Self-Actualization and the Integration of Psychedelic Experience: The Mediating Role of Perceived Benefits to Narrative Self-Functioning
Journal of Humanistic Psychology June 4, 2022 Nicole Amada, Jacob Shane
A survey of about 750 people from online psychedelic communities tested whether integrating a psychedelic experience into one's life story promotes optimal well-being. People who reported greater post-psychedelic integration also reported higher self-actualization, and this link was partly explained by perceived gains in self-insight and personal development—key aspects of narrative self-functioning. This pattern held for both clinical and non-clinical participants. Integration techniques that were more self-referential (e.g., reflecting on one's own identity) were indirectly associated with well-being through these narrative benefits. The authors caution that the cross-sectional design cannot establish causation.