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Abstract(s)
This thesis reviews contemporary research on integrating psychedelic substances in
modern psychotherapeutic practices, focusing on the case of ayahuasca; a psychoactive,
medicinal brew native to the Amazon Basin. Traditionally, ayahuasca is used as a ritual
sacrament in indigenous shamanic practices, and plays a central role in the social identity and
ontology of these cultures, as a sacred communion of consciousness, spirit and nature.
The globalisation of ayahuasca demonstrates a complex case of cultural export,
commodification, adaptation, and hybridisation. Commercial ayahuasca practices aimed at
foreigners have become a substantial tourism industry in South America, while countless
ayahuasca retreats are hosted internationally. The popularity of these practices reflects a state
of disenchantment in modern, secular society; a desire to discover a sacred, spiritual ontology
manifested in ritual sacrament, and validated by transcultural tradition and the explicit
phenomenon of a psychedelic experience.
Ayahuasca practices are a significant research interest in psychotherapy and
psychopharmacology, as they not only demonstrate the psychotherapeutic potential of
psychedelics, but also provide a case example of a traditional, psychotherapeutic application
of psychedelics. These practices demonstrate an exceptional effectivity in treating addiction,
abuse and trauma disorder, and treatment-resistant depression. Ayahuasca has immense
psychotherapeutic potential, but also presents a significant harm factor, dependent on cultural
and transcultural factors of the ayahuasca practice itself, as well as its subject.
Ayahuasca research and practice demonstrates the essential importance of cultural and
transcultural context in the psychotherapeutic process, indicating a gap in the critical discourse.
This thesis examines this gap, articulating the critical implications of a psychotherapeutic
methodology informed by cultural factors of ontology and identity, and acknowledging the
critical significance of spiritual health and identity as a trans-cultural concept and
psychotherapeutic method. This thesis argues for the critical, psychotherapeutic function of an
expanded view of consciousness including a sacred ontological relationship to nature, by
examining cultural and transcultural elements of contemporary ayahuasca practices in a
psychotherapeutic context.
Description
Keywords
Transcultural discourses and practices Psychedelics Ayahuasca Psychotherapy Knowledge production Globalisation