Outline is as follows: I. Introduction
II. Problem Statement: Western research on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy has almost exclusively focused on a two therapists for one patient model, which has been necessary for the MAPS Phase 3 trials and pursuing FDA approval. However, this model is not scalable because of:
a. Affordability
b. Access to Care
III. Group Psychotherapy in Psychedelics
a. Recreational Group Psychedelic Use (raves, music festivals)
b. Underground Psychedelic Assisted Group Therapy (schedule 1 psychedelics consumed illegally under the supervison of a therapist – note ethical concerns and lack of accountability)
c. Academic Research in the 20th Century (Trope, A. et al., (2019) Psychedelic Assisted Group Therapy: A Systematic Review)
d. Swiss Contributions – the Swiss have had compassionate use of psychedelics since 2016 (Peter Gasser, MD has several articles about using MDMA and LSD in a group setting)
e. 21st Century Research (Pomomarenko, P. et al., (2023) Can psychedelics enhance group psychotherapy?) (Lewis, B. et al., (2023) Group format psychedelic-assisted therapy interventions: Observations and impressions from teh HOPE trial) (Tsang, V. et al., (2023) A pilot study comparing a community of practice group therapy program with and without concurrent ketamine-assisted therapy) (Manson, E. et al., (2023) Indigrnous voices in psychedelic therapy: experiential learnings from a community-based group psychedelic therapy program)
IV. Indigenous Practices
a. Maria Sabina and R. Gordon Wassan as a cautionary tale of cultural appropriation
b. Cultural Significance
1. Spiritual Enlightenment
2. Emotional Healing (and therapeutic processes)
3. Social/Communal Bonds
4. Transmission of Cultural Knowledge
V. Integrating Lessons from Indigenous Healing Practices into a Western Group Therapy Model with Decorum and Respect
VI. Conclusion and Further Discussion