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OfflineLightShedder
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1950's LSD Therapist Handbook * 1
    #15806560 - 02/14/12 12:56 AM (12 years, 1 month ago)

This is from a handbook used by LSD therapists back in the 1950's. It seems very useful as preparation material for strong doses.

"Chapter 11. DOSAGE


Dosages, in our experience, range between 100 and 1000 micrograms and possibly larger doses may be used in the future. Doses of 1500 micrograms have been used by Hubbard (24) without unfortunate side effects.

The drug is usually administered by giving an initial dose which is believed to be adequate and, where necessary, increments of 200-300 gamma are used at intervals of one and a half to two and a half hours, depending on the reaction.

The initial dose may be as small as 100 micrograms in people whose problem is not too severe or whose frame of reference appears to be flexible. In the majority of cases who came for treatment, however, initial doses of 300 to 600 micrograms seem indicated. The larger doses (more than 300 micrograms) are used mainly in individuals who have previously had LSD treatment but have shown insufficient response.

In cases in which there is evidence of liver damage a large dose is indicated since such states are less responsive. There is no evidence of harmful effect from the use of large doses of LSD in cases of impaired liver function. This may not be true in the case of mescalin. No work appears to have been reported in which mescalin has been used with such cases.



Chapter 12. ADMINISTRATION


The drug is available in 25 microgram pills or in 100 microgram ampules. There appears to be little or no difference in reaction time between pills and liquid. The pills have the advantage of permitting an easier flexibility of dosage.

It will seem like belaboring the obvious to stress the need, when using liquid LSD to be exceptionally careful in preparing the dosages to be given-particularly when a group session is undertaken. However, the drug is mixed with water and since both the water and the LSD are colorless and odorless it is impossible to tell by looking at a glass what it contains. When the water is put in the glasses first it is all too easy to make an error. The safest method is to prepare one dose, have the subject take it and then prepare the next dose and so forth.



Chapter 13. STAGES IN THE EXPERIENCE


In terms of procedure the drug experience can be broken down into a number of stages or phases. In each of these the subject is involved in a different aspect of the experience and in each he requires appropriate guidance and reassurance. Since no two sessions are the same, any handbook can offer only relatively crude guidance, particularly until such time as specific principles and procedures in the use of the drug are widely studied and become firmly established scientifically. It can, however, suggest those areas of experience and those methods which are likely to prove therapeutically profitable at each stage and it can help to eliminate procedures which are likely to be distressing and wasteful. However, such a manual is no substitute for awareness and understanding on the part of the therapist. As has been pointed out, this understanding is markedly increased by the therapist's having taken the drug several times himself. It is maximized when the therapist joins the subject in the experience and it is for this reason that we have dealt with the use of group as well as individual procedures. The group method serves both as a training for the therapist and as a means of being maximally aware of what is happening to the subject.


I. PRE-ONSET

The onset of symptoms occurs sometimes between 15 minutes and 120 minutes and usually about half an hour after taking the drug. The period of waiting for the drug to have an effect is important since the psychological set which is established at that time can determine much of what follows. The therapist should aim at avoiding the development of certain unfortunate psychological states in the subject. Boredom on the part of either the subject or therapist must be avoided. The therapist should also aim at preventing the development of a pattern in which the subject is waiting intently for any change which might be ascribed to the drug. Finally, the therapist should be particularly careful to prevent the build-up of apprehension in the subject. Each of these points seems worthy of some consideration.

Boredom is destructive of the therapist-subject relationship. It must, therefore, be carefully avoided in the period of waiting for the drug to take effect. It is, of course, most likely to develop when the onset of symptoms is slow to occur. Then anticipation is apt to be followed by slight anxiety and premature feelings of disappointment followed by boredom. The therapist should avoid developing interests which the subject does not share. At this time the close relationship which is to develop between them can be fostered through consideration of mutually interesting material. This is particularly necessary when the therapist has himself taken the drug. He must avoid becoming too intent upon the development of his own symptoms for the slow boiling of the watched pot may engender frustration.

The subject's attention must also be directed from waiting for developing symptoms and frequently this can be done by directing his attention to poetry, paintings or photographic collections. The Family of Man collection, for example, is not only very useful at this time as an interesting diversion but the subject will very likely find that he wants to refer back to many of the pictures later in the experience. Certain of the photographs often seem to symbolize questions or conclusions which arise as the experience develops. In some cases such pictures form a frame of reference within which the subject may be able to work through some of his emotional problems.

Music used at this time as a background may prove relaxing. However, at the onset of symptoms the function of the music changes and the therapist should be aware of the effect the music is having particularly as symptoms begin to develop. This point is further expanded in the section dealing with the onset of symptoms.

At the time of taking the drug it is helpful for the therapist to suggest to the subject that he will come to notice some very definite changes which the therapist would like to know about. It can be pointed out that when one watches for change one may observe many irrelevant things. Since the effects of the drug do not need to be closely watched for, a quiet relaxation is recommended.

Having suggested this at the outset, the therapist should avoid a mistake which is easily made - that of repeatedly asking the subject, "How do you feel now?", "Have you noticed any changes yet?", etc. If the therapist questions too insistently along these lines it tends to focus the subject's attention almost exclusively upon developing symptoms. These may take on an uncomfortable and unpleasant tone which will tend to have an unfortunate effect upon at least the early stages, if not all, of the ensuing experience.

