Feb 3, 2021
In this episode of the Plant Medicine Podcast, researcher Chris Timmermann, PhD joins to discuss his recent publication regarding psychedelic apprenticeship. Dr. Timmermann is a researcher at the Center for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London where he conducted the first neuroimaging studies of DMT in healthy volunteers to explore potential mental health impacts. He is also the president and founder of the Foundation for the Study of Human Consciousness in Chile.
Dr. Timmermann’s paper "Towards psychedelic apprenticeship:
Developing a gentle touch for the mediation and validation of
psychedelic-induced insights and revelations" was recently
published in December 2020 and it provides a framework for tackling
the difficult problem of mediating knowledge gained during
psychedelic experiences. In this conversation, Dr. Timmermann
breaks down his article and discusses how different contexts for
psychedelic use (such as therapeutic, neo-shamanic, and research)
each come with their unique concerns in terms of the knowledge
these experiences can induce.
Highlighting the fact that it is the same mechanism causing both
therapeutic benefits and potential distress following psychedelic
experience, Dr. Timmerman explains that psychedelic guides and even
researchers can profoundly influence the content of a psychedelic
experience. His framework for apprenticeship seeks to address how
guides and researchers can best wield this influence positively,
and provides suggestions for how to better approach the integration
of experiences which feature visions or insights that can be
difficult to understand and internalize.
In this episode:
Quotes:
“There is a strong need for an intersubjective component to
validate this knowledge, these revelations, these insights.”
[8:45]
“The striking thing that I thought was really important was that it
seems to be the same mechanism which drives the benefits but also
drives the complications.” [15:58]
“The broader culture is inviting some sorts of narratives and
experiences and because the psychedelic state is a permeable state,
the system is porous to these narratives and memes.” [33:33]
“This process of apprenticeship essentially is a framework for us
to understand how we can help make sense of these experiences for
people, how they can approach the experience, but with a light
touch.” [41:55]
“What we’re doing with the science and what we’re doing with these
papers and so on is providing some form of context, some form of
mediation, some form of knowledge to try to contain these
experiences a bit more.” [50:26]
Links:
Dr. Chris Timmermann on
Twitter
Center
for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London
Dr. Timmermann’s recent paper
“Towards psychedelic apprenticeship: Developing a gentle touch for
the mediation and validation of psychedelic-induced insights and
revelations”
Psychedelic
Medicine Association
Porangui