The recent renaissance in research on the medical and spiritual applications of psychedelic medicines raises as many questions as it answers:
- Why are post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), end-of-life anxiety, and addiction the primary applications being researched?
- Why are divinity schools in line to use psychedelics to train students?
- Can psychedelics repair, accelerate, or trigger novel psychospiritual development?
- What can we learn about developmental processes from tribal rites of passage?
- How are Piaget's stage theory, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Erikson's psychosocial stages, Rank's birth trauma, and Wilber's integral framework all clarified, both theoretically and experientially, by the incorporation of psychedelics?
- What is "ego death" and why is it central to psychedelic therapy?
- How is the concept of the soul fundamental to the future of psychology?
We will cover these issues (and more) first, leaving time for Q&A and open discussion.
Producer : Neal Goldsmith
Neal M. Goldsmith, Ph.D. is a social psychologist specializing in psychedelic research and therapy, and a licensed psychotherapist with a psychospiritual, developmental orientation. He is author of dozens of popular and scholarly articles and a frequent speaker on psychotherapy and change, adult developmental psychology, psychedelics research and policy, and the integral future of society. Dr. Goldsmith curates and hosts innovative workshops, salons, and conferences, including the annual Horizons: Perspectives on Psychedelics conference. His book, Psychedelic Healing: The Promise of Entheogens for Psychotherapy and Spiritual Development, describes the influence of psychedelics on the development of his world view, personality theory, and clinical practice. Trained in humanistic, transpersonal, and Eastern traditions, Dr. Goldsmith maintains a private psychotherapy practice in Dumbo, Brooklyn and Sag Harbor, NY.