It is at this point that the subject is most likely to begin to develop a nausea or some other somatic complaint. This can become sufficiently acute, if his interest be centered upon it, to make it impossible for him to concentrate on any other aspect of the experience. Indeed, it seems that here the subject begins to learn one of the fundamental facts of the LSD experience. He learns that concentration upon the self and the use of the self-concept as his exclusive reference point tends to produce difficulties and discomfort in the experience. At this time, it may be well to point this out to him for his subsequent consideration and evaluation.

Despite this need to direct the subject's attention from his symptoms, however, there are, paradoxically, two additional but opposite eventualities which should be avoided. Firstly, it is unwise to so interest the subject in any activity that he becomes unaware of the development of symptoms until they are so far advanced as to shock and frighten him when they suddenly intrude. Secondly, should the subject become so interested in what he is doing as to resent being interrupted, he may well find the developing symptoms a bother and may fight against them to maintain the psychological set which gives him pleasure. This set may also tend to color at least the early stages of the experience and may cause the subject to think along relatively constricted and confined lines by setting up a series of trains of thought which add an unwanted constriction to the situation.

Finally, the production of fear or panic at this stage should be avoided as much as possible. It is likely to prove very destructive as far as the therapeutic use of the later phases of the experience is concerned.

In general the therapist should aim, during this period, at giving the subject such support and assurance as will relieve his anxiety; at making the subject aware of the developing changes induced by the drug and at keeping him from feeling that these changes are threatening, alarming or in any way unusual for people taking the drug. The therapist can call upon his own experiences at this time and use them as a source of reassurance to the subject.



Chapter 14. STAGES IN THE EXPERIENCE

II ONSET OF SYMPTOMS

This phase of the drug reaction usually lasts about an hour after the symptoms become noticeable, although it varies from about half an hour to two hours. It is likely to be the time of maximum discomfort.

The development of symptoms will usually be heralded by the subject's pupils beginning to show a marked dilation. He may appear to shiver from time to time and he is very likely to laugh frequently with little or no apparent reason. If asked to extend his arms and then to bring his index fingers together while his eyes are shut, he will very likely be unable to make his fingers meet on the first attempt. In reporting on what is happening he is likely to remark upon one or several of such changes as a feeling of weightlessness; apparent movement at the periphery of the visual field; alteration in the lightness or darkness of the room; changes in perceived time; changes in temperature; the enhancement of color; changes in the significance of patterns or difficulty in verbalizing ideas because they seem to come more rapidly than they can be verbalized. This may force the subject to withdraw because he simply cannot communicate what is happening. His difficulty in communicating is often intensified by finding that he is thrust into a sudden awareness of startling new aspects of his accustomed thought processes and of rapid rearrangements of old and new concepts which have deeply significant and often shattering implications.

It is at this stage of the experience that subjects who attempt to escape or to fight off the effects of the drug get into difficulties. The types of experience outlined earlier as a flight into ideas and a flight into illness develop at this point. If the subject's thinking will tend to grow confused, and his flight into ideas or illness seems to be an attempt to escape from this confusion which threatens to become overwhelming. The therapist should continue to offer reassurance, should try to prevent the subject from developing idée fixe and should try to keep the subject from becoming pre-occupied with somatic changes.

Music is particularly useful at this time because it serves as a distraction from the physiological effects of the drug. By focusing one's attention upon music one becomes aware of the alterations induced by the drug within a frame of reference in which these alterations can contribute to the beauty of the music. This permits the changes to be welcomed and reduces the anxiety attendant upon their development. Because one tends to float freely in time and space when one is swept up in music, the subject should be encouraged to relax completely and listen. In this way, the disappearance of the body images is often accomplished without particular anxiety or distress.

There is a real danger, in sessions in which the therapist has taken the drug, that he may at this juncture become so remarkably absorbed in music as to lose contact with the subject. This possibility must be recognized and guarded against since this phase of the experience is one in which the subject is likely to need the undivided attention of the therapist.

In group sessions in which the therapist has also taken the drug the subject is often encouraged when he finds him unafraid and apparently enjoying the changes. In any case, the therapist should point out the pleasant aspects of the symptoms. He should, for example, attempt to have the subject realize that the enhancement of his perception, which the drug has induced, should not be frightening. Rather, it should permit a new and startling awareness of beauty.

During this period, the therapist should aim at keeping the subject relaxed and receptive to change. He must avoid letting the subject get deeply involved in an attempt to escape from the drug effect. When the subject seems to become involved in a flight into ideas, the therapist should avoid entering into any prolonged discussion of irrelevancies. Should the subject continue to report unpleasant somatic symptoms the therapist should assure him that these are fleeting discomforts which will pass off in a short time. It should be brought home to the subject too that pleasure and pain are very closely related and that he can feel these symptoms as pleasurable or painful according to his own desires. He should be urged to recognize and enjoy the pleasurable aspects of the symptoms and should be reminded again that self-concentration is almost certain to aggravate the difficulty.

Actually, the pain which is felt is largely a function of the subject's apprehension. In the main the pain is psychologically induced. It is the alarming strangeness of the physical sensations which makes them feel as though they should be painful. As an example the feeling of melting away is frequently mentioned. This sensation is in no way unpleasant unless one becomes alarmed by it and tries to fight it off in which case the tension engendered becomes uncomfortable. It should be pointed out to the subject also that his feelings are directly related to his perceptions which become alarming only when he is feeling adversely and he can control his perception by controlling his feelings. He can then observe this himself.

