"As the pioneering psychologist Peter Levine writes, “Trauma is perhaps the most avoided, ignored, belittled, denied, and misunderstood cause of human suffering.”[1] He explains that trauma is not simply what happens to us; it is our inability or lack of opportunity to move through the emotions evoked by traumatic events, causing us to get stuck in them. When we are young, to move past a painful experience we need the presence of a supportive adult. We become traumatized not primarily because painful things happen to us, but because we must endure that suffering alone, without support. In fact, we might suppress even the conscious awareness of what happened to us simply to survive. Suppressed, deeply imprinted, sublimated, diverted, and compensated for in many ways, the trauma itself and our defenses against the suffering it imposed become ingrained—mostly unconsciously—into our brain, nervous system, body, and mind. This response, which is unique to each individual, becomes a potent source of addictive patterns and of coping mechanisms that lead to many illnesses of body and mind. The healing capacity of psychedelic experiences stems, in part, from their ability to evoke the painful imprints of your childhood self while those experiences are witnessed by the empathic curiosity of your adult self—crucially, as our authors repeatedly stress, in a safe environment. I can’t overemphasize the provision of safety, especially the relational space between therapist and patient. As the authors rightly point out, “Decades of psychotherapy research have shown that the quality of the relationship between a client and therapist is the strongest predictor of successful outcomes—often more important than the therapist’s specific methods or qualifications.” In a safe setting, the capacity of psychedelic medicines to help people transcend the limitations of what the authors call our “personal ego and narrative” can reframe how we view ourselves, our lives, and even our world. As they insist, both the set and the setting must be right. The set is the client’s mindset and intentions, while the setting is composed of the context: physical comfort, emotional safety,and the expertise, self-awareness, patience, and compassion of the therapeutic guide. There is no mystery about the potential gifts of psychedelic therapy. Understanding trauma is the key—an understanding that is sadly missing from much of mainstream medicine and psychiatry. As the authors point out, trauma imposes deleterious core narratives “about who we are, how the world works, and what is possible in our lives,” narratives that “tend to sharply limit the possibilities of our lives.” Psychedelics can, as it were, dissolve such narratives and loosen their power over our sense of self, allowing us to cultivate self-love, forgiveness, and compassion. They may, according to some promising research, help rewire certain brain circuits in a positive way.""
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