Foreword Why This Book Matters by John H. Halpern, M.D., Harvard
Medical School
Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction The Questions That Led to This Book
1 Set and Setting
The Mother of All Trips
Who I Am
How I Became Interested in Consciousness and Psychedelic
Therapy
How I Got to Be Who I Am Now
A True Intellectual-Religious Revelation
2 Is Fundamental Personality Change Possible?
The Concept of Change and Its Action
The Developmental Psychology of Spiritual Emergence
Personality Development as Immature Strategy
Psyche: The Core Concept
Psycheology: The Study of the Soul
The Psycheology Approach to Psychotherapy
3 The History of Psychedelic Research
The Major Psychedelics
The First Research on the Clinical Applications of Psychedelics
Psychedelic Research in Countries beyond the U.S.
Psychedelic Research Finally Resumes
The Use of Psychedelics with the Dying
The Safety and Efficacy of Psychedelics
4 The Ten Lessons of Psychedelic Therapy, Rediscovered
Lesson 1. Each Drug Has a Specific Effect
Lesson 2. Setting Can Strongly Influence State of Mind and Thus
Outcome
Lesson 3. Mind-set Can Scuttle a Beautiful Context or Transcend a
Hellish One
Lesson 4. In General, Dose Determines a Mild or Extreme Experience,
Although It Can Be Less Important Than Set and Setting
Lesson 5. Preparation and Knowledge Can Enable Lasting Value
Lesson 6. Ritual Can Transmit Prior Wisdom and Guide Successful
Practice
Lesson 7. Support from Experienced Guides Reduces Fear and
Increases Benefit
Lesson 8. Reentry in to a Supportive Community Context Aids
Retention
Lesson 9. Accompanying Depth Psychotherapy (If Needed) and Ongoing
Spiritual Practice Offer the Main Opportunity for Lasting
Growth
Lesson 10. A Revised Worldview Is Both a Requirement for and a
Result of Integrated Psychedelic Practice
5 Many Thorny Theoretical and Methodological Questions
Remain
Why Does Psychedelic Research Require Self-Experimentation?
How Will We Train a New Generation of Psychedelic Researchers and
Therapists?
Why Redo Psychedelic Research Already Conducted in the '50s and
'60s?
How Should Psychedelics Be Rescheduled?
Why Do Psychedelics Provide Pain Relief for the Dying?
Can Psychedelics Provide Lasting Change?
Can Psychedelics Induce Real Spirituality?
6 The Development of an Integral Clinical Approach
Transcendence Vs. the Frontal Assault
Catharsis, or How I Completed My Childhood at Burning Man
A Revised View
Conclusions: What Have We Learned?
7 Implications for the Future
The Catalytic Role of Psychedelics in the Emergence of an Integral
Society
Unity "Versus" the Frontal Lobes
An Integral Approach to Reality
Epilogue
Appendix 1 How to Put Science into Action to Change the
World
Work to Change the Drug Laws
Changing Psychedelic Policies and Bureaucracies
Practice "Right Action": Buddhism and Psychedelics Policy
Appendix 2 Standards for Safe and Effective Psychedelic Journeys
and Procedures for Handling Psychedelic Emergencies
Preparation: Creating a Safe Space for Psychedelic Journeys
The Session: Guidelines for Safe and Effective Psychedelic
Journeys
Dealing with Psychedelic Emergencies (or Spiritual Emergence)
Recommended Reading
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Neal M. Goldsmith, Ph.D., is a psychotherapist specializing in psychospiritual development. A frequent speaker on spiritual emergence, drug policy reform, and postmodern society, he lives in New York.