Alarm, possibly by increasing the adrenalin output, seems to potentiate the physiological symptoms. For this reason it is inexcusable to try to control a subject by frightening him. Nearly all subjects will encounter periods of pronounced anxiety and much of the therapeutic benefit of the experience depends upon learning how to work through the problem areas productive of fear. The above is not to suggest that the therapist should aim at the subject having an anxiety-free experience but rather that he should seek to prevent anxiety being focused upon physical symptoms at the time of the onset of the drug effect.



Chapter 15. STAGES IN THE EXPERIENCE

III SELF-EXAMINATION

The dividing line between the period of onset of symptoms and the period of self-examination is a difficult one to draw. However, the role of the therapist differs widely between these phases and their differentiation is necessary. The subject at this point should shift his attention from developing changes in his body and in the world about him to a study of himself. To this point, the experience, though somewhat frightening at times, will have proven exciting and beautiful. The imagery is likely to be unbelievably vast and lovely and relatively impersonal. The subject is likely to try to maintain its impersonal nature. Sometimes he may be able to do this for a matter of hours but usually he rapidly becomes involved in his personal problems. In group sessions, the therapist must not let himself become involved in imagery. He must try to maintain a continuous awareness of the subject.

This phase is really the crux of the therapeutic experience. It is upon the basis of the self-acceptance and self-knowledge which he begins to achieve at this stage that the subject can, with the support of the therapist, gradually come to see into and evaluate the motives which have underlain his previous behavior.

Because the LSD experience is, to such a marked extent, a feeling experience the insight gained by the subject is an emotional insight involving an intensity of conviction which implies acceptance, i.e., emotional insight plus acceptance. On the basis of this insight into his own motivation he can begin to learn how to alter his behavior to satisfy the new pattern of values which develops out of self-understanding. This is a learning process which is never completed but the experience can provide a new understanding and initiative which will tend to speed the process and to maintain the necessary motivation for the patient to begin to alter his attitudes and his habitual modes of thinking and acting.

It is in this phase of self-examination that psychotomimetic reactions develop. In these, the subject is trying to explain or rationalize to his own satisfaction the ideas and feelings with which he is involved.

The therapist who has experienced the drug reaction will have a general idea of what the subject is doing. If the therapist has taken the drug with the subject he will be directly cognizant of the subject's psychological state through his intensified awareness of the feelings of the subject who may begin to reflect hostility and suspicion. To an observer the subject will very likely seem to withdraw and will become more thoughtful and preoccupied.

The subject who reaches this stage is engaged, though he tends at first to be unaware of it, in a soul-searching or self-investigation which can lead either to self-acceptance or to the rejection of certain aspects of the self. The subject's lack of awareness is often due to the fact that much of the material of the images he is dealing with are initially symbolic. A problem may be worked out through symbols which become attached to alterations in visual imagery; to changes which seem to occur in photographs or paintings, or to alterations in the emotional valencies of music.

When, either directly or in symbolic terms the self is rejected, the person will most likely become paranoid and may begin to deny that anything is happening. In any case the experience will become very upsetting for him and he will try in one way or another to withdraw from facing himself. He is, however, too deeply committed by the drug to do this, for LSD has disturbed his body image, his sense of self has forced him into an awareness of the feelings of others and has made him feel that his innermost being is open to the observation of others.

This discomfort is likely to be so intense that he will be forced back into the process of self-examination again and again.

The subject who becomes involved in this process may display intense emotion, perhaps breaking into tears from time to time. Very often too a subject appears remarkably elated and very easily provoked to laughter. He may in fact frequently appear to laugh more or less at random as though he were laughing for no reason at all. This is not the case. His laughter is provoked by his being able to see with a new clarity both the answers to many problems which have weighed heavily upon him, and the inane nature of many of the methods he has been using to cope with these difficulties.

There are steps in the development of self-acceptance which are a direct function of the personality involved and which therefore, we assume, differ remarkably from person to person and cannot be described in any general way. Its achievement is the result of the resolution of the person's own intrapsychic problems. The therapist cannot solve these problems for the subject. What he can do is to offer the subject encouragement or intelligent criticism from time to time.

The therapist, at this stage, should not hesitate, when he is convinced that it will be helpful to the subject, to be insistent that the subject face up to and examine his problems. This does not mean the list of questions the subject has prepared. The subject's problems, at this time, are evident to him without a list. Because of the amazing human propensity for rationalization and because the chief therapeutic value of the level of awareness induced by LSD is that it permits a person to see through his own system of rationalization, the therapist should not accept any attempt on the subject's part to avoid responsibility for his own predicament. Usually the subject will realize unconsciously that he is rationalizing and will seek confirmation and support for his rationalizations form the therapist. Indeed, at this point it is safe to say that he knows he is wrong before he asks a question. However, preferring what he realizes is the wrong answer because it is less painful to the self, he seeks to get outside support and confirmation to bolster his accustomed self-concept.

The patterns of rationalizations may vary but the themes are general. The subject may try to enumerate the ways in which he has done all he could to get along with others. Outside circumstances have been such, he may claim, that a man cannot afford to love or trust his neighbor or indeed deal particularly fairly with him. At times he may feel that the therapist is "putting pressure upon him. He may, too, try to escape self-examination on the basis that it is useless to bother since he is so had that there can be no hope for him.

