Shadow Side of Psychedelic Therapy

As psychedelics leave the fringes and enter the mainstream of culture and medicine we are left with more questions than answers. It’s been well established that psychedelics can be powerful tools that help address many mental health disorders ranging from depression to obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). While it is possible for psychedelic therapy to lead to a remission from mental illness we need to be especially wary of headlines that ambitiously state that psychedelics “cure” PTSD, painting these medicines as panaceas. This is especially important to be aware of as psychedelic capitalism is on the rise and as organizations and corporations attempt to monetize on such “magic bullet” grandiose claims. Join us for an evening with Dr.Florian Birkmayer and Cathy Skipper as we discuss the shadow side of psychedelic therapy  - the role that privilege, accountability, spiritual bypassing, privileged discourses, cultural appropriation, blind spots and ancestral/generational trauma play in the current landscape. These shadow forces need to be brought into the open and discussed so that were are not unconsciously ruled by them, which can lead to many different unintended and negative consequences. 

What you will learn:

• What the shadow is and what shadow work entails.
• How to get a wider perspective and see how certain discourses are privileged and other important voices are silenced.
• The dangers of being unconsciously ruled by shadow aspects, especially in psychedelic therapy and conversely the hidden gifts when we face the shadow.
• How your own privilege may result in blind spots, and how you can use your position to empower others. 

What to bring: 

• A desire to learn
• A tolerance for uncomfortable yet growth-inducing conversations  

Background Reading: The Shadow Side of Psychedelic Therapy: https://aromagnosis.com/2021/08/25/the-shadow-side-of-psychedelic-therapy/

Speakers

Florian Birkmayer, MD

After a career in mainstream academic psychiatry and addiction treatment, Florian became frustrated by the overemphasis on pharmaceuticals to cover up symptoms and decided to use his knowledge and experience to help people recover from pharmaceutical medications. 

Florian received his bachelor’s degree in molecular biology at Princeton University, where he learned to question assumptions and discover the hidden gifts of the unseen side of life, the shadow. He received his medical doctorate from Columbia University, which taught him how to think critically about ‘business-as-usual’ medicine and inspired him to become an addiction psychiatrist since he felt that all physical disease has its origins in imbalances in the psyche, especially trauma, an idea which had been shunned by most of medicine.

Dr. Birkmayer co-developed AromaGnosis with his wife Cathy, which combines Jung’s model of the psyche & the unconscious with aromas (essential oils) as powerful allies to facilitate psychic evolution and healing. 

Dr Birkmayer has incorporated aromatics in his clinical practice with ketamine and has published his work on using this novel technique in treating obsessive compulsive disorder and substance induced psychosis. After a 5 year sabbatical, Dr Florian has worked with ketamine - an anesthetic dissociative which has been found to be effective in treating depression, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and chronic pain, to name a few.

Cathy Skipper

In 2015, Cathy lost her mum, moved continents, was diagnosed with cancer and lost all the material belongings she owned in the world. Her passion for working with aromatics for deep, soul healing enabled her to move through these difficulties and develop a powerful and transformative modality of healing with her husband Florian Birkmayer MD. Cathy is the author of the books “Aromatic Medicine” and “The Alchemy of Menopause workbook”.

She currently offers workshops and consultations using aromatics, depth psychology, journeying to help people heal trauma and live their best lives. 
 

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For PSYCHEDELIC KNOWLEDGE AND RESOURCES please check out the Psychedelic Society website. 

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