I am truly sorry to read of your experience. You have surfaced one of the risks inherent in the medicalization of psychedelics. For that reason, I wish your piece had been titled “Psychedelic THERAPISTS Will Not Save Us,” because that seems closer to the truth in this and other cases. Your takeaways about MDMA say more about setting and therapist than they do about the drug itself. As a counter-example: MDMA was absolutely crucial to my journey of recovery from years of sexual assault as a boy. I discovered the drug in 1985 (just after it was banned) and took it many times with my new girlfriend (now my wife) in settings that we devised by means of our own emerging wisdom and mutual trust. No power handed over to strangers. There’s no question those sessions began releasing me from the death-grip of trauma and opened me to a life-long bond with my partner. Other hallucinogens, also self-administered, played different roles in the healing. No doubt this approach is not for everyone—or even advised. I’m just passing it on. If you’re so inclined (especially given your work in progress), you can read more in my recently published memoir: https://www.amazon.com/Chosen-Memoir-Boyhood-Stephen-Mills/dp/1250823218
Thank you for sharing your story here, and I look forward to reading more…
I am truly sorry to read of your experience. You have surfaced one of the risks inherent in the medicalization of psychedelics. For that reason, I wish your piece had been titled “Psychedelic THERAPISTS Will Not Save Us,” because that seems closer to the truth in this and other cases. Your takeaways about MDMA say more about setting and therapist than they do about the drug itself. As a counter-example: MDMA was absolutely crucial to my journey of recovery from years of sexual assault as a boy. I discovered the drug in 1985 (just after it was banned) and took it many times with my new girlfriend (now my wife) in settings that we devised by means of our own emerging wisdom and mutual trust. No power handed over to strangers. There’s no question those sessions began releasing me from the death-grip of trauma and opened me to a life-long bond with my partner. Other hallucinogens, also self-administered, played different roles in the healing. No doubt this approach is not for everyone—or even advised. I’m just passing it on. If you’re so inclined (especially given your work in progress), you can read more in my recently published memoir: https://www.amazon.com/Chosen-Memoir-Boyhood-Stephen-Mills/dp/1250823218
Thank you for sharing your story here, and I look forward to reading more…