Psychedelic Therapy: Beyond Brain, Embracing Culture

Cultural embodiment—how a person's cultural background shapes their sense of self—is crucial for understanding psychological experiences and treating mental health conditions. The paper argues that psychedelic-assisted therapy works not by updating a brain computational model, as traditional analytic philosophy suggests, but by enabling changes in a person's culturally situated self-narratives. The psychedelic experience causally facilitates these narrative pattern changes, which underlie therapeutic efficacy. This perspective offers a novel understanding of the therapeutic process and points toward more effective, culturally attuned mental health interventions.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This paper argues that cultural embodiment plays a pivotal factor in shaping psychological experiences, influencing both the development and treatment of mental health conditions. Traditional analytic philosophy of mind proposes that the efficacy of psychedelic-assisted therapy should be understood as a brain computational model update. Beyond the scientific understanding of neural activity, we argue instead that the psychological therapeutic effect should be understood as pattern changes in self-narratives. Psychedelic experience plays a causal role in therapeutic efficacy by allowing the pattern changes of culturally situated self-narratives. By considering the interplay between cultural embodiment and therapeutic outcomes, this study offers a novel perspective on the processes underlying psychedelic-assisted therapy and highlights the potential for more effective treatment approaches in mental health interventions.