The therapist should not offer any support for this type of escape. He should refer the problem back to the subject by asking him, "are you certain?" or some such question. The therapist should point out that the subject, and only the subject, can solve the subject's problems. The subject is very likely to find this an excessively painful process but he should be encouraged to go through with it. It is misguided kindness to try to ease the person painlessly through this stage by reassuring him and distracting him from his self-examination. This is much more likely to happen in group sessions, since in that setting it is much easier for the therapist to distract the subject and he is more inclined to do so because the therapist cannot help sharing some of the subject's discomfort.

The therapist must realize that although he senses hostility on the part of the subject, this hostility I only secondarily directed at him. Primarily it is the subject's inwardly directed hostility. The subject, finding aspects of himself of which he is ashamed, attempts to conceal them. This is true in either individual or group session but particularly in the latter. He is aware that the others in the experience can sense his feelings as he can sense theirs and he fears that they will reject and revile him because of what they may discover about him. This comes about through a misinterpretation of feeling as thought which is so common as to be almost universal during the LSD experience. Its occurrence leads the subject, because of the proximity of feelings he develops, to believe that others can know his thoughts. Under these circumstances, self-condemnation produces a consequent fear of and therefrom a rejection of others. This process rapidly accelerates in uncontrolled fashion and leads to the development of a paranoid psychotic reaction.

Almost without exception, subjects will show some evidence of paranoid thinking or marked confusion or both and it is from observations which have proceeded no further that the concept of LSD as being solely a psychotomimetic agent has arisen.

It is a mistake to let a person who is paranoid wander away from the treatment setting. It is through the realization and acceptance of the trust and understanding of the therapist or other group members that he can overcome his paranoid thought disorder. If he is separated from the group for any length of time this becomes difficult. If necessary, he should be reminded of his agreement to stay with the therapist or the group. He will be particularly sensitive to being "watched" or "followed" by others and such a situation will call for a straightforward and honest presentation of the facts. It is, in part, for this reason that the setting should be one in which washroom and toilet facilities are quite close at hand. It should be pointed out when he has lost faith and trust that only through regaining and maintaining these can he enjoy and profit from the experience.

The therapist, at this stage, must also be cautious not to take too much for granted. It is easy to forget how remarkable the first experience with LSD may be and to assume that the patient has progressed further or more rapidly than is the case. When this error is made it is difficult for the subject to continue his self-analysis since the therapist appears to be hurrying him around that difficult hurdle.

The end of this phase of self-examination is not clear cut. It may come quickly or the person may move in and out of it several times. He may find regardless of how frequently he takes LSD that he is re-engaged in the process upon each occasion. In any particular experience, however, the subject will usually show visible relief and the therapist who is sharing the experience will feel a relief of oppression as the subject begins to become more accepting.

In this stage a mirror is often an aid to the subject in achieving a level of self-acceptance and the therapist should encourage him first in seeking the better aspects of the personality of the man in the mirror and subsequently in realizing and accepting all aspects of the infinite variations.

The subject's self-analysis can end on any of several levels. The person may give up the painful process, continue to reject himself and remain quite paranoid for some time. He may become so distressed as to be almost catatonic and stuporous. He may resolve some of his problems but not be able to face others. He may continue to feel himself extremely unworthy, in which case he is likely to remain rather tense and uncomfortable and to show signs of referential thinking from time to time.

To the extent that the person can achieve insight and self-acceptance he will find the experience becoming pleasant and rewarding. Conversely, to the extent that he cannot accept himself he will find the experience unpleasant and will feel hostility toward others in the experience whom he fears will reject him because of what they sense about him. This fact of pleasantness or discomfort in the experience tends to teach him, directly, the value of self-acceptance. Similar discomfort is attached to the lack of acceptance of other people. At first, more or less by accident and subsequently by deliberate experiment, the subject learns that the correlates of acceptance are pleasant and of rejection are painful. When he accepts himself, he no longer fears what others will think of him.

In actual fact all that the others in the experience can be aware of is how the subject feels. They know nothing about the thoughts which give rise to his feelings, but before a person can fully trust another there must be nothing within the self about which he remains defensive. To try to conceal any aspect of the self is to mistrust the acceptance of the others in the group. On the other hand when no masking or apology intervenes between people the complete acceptance of each by the others fortifies the self-acceptance of each.

This does not mean to say that the experience is a sort of confessional or that the subject must, in any way, indicate the nature of his problem. He must simply accept himself as he is and trust the others in the experience to do the same.

The therapist must realize that most subjects are frightened and concerned about what effect the drug will have. They may fear that they will behave in some fashion which will disgrace them. This is simply the realization that there are facets of themselves which they find unacceptable. Many subjects fear that they will lose control over their actions. Most are frightened by the idea that the drug is some sort of truth serum and that they will reveal their innermost secrets during the experience. This does not happen. The subject may, and in fact often does, go through this struggle to self-acceptance without saying anything directly related to the nature of the problems which bother him.

The experience is valuable as a self-analysis. The intent of the therapist should not, therefore, be to use the drug simply as a cathartic or as a means of uncovering repressed material. Certainly the drug is useful in this regard, but its full potential cannot be realized when its use is restricted to this purpose. There is room for disagreement regarding the advisability of the therapist having the subject verbalize the material which the drug brings to awareness. Traditional therapeutic methods would lead to a method in which subject and therapist work through these problem areas together. The therapist in this method would find case history material valuable as a means of stimulating the subjects investigation of his own motives and activity. Other therapists may feel that while such information about the subject might have a certain utility in dealing with him it is he himself who must alter his values and indeed, the more specific the therapist's knowledge of the subject's guilt-producing past behavior, the more difficult it is for the subject and the therapist to arrive at that feeling of equality which permits the establishment of a relationship of complete TRUST.



