Therapy With Substance: Psycholytic Psychotherapy In The Twenty First Century

Therapy with Substance Psycholytic psychotherapy in the twentyfirst century Dr Friederike Meckel Fischer Foreword by Stanislav Grof ) Therapy With Substance Therapy With Substance Psycholytic Psychotherapy in the Twenty First Century Dr. Friederike Meckel Fischer muswell hill press London • New York First published by Muswell Hill Press, London, 2015 © 2015 Dr Friederike Meckel Fischer Friederike Meckel Fischer has asserted her right under the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior permission of Muswell Hill Press. www.muswellhillpress.co.uk. British Library CIP Data available ISBN: 978-1-908995-12-4 Printed in Great Britain For you, my dear Father ( 4th May 1923 - 17th September I 953 ), You showed me the way. Contents Acknowledgements .............................................................................. xiii Foreword ................................................................................................ xv Reference............................................................................................ xxi Introduction ........................................................................................ xxiii 1. My Personal Background ................................................................ 1 Stuck in therapy ................................................................................. I Breakthrough with breathwork .......................................................... 3 Opening with substance..................................................................... 8 2. My Training in Psycholytic Psychotherapy ................................. 13 First training weekend: MOMA, with 50 micrograms of LSD ....... 18 Second training weekend: MOMA .................................................. 19 Third training weekend: MOMA and 2CB ...................................... 20 Fourth weekend: MOMA and LSD ................................................. 20 Fifth weekend: the moment of death ............................................... 21 Sixth training weekend: the moment of birth .................................. 22 Further experiences with Samuel Widmer....................................... 22 3. Developing the Setting - Towards My Model of Psycholytic Psychotherapy ................................................................................ 25 First groups: meditators and explorers ............................................ 26 Mother Aya and the baking bread .................................................... 27 4. Psychotherapy and Psycholytic Psychotherapy .......................... 31 The individual before starting therapy............................................. 31 "Disorder" ........................................................................................ 32 The conditions that need to be fulfilled before starting psychotherapy .................................................................................. 33 VIII CONTENTS The unconscious mind ..................................................................... 34 Trauma and dissociation .................................................................. 35 Does traditional psychotherapy really work? .................................. 36 Expanding consciousness to fulfil the therapeutic task ................... 36 How does psycholytic therapy work? .............................................. 38 Expanding my therapeutic viewpoint .............................................. 41 The client-therapist relationship ...................................................... 43 5. The Psychoactive Substances ........................................................ 49 Descriptions, presentations