Restorative Retelling for Processing Psychedelic Experiences: Rationale and Case Study of Complicated Grief
Frontiers in Psychology May 3, 2022 Débora González, Marc Aixalà, Robert A. Neimeyer et al. 15 citations
A woman suffering from complicated grief after her mother's suicide participated in an ayahuasca ceremony followed by Restorative Retelling sessions to process the psychedelic experience. The case report describes how ayahuasca evoked key psychological content related to her loss, and how the adapted Restorative Retelling technique helped integrate that content into autobiographical memory, fostering meaning-making. Evaluations before the ayahuasca experience and after Restorative Retelling suggest reductions in symptoms of complicated grief and general psychopathology. The authors propose that Restorative Retelling can effectively process and integrate psychedelic experiences, though they note limitations of a single case.