Chapter 16. STAGES IN THE EXPERIENCE

IV THE EMPATHIC BOND

When, in a group experience, the self-scrutiny of the subject has reached a point at which he has found a degree of self-acceptance there develops a very close empathic bond between the participants. Usually this is formed with a certain amount of hesitation. There will be times when the level of trust is lowered and the bond breaks down. Gradually, however, with greater and greater certainty the subject will come to realize that the people in the experience are particularly aware of each other's feelings and that they can not escape from this awareness even when they desire to do so. This can be a disturbing discovery not only because it does not accord with day to day experience, but also because he continues for some time to misinterpret feeling for thought and feels that his thoughts are directly opposed. In the individual experience the same general empathic process develops though it is of course less evident and far less pronounced.

Such a bond calls for a high level of acceptance of one's self and of the others in the experience or in the situation. It requires a willingness on the part of all participants to accept each other to an unusually high degree. In other words each must be willing to be completely open with the others and to give of himself emotionally, without reservation. It is essentially a self surrender. Huxley (26) has termed it "a willingness to be completely implicated". To accomplish this each person must accept himself and trust the others in the group to accept him as he is despite whatever short-comings he may have.

Not every person in his first experience, is capable of achieving the level of self-acceptance and the acceptance of others which will permit him to establish such a relationship. Some people would require a number of sessions before they would be able to do so.

In view of the discussion of self-acceptance and the acceptance of others in which we have been involved it should be pointed out that such acceptance is an acceptance of essence and the recognition that the act is not the essence. That is to say a person accepts himself or another as a person, as a brother and indeed as an additional self. He does not, by this acceptance, automatically endorse either his own acts or those of the people he accepts. His affection for himself and for others is not related to acts any more than a parent's affection for a child is related to the acts of the child. Some of the acts of a child are right and are rewarded, some are wrong and are censured but the love of the parent is unrelated to the rightness or wrongness of specific acts. Indeed, one of the frequently observed changes in a person who has had the LSD experience is that he finds it much easier to point out to other people aspects of their behavior which impinge upon what he considers to be his rights. He finds it easier to do this because his statement of the difficulty is no longer seen or felt by him to be a condemnation of the other person. By the same token, the other person sensing the lack of anger or censure is the more likely to perceive the request as reasonable.

In each person's development to the point at which he finds it easy to accept and deal with the empathic relations which the drug permits, there appear to be two stages. The first, basically a self surrender, is the willingness to give of the self without reservation and to trust oneself completely to the affection and respect of the others in the group.

The second stage frequently seems equally difficult and comes about through the subjects learning to receive as well as to give. In other words it is the final complete acceptance of the other participants. It is to regard what they have to offer - their view of the world, their particular way of feeling and thinking - as being as valid, as worthwhile and as beautiful as his own. Once this situation has been set up and each individual in the group becomes willing, not only to give of himself without reservation but to accept each other person's point of view and manner of feeling as equally valid, the empathic bond is truly established and the participants are able to feel a unison so complete as to establish a communication verging on the telepathic.

When the subject is unable to complete the bond by accepting the feelings of the others in the group he is likely to revert frequently into self-condemnation or paranoid thinking or in rare cases into grandiosity in which contempt for certain aspects of the others is verbalized or displayed.

About three hours after the drug has been taken most subjects will either have established an empathic bond with the other group members or will have achieved some sort of a stabilization of the experience. At this stage it is possible and valuable to begin a period of discussion.

Unfortunately, this is sometimes impossible, for in some instances the subject remains either violently nauseated or otherwise physically ill and in others the subject continues throughout the experience to be markedly paranoid. In such cases there is little that the therapist can do other than to continue to offer trust, affection and understanding. The therapist must not lose patience and should never try to get the subject to "snap out of it" by directing hostility toward him or by leaving him alone. The therapist can teach only be example. An LSD session spent in being ill or in being psychotic is much less rewarding than one spent constructively but as Gibran (20) has pointed out "Even those who limp go not backwards". Subsequent sessions may lead to much more profitable experiences.



Chapter 17. STAGES IN THE EXPERIENCE

V DISCUSSION


While discussion is an important development in both individual and group experiences, the group experience presents wider scope. The nature of the discussion will depend upon the personalities of the participants. The importance of this period lies in the fact that the subject, having gained a level of self-acceptance and acceptance of others can learn a great deal through the association that this period permits. He is actually learning how to relate to others at a new level - a level based on self-understanding an unashamed trust of his deepest emotions. He is learning about other ways of feeling and of sensing the world. Music is extremely useful in this learning process. Each person tends to hear music in his own way and in a group setting once the empathic bond has been established each person hears the music in a manner which is influenced to some degree by the others in the experience. The subject can learn that by blending his perception of the music with that of the other participants, the enjoyment of all is enhanced. This fusion of points of view or ways of feeling is most readily observable in the perception of music, but having observed the phenomenon in that particular situation, the person can more readily understand the possibility of generalizing this knowledge and capacity to all other aspects of the experience and hence to his [daily] interpersonal relations.

