Break on Through: Betty Eisner's Problematic Use of Psychedelics, Groups, and Control for Integrative Experiences.
Journal of the history of the behavioral sciences – April 01, 2025
Source: PubMed
Summary
Betty Eisner pioneered psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy in the 1950s, combining LSD sessions with group therapy to create transformative healing experiences. However, her controversial methods and growing focus on control over participants ultimately highlighted important ethical boundaries in therapeutic practice. Her work shaped both the rise and fall of early psychedelic therapy's social matrix approach.
Abstract
Betty Eisner represents a prominent figure in the "golden age" of psychedelics research, as well as a cautionary tale about questionable therapeutic practices, exercising authority and control, and the misuse of psychedelics during the counterculture of the 1960s and 70s. Situating her work and the consequences of her problematic practices in the counterculture, the Human Potential Movement, and integrative experiences helps provide some context for the decline of the first wave of psychedelics research and the more cautious and conservative approach to the second wave of psychedelics research. Some of the dangers associated with figures like Eisner, and consequently the first wave of psychedelics, may help explain the slower development of group therapy approaches and the inclusion of social context in the second wave focus on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.