Open AccessMystical Experience with Cancer Patients: Insights from Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy and Guided Imagery
Author(s) -
Jerry B. Brown,
Johnny E. Brown
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
global journal of medical research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2249-4618
pISSN - 0975-5888
DOI - 10.34257/gjmravol21is3pg1
Subject(s) - psychotherapist , guided imagery , psilocybin , distress , mental image , modalities , mysticism , psychology , patient experience , trance , medicine , psychiatry , cognition , hallucinogen , anxiety , health care , art , social science , literature , sociology , philosophy , theology , economics , economic growth
Background: In controlled, clinical studies of the impact of psilocybin on patients with life-threatening cancers, Johns Hopkins and NYU researchers found that the “intensity of the mystical experience” induced by psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy was directly correlated with the alleviation of cancer-related mental distress.Objective: The purpose of this article is to explore the proposition that the combination of psychotherapeutic guided imagery and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy could not only alleviate cancer-related psychological distress but also reduce or eliminate physiological tumors.Methods: The literature surrounding “mystical experience” is discussed; the modalities of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy and guided imagery psychotherapy with cancer patients are compared; and the anecdotal outcomes of cancer remission among private therapy guided imagery patients are presented.