The nature of what is likely to be learned through the experience offers a guide to profitable areas of discussion. The commonly reported areas of experience which Chwelos (13) has enumerated have been mentioned earlier. These include a feeling of being at one with the universe; changes in the perception of time and space; enhancement in the sensory fields, a feeling of profundity of understanding which engenders conviction; increased emotional sensitivity leading to a widening of the range of emotion; an increased tendency to emotional fluctuation; and increased sensitivity to the emotions of others.

These changes are closely related. The alteration in the self-concept and the depersonalization to which it gives rise may be a result of changes in the perception of space and time. In any case, they appear to vary concomitantly. Depersonalization, by altering the self-concept, permits objective self-assessment and when coupled with apparent freedom in space and time brings one to a sense of unity with the infinite. Further, this reduction of the self, which has hitherto been the basic referent for all sensation and ideation permits both a remarkable enhancement in the sensing of the non-self and a new profundity and range in ideation which the self-concept has previously tended to circumscribe and modify. So vast and so intense is the experience that the emotional responses engendered cover the spectrum of affect and appear because of the time distortion to shift with remarkable rapidity.

It is important to realize, with regard to the points which follow, that the feeling of reality which accompanies the experience is often remarkably vivid. Where this is the case, the ideas outlined below, once arrived at, are accepted with an intense conviction.

The person's individuality tends to break down. He begins through the breakdown and synthesis of usual gestalts, to see through the subject upon which he happens to be concentrating, into the microcosm and into the macrocosm. Because his thinking is analogical he can see the same pattern of extension in all things. Each object or person has an infinite number of aspects.

He becomes aware that he too, is part of this pattern of infinity and that the barrier to awareness of this fact has been his accustomed sense of self. This realization renders complete self-acceptance much easier than it otherwise would be.

The objectivity toward the usual self-concept which depersonalization occasions, permits him to examine his relationship to others without any defensive screening. He begins to learn that self concern, implying as it does a feeling of some insufficiency in the self, is synonymous with anxiety and tends not only to isolate him from others but also to make him distinctly uncomfortable.

Complete self-acceptance on the other hand, which implies complete faith in his infinite nature, not only permits him to feel very closely with others and to understand them more completely than he ever has before, but also produces in him feelings of content and well-being.

He comes to the realization that faith and anxiety are mutually exclusive. They cannot be experienced at the same time. Chwelos (13) in discussing this area of experience states of the subject:

"He then sees that lack of faith, or acceptance that he is essentially infinite, is the exact counterpart of anxiety --. He also sees that guilt is disrupting in that it is a denial of the infinite self which is the same for everyone. This equalizing tends to remove any form of pride, prejudice, guilt or anxiety. The person then sees that faith, which is the acceptance of himself as infinite, and love, which is the acceptance that everything around him, is equal to him in substance, is the clue to a smooth, pleasant, useful LSD experience. The patient then ceases the tragedy of desiring to be other than he is in essence and realizes that he can only be other than he is in terms of his acts. The energy thus released from attempting to alter his basic nature will now be used to alter his acts in a way which can make his life more peaceful and satisfying and his outlook more compassionate."

Almost certainly the most valuable knowledge which the subject may attain in the experience is the realization that his feelings are very largely under his own control. Generally speaking, our culture accepts the view that one's feelings are determined by circumstance. In the experience, however, the subject learns that his feelings are determined by their direction. Self-concern makes him feel badly, outwardly directed feelings of affection and trust make him feel good. Knowing this, he can feel as he wants to and can realize the wisdom of Lincoln's statement, "a man is just as happy as he makes up his mind to be". The subject should learn too that the ability to control ones feelings comes only with practice. As Chwelos (13) puts it: "He can feel as he pleases but this takes some practice, as one learns to walk by walking, so one learns to love by loving".

It is the role of the therapist during this stage to try to discuss and work through with the subject some of these extremely complex ideas. As a rule, the subject will broach the ideas himself and the therapist can offer another point of view or aspect of the problem involved. At times the therapist may feel it wise to introduce a topic for discussion but he must be careful that he does not attempt to pressure the subject into accepting his point of view. The pressure for acceptance or rejection of ideas must come from the subject himself if the ideas are to carry emotional conviction.

Referring to this phase of the experience as "discussion" may appear to be unwarranted. It is seldom discussion in the ordinary sense of the word since a person outside of the experience would be likely to have much difficulty in following what was transpiring. There are likely to be very prolonged periods of silence, few sentences may be completed as the thoughts seem to break off in the middle. Actually the close nature of the communication permits this sort of discussion to be filled with meaning as far as the participants are concerned.

As has been pointed out previously the LSD reaction is essentially a feeling experience. The translation from intense but undefined non-verbal feelings into structured, delineated ideas, ideas which can be examined, discussed and weighed intellectually, is almost always made with difficulty.

There are certain types of questions which may be helpful to the subject. Through considering them, he gives ideational structure to what he feels.

Questions which lead to an examination of the self-concept are usually interesting and lead to valuable discussion. This would include such questions as:

      1. Who are you?
      2. How much does your identity determine your behavior?
      3. Where are you in space and time?
      4. Where do your thoughts come from?
      5. How are you different from other people?
      6. How are you the same as others?
      7. What is the basis of your system of values?

Questions which may stimulate thinking in the area of inter-personal relations are also extremely useful. This area might be approached through such questions as:

      1. If all people are the same in essence, what keeps them separate?
      2. What is love?
      3. What is wisdom?
      4. What is trust?
      5. If you could have any single wish come true, what would you wish for?
      6. Why are some people more pleasant than others?