"In terms of both academics and activism, it is the most
comprehensive and readable book on this subject that I've come
across." * Anna Jedrziewski, New Age Retailer, October 2010 *
"Psychedelic Healing is full of knowledge and wisdom,
psychologically sophisticated, and up-to-date. It contains
important lessons for those wishing to work with psychedelic plants
and substances, which are powerful and tricky tools for accessing
the psyche. Neal Goldsmith makes a well-reasoned plea for society
to use them once again because they are important tools for healing
inside, healing relationships, and healing society. I enjoyed his
speculation about the post-postmodern synthesis of tribal and
modern. Written bravely and with open eyes, this is an important,
mature book" * Jeremy Narby, Ph.D., author of The Cosmic Serpent
and co-editor of Shamans Through Time *
"In synchronous timing with the publication of Jung's precious
personal vision, Neal Goldsmith presents his own Red Book of
self-discovery and organizes it into a useful road map to the
mystery within each of us--of who we are and why . . ." * John H.
Halpern, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry, Harvard Medical
School *
"Neal Goldsmith is one of the leading architects of the emerging
paradigm of psychedelic therapy. In this book he shares the
personal story of his own process of growth and transformation as
both a drug policy analyst and a psychotherapist and boldly calls
for the acceptance and integration of psychedelics into psychiatry
and society as the powerful catalysts for self-exploration and
healing that they are." * Dennis McKenna, Ph.D., assistant
professor, Center for Spirituality and Healing, University of Minne
*
"Neal Goldsmith's comprehensive, wise, and timely guide explores
the impact of psychedelics throughout history and today at the
level of the individual, the society, and the collective
consciousness. Psychedelic Healing addresses salient
theoretical questions pertinent to policy, therapy, spirituality,
and philosophy and offers a bountiful harvest of hardearned
insights to every reader interested in the transformative power of
psychedelics. Neal has made a major contribution to ensuring the
continued expansion of the psychedelic research renaissance.
Psychedelic Healing will enable motivated readers to work
more effectively to create a world where the mature use of
psychedelics for spiritual, psychological, and medical purposes is
both accepted and appreciated." * Rick Doblin, Ph.D., executive
director, Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies
*
"In this lively and provocative book, Neal M. Goldsmith, Ph.D.,
makes the case for a 'Psychedelic Renaissance,' one in which
LSD-type substances would be rescheduled in the United States,
permitting their applications in psychotherapy and medicine.
Psychedelic Healing presents considerable evidence from the
research and clinical literature, as well as from Goldsmith's own
experiences, that psychedelics can relieve pain, change
personality, foster spiritual growth, and promote community
harmony. After reading this book, many of his readers will be
persuaded that this renaissance cannot come a day too soon!" *
Stanley Krippner, Ph.D., Alan Watts Professor of Psychology,
Saybrook University, and coauthor of Pe *
"Written with personal warmth and passionate engagement,
Psychedelic Healing makes a compelling case for the medical
and social benefits of a therapy practice that encompasses
substance-induced experiences of transcendence. With scrupulous
care, Neal Goldsmith explores the great promise of this reemerging
field, while proposing a path forward that avoids the mistakes made
a generation ago. This book is valuable reading for those who would
like to see a crucial new chapter open in consciousness studies and
the mental health field." * Daniel Pinchbeck, author of Breaking
Open the Head *
"What a brave and wonderful book! Neal Goldsmith beautifully
integrates personal experience and reflections with thoughtful
analysis of psychedelics: their history, prohibition and
regulation, and potential for transforming our psyches, spirits,
and lives." * Ethan A. Nadelmann, J.D., Ph.D., executive director
of the Drug Policy Alliance *
"A wonderful blend of psychedelic history. Goldsmith has written a
radical, wise, and compassionate rethinking of the nature and
purpose of psychotherapy. This is the direction psychology needs to
go in order to stay relevant and valuable." * James Fadiman Ph.D.,
author of The Psychedelic Explorers Guide and Personality and
Personal Growth *
"A thoroughly researched and engaging discussion of
psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, profiling not just the drugs,
but many luminaries in the psychedelic research field. Goldsmith
emphasizes the importance of set, setting, and ritual on outcome.
By chronicling his own growth and transformation he answers the
question, 'Is fundamental personality change possible?' with an
emphatic 'Yes!'" * Julie Holland, M.D., editor of Ecstasy: The
Complete Guide and The Pot Book: A Complete Guide to Can *
"When we look back at the extraordinary cultural transformations of
the past forty years, there is one ingredient in the recipe of
social change that is consistently and inexplicably expunged from
the record. And that is the fact that countless thousands, indeed
millions, of young at some point in their lives lay prostrate
before the gates of awe having taken a psychedelic. Neal
Goldsmith's insightful book suggests that perhaps we might do well
by doing the same." * Wade Davis, award-winning anthropologist,
ethnobotanist, filmmaker, author, and photographer *
"Neal Goldsmith's comprehensive analysis of the healing power of
psychedelics puts the medical, spiritual, and legal status of these
soul medicines in a passionate, well-informed voice." * Alex Grey,
author of Sacred Mirrors and Transfigurations *
"Psychedelic Healing is a comprehensive contextualized guide
for harnessing psychedelics to assist in personal evolution. Neal
Goldsmith introduces you to all the key players at this exciting
moment in the long history of human interaction with psychedelic
plants. Goldsmith's clinical yet revealing and accessible narrative
is as reassuring as it is instructional. Not since The Tibetan
Book of the Dead has there been such a useful companion to the
amazing array of spiritual medicines that are nature's gift to
humanity." * Allan Badiner, adjunct professor at the California
Institute of Integral Studies, contributing edito *
"Written with authority and scholarship, this book is intended for
the therapeutic mental health community and will find readers at
any academic institution with a psychology department. However, the
wider audience of seekers and free thinkers make this appropriate
for most public library collections as well." * Janet Tapper, Univ.
of Western States Lib., Library Journal, February 2011 *
"An analysis that looks deep into history as well as the true
medical effects of the drug, Psychedelic Healing is a
fascinating analysis into a taboo avenue of medicine." * The
Midwest Book Review, February 2011 *
"Dr. Goldsmith proposes how psychedelic healing can be incorporated
into a new, integrated psychotherapy that harnesses the emotional,
mental and spiritual healing powers of these entheogenic gives
guidance on safe "tripping" and on handling emergencies. . . This
is a visionary approach towards a whole new reality." * Nexus
Magazine, May 2011 *
"By calling on insights from personality development, Goldsmith
enriches our understanding of how psychedelics can lead to a
richer, more mature self and at the same time help people
re-identify with the true, inner transcendent self: the path of
personal, psychological growth persisted in long enough becomes a
path of spiritual growth. Then, using this expertise in a
large-scale institutional and social change, he proposes a number
of careful steps to beneficially fit psychedelics into society.
Thus Psychedelic Healing moves forward both personal
maturity and institutional growth for their combined benefits" *
Thomas B. Roberts, Ph.D., is co-editor of Psychedelic Medicine: New
Evidence for Hallucinogenic Subs *
". . . ideal combination of facts, personal experiences and most
importantly, hope for the future of psychedelics. Their time has
come and Neal tells us why and how to make that happen." * Erowid,
October 2011 *
"Psychedelic Healing offers the reader a wondrous journey,
capturing within one volume a guide for the use of psychedelics by
therapists and patients as well as a contemporary summation of
relevant research and points of history. Goldsmith bravely goes
where few dare to tread, especially in his autobiographical
vignettes that make clear how what is learned through
psychedelic-assisted therapy can usefully be applied and integrated
into everyday life. This book is highly recommended to anyone
interested in learning how psychedelics may contribute to a
healthier, richer, and more rewarding life rather than just
assuming that these substances must be categorized as drugs of
abuse. There is more to these substances than their pejorative
categorizations within a Drug War: Psychedelic Healing
offers an easy-to-read path to these deeper waters." * John H.
Halpern, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry, Harvard Medical
School *
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