Psychedelic Identity Shift: A Critical Approach to Set And Setting
Kennedy Institute of Ethics journal December 1, 2022 Neşe Devenot, Aidan Seale‐feldman, Elyse Smith et al. 50 citations
Psychedelic medicine relies on set and setting, but the specific therapeutic frameworks used alongside the drugs are rarely studied. Analyzing a treatment manual and post-session reports from a pilot psilocybin-assisted smoking cessation study, this article shows how therapeutic frameworks interact with psilocybin to rapidly reshape participants' identity and sense of self. Multiple domains of identity shift were identified that appear to serve as mechanisms for quitting smoking, each present in the manualized treatment. As psychedelic medicine becomes mainstream, consensual, evidence-based approaches to identity shift that respect patient autonomy and encourage empowerment should become key in psychedelic bioethics.