Other more useful questions will undoubtedly occur to the therapist and such questions often will act as the beginning of discussion. The therapist must, however, continually guard against the tendency to assume that his answers to such questions are the only correct solutions. The subject's answers will represent truth as the subject sees it.

It is of great importance that the subject in dealing with these questions, attempt to verbalize his conclusions. Memory seems less capable of storing and recalling feeling tones than it does of holding verbal symbols representing ideas. If the subject is to be able to recall and use his experience it is important that his feelings be structured into thoughts and the thoughts described in language and if possible written down or otherwise recorded for subsequent reference. Should he wish to make notes of certain points he should be encouraged to do so. He may find it somewhat difficult to co-ordinate his movements and writing may prove difficult. Osmond (41) suggests the use of a chinagraph pencil which calls for less exact finger movements, yet permits the notation of salient ideas.

Sometimes this is extremely difficult and a very useful short cut into the memory files seems to be made if role-playing [is] introduced. In such role-playing any hypothetical setting may be used and the people in the experience may decide to examine the relationships which would exist between them were they executive, politicians, churchmen, soldiers or any other group. The setting may be anywhere under any conditions ranging from disaster to tranquility. The relationship of each to other may be examined under varying emotional settings ranging from situations in which they relate on the basis of hatred and suspicion to those in which they work with each other in an atmosphere of affection, appreciation and trust.

In view of the level of empathy which exists, this procedure will rapidly demonstrate the motivational pattern of each of the participants and show how these patterns can and do relate to each other. The roles need very little enactment as the potentialities of the personality in the hypothesized situation tend to be very readily evident to the participants.

If the subject has been asked to prepare a list of questions, the answers to which he feels will be helpful to him in guiding his future conduct, he should now be encouraged to look at his list. It is very likely that the self-understanding he has gained will make the answers to the questions seem obvious. Most frequently the questions have arisen from areas in which the subject has been rationalizing to avoid accepting what he already feels to be true. LSD, by removing the need to rationalize, lets him see beyond the question into the underlying motives. He should be encouraged to make certain that he sees the answers clearly and understand how to use this insight. It the subject requests help the therapist should offer any aid he can in discussing such questions.

While this period of discussion actually continues until the experience is terminated, there are other important stages which it overlaps which should be reviewed.



Chapter 18. STAGES IN THE EXPERIENCE

VI DIMINISHMENT OF SYMPTOMS


Usually after about five or six hours the symptoms seem to diminish rather rapidly. The subject will begin to feel that the session is all over. In cases in which the subject has been unable to achieve a high level of experience he may begin to express a desire to end the session. This can be destructive of the relationships which have been built up. If the subject attempts to shake off the remaining symptoms and get rid of them they tend to become more pronounced. The more he fights against them, the more agitated he is likely to become and he may develop a paranoid reaction. His desire to get out of the drug state leads him to feel that that state is undesirable and unreal. This type of thinking, unless diverted, may rapidly lead to suspicion, hostility and withdrawal.

The subject has been warned about this in the instructions given to him prior to the session. A further warning at this time may be useful or may be disregarded. He should be assured that the experience is far from over and much that is interesting lies ahead. It is wise to try to interest him in some aspect of the experience not yet covered or in some area of discussion in which he is particularly interested. It is unwise to leave him alone at this time or to let him leave the group. Any attempt to fight against the residual symptoms is very unlikely to be successful. It should be pointed out to the subject that this apparent diminishment of symptoms is due to his having learned how to adjust to them. They are still present but he is going to put the level of stabilization to something of a test in a short time by going to a restaurant for a good meal.

The discussion may begin to falter at about this time and one way of maintaining interest is by seeing how each person in the group adds to the appreciation of music. Those selections which have the greatest appeal for the subject might be used at this time. The subject will find that when he tries to listen to the music as another person hears it, he will initially find it rather annoying. After a short time he will find his accustomed response to the music altered. Gradually he will see the beauty in this new type of awareness. Subsequently, he can learn to combing his accustomed response pattern with those of the other people present. Whether this actually occurs or could be demonstrated objectively is a moot point. Nevertheless the subject will note a remarkable change in his own perception.

After an hour or two the subject will realize the nature and extent of the symptoms which remain. He will be much more comfortable with these than he was previously because he will have learned how to control them. At this time a discussion may be started about going to a restaurant and about how, in that venture, the remaining symptoms may affect him, or in a group session, each of the people in the group. This discussion will tend to make meeting people en masse much easier.



Chapter 19. STAGES IN THE EXPERIENCE

VII THE MEAL


Where the treatment situation permits, it is often a very useful experience for the subject to get into a situation in which he is observing and dealing with other people while he is still slightly under the influence of the drug. It can be something of a first step in bridging the gap between the LSD experience and his normal day to day living.

Going out for a meal late in the evening when the subject is hungry, provides an easy opportunity for him to learn how to meet and accept people in a way which will accord with what he has learned in the experience. To the extent that he fails he will find the situation growing unpleasant and uncomfortable. What he has learned and the support of the people with him will usually lead him to generalize his learning to this situation and will teach him the advantage of understanding and acceptance in day to day relationships as well as in the LSD experience.

