential for their prevention and treatment. An important part of this work has to be done during the preparation for the first . . . session. The therapist has to explain clearly to the patient that the intensification of symptoms, deep emotional turmoil, and even psychosomatic manifestations in the course of . . . therapy do not mean failure of treatment but are logical and meaningful parts of the process. As a matter of fact, such phenomena frequently occur just before a major therapeutic breakthrough. Another important message that has to be communicated before the [session] is that the incidence of these complications can be considerably reduced by consistent internalization of the . . . sessions. Full, unselective experiencing of whatever surfaces during the drug sessions, and finding appropriate channels for discharging deep pent-up energies are of crucial importance for safe and effective psychedelic therapy. It is also essential that the patients understand the function and importance of active work during the termination period on unresolved issues. Explaining the rationale, basic principles, and rules for cooperation increases the chances for good integration of the sessions and reduces the incidence of prolonged reactions or 'flashbacks.'
The basic principles of conducting LSD sessions have already been described and will be only briefly summarized here. A patient who removes the eyeshades to avoid confrontation with difficult emotional material that is surfacing is not likely to have a smooth and clean reentry and should be prepared for difficulties in the post-session interval. Similarly, unwillingness to work hard on unfinished material in the termination period of the session might mean a prolonged process of integration with investment of the therapist's and patient's time and energy for days to come.
Even if the above criteria are met, it is not possible to eliminate with any certainty the belated occurrence of various emotional and psychosomatic aftereffects. Psychedelic experiences represent powerful interventions in the dynamics of the unconscious and it takes time to integrate them. Even a well-resolved session may be followed by later upsurges of additional unconscious material, because the experience might have removed an important block and made available new contents that were previously successfully repressed." ((p. 212)
"For patients who are properly instructed and guided, these reactions usually do not represent serious problems. They are trained in dealing with unusual states of consciousness and see them as windows into their unconscious and opportunities for self-exploration, rather than as threats to their sanity. Since the emotional material usually tends to surface during the hypnagogic and hypnopompic periods, it is not difficult to take some time and approach such episodes as 'micro-sessions.' A short period of hyperventilation can help to activate the underlying problem and facilitate its resolution through fuller experience and energy discharge. This approach is far preferable to the usual effort to suppress and control the emerging material, which prevents the lasting solution and binds much of the patient's energy. Frequently, difficult emotions and physical symptoms can disappear after half an hour of introspective work." (p. 213)
"In the rare instances where the adverse aftereffects are very intense and the patients are potentially dangerous to others or to themselves, it may be necessary to keep them in the therapeutic facility twenty-four hours a day until these reactions subside. . . . If the non-drug work fails to bring desirable results it is advisable to shorten the free interval and run another LSD session as soon as possible, to complete the unfinished gestalt. An interval of less than five to seven days tends to decrease the intensity and the therapeutic efficacy of the next session, because of the biological tolerance incurred by the previous administration. . . .
In particularly resistant cases the therapist may decide to resort to the use of other pharmacological substances. Major or minor tranquilizers should be avoided, since their effect is contrary to the basic strategy of any uncovering approach and psychedelic therapy in particular. By inhibiting the process, blurring the experience, and obscuring the nature of the underlying problem, they prevent its resolution. In those instances where the unconscious material is close to the surface but is blocked by a barrier of intense psychological resistance, inhalation of Meduna's mixture (thirty percent of carbon dioxide and seventy percent of oxygen) can be very useful. A few inhalations of this mixture can cause a brief but powerful activation of the underlying unconscious matrix and facilitate a breakthrough. A session with Ritaline (40-100 milligrams) can occasionally help in the integration of material from the previous . . . session. Psychedelic drugs wih a certain affinity for positive dynamic systems, such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) can be used with advantage. A drug that holds great promise in this indication but has not been sufficiently explored, is ketamine (Ketalar). It is a drug approved for medical purposes, which has been used by surgeons for general anesthesia. This anesthesia is of a dissociative type, which is very different from the one induced by conventional anesthetics. Under the influence of ketamine consciousness is not obliterated but deeply changed and drastically refocused. An out-of-body state is induced in which the patient loses contact with and interest in objective reality and gets involved in various cosmic adventures, to a degree that makes surgical operations possible. Optimal dosages for psychedelic purposes are relativey small, 50-150 milligrams, which is about one-twentieth to one-sixth of the standard anesthetic dose. The psychoactive effect even in this low-dose range is so powerful that it catapults the patient beyond the point of impasse from the previous . . . session, and can make it possible for him or her to reach a better level of integration." (p. 214)
|
|
|
To post a message to the dscussion group:
Send E-mail to:
Home: