Psychedelics, Psychology, and the Soul

The word psychology is the study of psyche, which is the synonym for “self: atman, soul, spirit; subjectivity: higher self, spiritual self, spirit.” The roots of psychology were deeply embedded in the study of the spirit. Founding psychologists were priests. Even up until 1888, the New Princeton Review defined it as “the science of the psyche or the soul.”

In the first wave of modern psychology, Pavlov rang a bell and a dog would salivate. The human psyche was distilled down to a series of mechanisms of cause and effect. In the second wave of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), psychologists studied the notion that thoughts create feelings. Now, in the third wave of psychology based in mindfulness, we take an integrated approach: the mind, body, and spirit interact systematically to generate well-being or suffering.

In Internal Family Systems (IFS), the framework most paired with psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, the psyche is mapped as an interaction of parts, each with its own personality and motivations. This family of parts are built up of protectors that developed from childhood to safeguard the Self from imagined pain. These parts could represent the energy of anger, shame, guilt, pride, or fear that would get activated when a learned pattern would engage.

Imagine each part as a wounded inner child… a personality locked in time ready to cry, wail, and throw tantrums. As multiple parts would get triggered, they would “blend” together, thus leading the individual to simultaneously feel many feelings in a manner that might feel confusing and dysregulating. This can lead one to feel that they are “going crazy”... imagine a room full of screaming and crying children vying for attention. It’s a whirlwind of feelings that doesn’t make sense.

IFS teaches that when these parts are acknowledged and honored instead of avoided or suppressed, they can feel safe because it is the Self underneath that is leading them. They can relax because this Self–which can be thought of as the Highest Self, spirit, or the pure inner child–has the power to lead the system of the psyche. At this level of integration, the Self shines forth: it feels like peace, love, clarity, and God. It feels like one’s soul.

Neuroscience and research into psychedelics supports this concept. The Imperial College of London Center for Psychedelic Studies, one of the leading academic institutions in the world studying the effects of psychedelics on the mind, used fMRI scans to study the brain on psilocybin and found that the Default Mode Network (DMN), the network associated with self-referential thought, was less integrated during the acute effects.

The DMN might have an imprint of a pattern that learned “if I touch this hot pan, I will get burned” as a child. It may also build up complex patterns such as “don’t be vulnerable because your feelings might be ridiculed.” The DMN is the neurological manifestation of the IFS system of parts, which expresses these patterns as triggers and protectors.

As the DMN and parts are quieted, the psychedelic experience allows us to experience our Self in a felt way. We are able to deconstruct the parts and patterns organically because the blend of them are no longer blocking us from insight. This is why many people who engage in psychedelic-assisted therapy rate the experience among the most meaningful of their lives. At Ceremonia, we have experienced this number as higher than 90%.

Next week, we will explore the link between psychology, spirituality, and psychedelics leading into the most modern tools of exploring the depths of one’s being in pursuit of being their Highest Self.