This learning is reinforced by its association with the pleasure of eating after several hours of fasting. As long as the subject remains paranoid or apprehensive, the meal should be postponed. It is extremely distressing for a disturbed subject to have to mingle with a large number of people. If necessary, food should be brought in to the treatment room and the visit to the restaurant omitted. Some subjects, especially among the alcoholic group, may have no desire for food and if they are adamant in their refusal, their wishes should be respected.



Chapter 20. STAGES IN THE EXPERIENCE

VIII TERMINATION OF THE SESSION


The time of termination should remain flexible. After a meal there is likely to be a revival of energy and further discussion may begin. The important thing is that the end of the session should be determined by the feelings of the participants and not by the pressure of outside circumstances.

Twelve hours would seem to be a minimum time to ensure that the subject would not be anxious when separated from the group. Often, however, the latter stages of the session see the development of extremely interesting discussion and the session may last up to 16 hours, depending upon the interest and the stamina of the participants.

Keep the session going until there is no reason to believe that the subject will be troubled by recurring symptoms and until he seems happily confident that he can sleep untroubled by anxiety.

In subjects who have shown little or no reaction to the drug the session may be terminated in a much shorter time, possibly after 7 or 8 hours. In subjects who have remained paranoid throughout, the session should be carried on as long as possible - at least up to 12 hours. Usually the subject will become less hostile and withdrawn and more comfortable and accepting as time goes by.

Where the subject is being treated on an out-patient basis he should be driven or accompanied home by the therapist. The subject should not attempt to drive an automobile. The therapist should help as much as possible to bridge the difficult period of the subject's meeting his family or his wife. The therapist can answer many of the questions which would otherwise be directed at the subject and he thus becomes not only an ally in the situation but tends still further to weave the LSD experience into the subject's daily life. "

Complete handbook on erowid: http://www.erowid.org/psychoactives/guides/handbook_lsd25.shtml#11


--------------------

Edited by LightShedder (02/14/12 03:44 AM)

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Offlineyabbahabba
Stranger
Registered: 06/16/09
Posts: 589
Last seen: 6 months, 13 days
Re: 1950's LSD Theraist Handbook [Re: LightShedder]
    #15806667 - 02/14/12 01:52 AM (12 years, 1 month ago)

This should've been stickied long before the internet and message boards ever existed.

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Offlineakira_akuma
Φύσις κρύπτεσθαι ὕψιστος φιλεῖ


Registered: 08/28/09
Posts: 82,455
Loc: Onypeirophóros
Last seen: 4 years, 2 months
Re: 1950's LSD Theraist Handbook [Re: yabbahabba]
    #15806841 - 02/14/12 03:38 AM (12 years, 1 month ago)

i'm probably gonna read this when i am bored later; thanks OP, it looks very interesting.

anyone else get the "shivers" when the onset of LSD's effects occur? i'd call it more a "shake" then a "Shiver" though... but i get that all the time. almost up my spine... it lets me know shit is starting to kick off. this handbook looks like it'll be pretty accurate.

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Offlinebrickwallnomad
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Registered: 07/17/10
Posts: 194
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Re: 1950's LSD Theraist Handbook [Re: akira_akuma]
    #15806855 - 02/14/12 03:48 AM (12 years, 1 month ago)

This is fucking sweet. Nice post, OP. does anyone else love reading old skool psychedelic info/text, and just get this crazy weird excitement when taking in knowledge previously unknown to yourself?

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OfflineLearyfanS
It's the psychedelic movement!
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Registered: 04/20/01
Posts: 34,184
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Re: 1950's LSD Therapist Handbook [Re: LightShedder]
    #15897024 - 03/03/12 11:49 PM (12 years, 27 days ago)

Haha, interesting.  This was co-written by Duncan Blewett, who was apart of the Saskatchewan Canada LSD psychotherapy community of the 1950's.  The anniversary of his death was the other week. 

















--------------------
--------------------------------


Mp3 of the month:  Sons Of Adam - Feathered Fish


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OfflineNature Boy
Stranger than most
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Registered: 07/09/07
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Re: 1950's LSD Therapist Handbook [Re: LightShedder]
    #15897963 - 03/04/12 05:36 AM (12 years, 27 days ago)

Most excellent!  I read about 2/3.  Will read the rest later.  Thanks for posting this.  :thumbup:

N.B.


--------------------
All submitted posts under this user name are works of pure fiction or outright lies.  Any information, statement, or assertion contained therein should be considered pure unadulterated bullshit.  Note well:  Sorry, but I do not answer PM's unless you are a long-time trusted friend.  If you have a question, ask it in the appropriate thread.

                                                                               

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InvisibleMacavity224
Ubermensch
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Registered: 06/09/11
Posts: 719
Re: 1950's LSD Theraist Handbook [Re: akira_akuma]
    #15897996 - 03/04/12 05:50 AM (12 years, 27 days ago)

Quote:

akira_akuma said:
i'm probably gonna read this when i am bored later; thanks OP, it looks very interesting.

anyone else get the "shivers" when the onset of LSD's effects occur? i'd call it more a "shake" then a "Shiver" though... but i get that all the time. almost up my spine... it lets me know shit is starting to kick off. this handbook looks like it'll be pretty accurate.




With me, I know it's starting to work when the uncontrollable laughing occurs...


--------------------
"O my soul, I taught you to say "Today" as well as "Once" and "Formerly," and to dance your dance over every here and there and yonder."


:trippnballs:


Everything I post here is not true. Do not believe a single word of it.

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