Hanenberg, Peter HeinrichIppolito, Robert Ian2020-09-282020-09-282020-03-052019http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/30987This 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.engTranscultural discourses and practicesPsychedelicsAyahuascaPsychotherapyKnowledge productionGlobalisationmaster thesis202454452