COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course will continue the exploration of major themes in ketamine- and psychedelic- assisted therapy from prior modules, in order to support clinicians in improving both the quality of their clinical work as well as their own self-care.

In this workshop, we will focus on additional special topics in the application of principles and practices of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapies as they relate to the topics of: understanding neurotheology (the intersection of spiritual practices and neurophysiology); understanding ketamine and mystical experiences; the relationship between meditation, psychedelics, self- care and improved preparation phase interventions; and a continued focus on the dynamics of the therapy relationship with a particular emphasis on both the intersection of working with symbols and images and subtle intuition within a relational psychoanalytic theoretical perspective and approaches.

Teachings are appropriate for healthcare professionals as well as the general public. Healthcare professionals will be able to incorporate the tools and practices offered in this program in ways beneficial to clients or patients.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After completing this course, participants will be able to:

1. Describe two ways of making use of imagery in KAP integration.
2. List two different types of interventions that may support clients during the rapid remission process
3. Explain Bion’s idea of reverie and how it leads to psychic “containment,” by giving two examples of adequate containment of client experience in the psychedelic session.
4. Describe two key considerations pertaining to relational approaches in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.
5. List and describe two meditative practices that can be used for helping with therapist and patient attunement and therapist self-care in psychedelic assisted psychotherapy.
6. Describe two important areas of research in the emerging field of neurotheology.