Psychedelic Somatic Interactional Psychotherapy (PSIP)

Understanding Psychedelic Somatic Interactional Psychotherapy (PSIP)

From birth to late adolescence, we function in a less regulated, more emotional state of consciousness. During this period of time, we rely on our primary care givers to help our bodies regulate emotional states – to calm us when we’re frightened, soothe us when we’re hurt or sad, to comfort us when we’re upset. When we have the safety and support of our primary caregiver our systems can return to a state of calm, but when we don’t have this our bodies can live in a state of high alert or just shut down and feel nothing.

As our prefrontal cortex develops so does our ability to use executive function. You can think of this as the more rational part of our brain that regulates the more emotional and impulsive regions. Rational thinking and the cognitive tools associated with them are highly valued in Western society; our ability to maintain composure and restrict our emotions and to push our body is something we are told to do as we grow up (i.e., “Suck it up!”, “Don’t be such a crybaby”, and “Don’t get so emotional!” are all examples of this societal norm). We are strongly encouraged to ignore our feelings and think our way through life –  so we build coping strategies.

As a result, when the stress and pain are too much for our coping strategies, our bodies pick up the slack and adapt as best they can by remaining on high alert looking for danger or shutting down in an attempt to feel nothing because it all feels like too much. We call this trauma and it is our body doing its best to survive. As human beings we want to thrive and we are highly adaptable, so even when our bodies are in emotional survival mode we use our amazing cognitive abilities to devise methods to try to pick up the pieces; we cope within the fallout of our nervous system’s failure to cope. This perpetuates a vicious cycle that allows us to function in life, at least some of the time, but rarely do we get to feel a sense of calm.

PSIP helps us reduce our use of executive function in order to ‘reset’ our autonomic nervous system, allowing our body to be less reactive our day-to-day environment. This reset of our autonomic nervous system results in us not needing to lean as much on our coping strategies and be more open to fully engage the world around us.

The process of “resetting” of one’s autonomic nervous system is unique to each individual. For some people it unfolds slowly and gently, for others it can be very intense, involving lots of anguish and terror.

Important Consideration: Due to the unpredictable nature of each person’s held experiences, Expanse MN seeks to provide full disclosure that sessions can be painful, scary, and destabilizing, AND resolution/fluidity often lie on the other side.

Given this, you may hear other people expressing anguish if you seek care at our clinic and you may also smell Cannabis if people are using medicine.

The process of PSIP is founded in the relationship between the client and facilitator. Developing a strong therapeutic connection with the facilitator is essential. A safe connection helps people trust the process and be with discomfort in the body until that discomfort melts away. PSIP can also help people to build deeper attachments and more meaningful connections with others outside of therapy.

PSIP can be done with or without using psychoactive or psychedelic medicine. The medicine is an agent to help people “get out of their heads” and connect more deeply with their body and emotions. The initial session is usually done without medicine to assess and develop readiness.

If medicine is used, the preferred option is cannabis, as it is effective with body awareness and opening nervous system pathways. A low-dose (a.k.a. psycholytic) of ketamine can also used.

During the process of PSIP, our therapists are like a navigator, sitting next to you in the car. We offer suggestions about which roads to turn down and when to move from the gas to the brake. You are always the one behind the wheel with control over how we engage in the process.

Please visit www.psychedelicsomatic.org and watch some of the videos to help you better understand this therapy.