Stepping through the Psychedelic Looking-Glass
Philosophy and the Mind Sciences April 19, 2022 A. Lyon, Anya Farennikova 5 citations
The effectiveness of psychedelic psychotherapy may depend on specific changes in how people experience their own thoughts and perceptions, not just on the brain's neural disorganization. One prominent theory attributes therapeutic benefits to increased 'phenomenal opacity'—the sense that mental contents are constructed rather than direct reflections of reality. However, this paper argues that such accounts overlook the role of 'radically transparent' experiences, where perceptions feel vividly real and immediate. The authors describe common shifts toward phenomenal transparency during psychedelic sessions and contend that these experiences can also drive psychotherapeutic transformation. This alternative view suggests new directions for empirical research on attention and phenomenology in psychedelic treatment.