Super interesting podcast with Marc Aixala on his book Psychedelic Integration (2022)

I am currently reading this very interesting book about integrating psychedelic experiences (Psychedelic Integration: Psychotherapy for Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness (2022) by Marc Aixala), and I was listening to a really great podcast with the author, I strongly recommend it!

They discuss important topics related to what integration is and how it can work, depending on your reasons for using psychedelics, your experience with them and your onward journey after psychedelics. They also talk about what to do if during a very intense psychedelic journey a person “remembers” something bad that happened to them in childhood, maybe sexual abuse by a family member. This “memory” – whether real or not, is obviously deeply disturbing to the person. Either it is a real memory and maybe legal action should be taken, or maybe it is not a real memory, but the person now has this “fake memory” and does not know why or what to do with it. So they look at, in the realm of integration, what do you do when you have a deeply disturbing experience during a psychedelic journey?

They also discuss which model for the therapeutic use of psychedelics is better, for example Western medical or traditional shamanic models. They get into how important labels such as “I suffer from PTSD” are and how having a diagnostic might affect us, and they look at the risk-benefits analysis for the use of psychedelics and who should / should not use psychedelics. They also get into how the West can integrate the use of psychedelics in a way that is complementary to the way that more traditional cultures in South America for example have been using them over the past many centuries as well other interesting topics.

So all in all, a super inspiring listen for anyone who is interested in psychedelics and their integration!