Three Things To Read This Week
1. “It feels historic to be a part of this.”
Earlier this month, Henry Fields became one of the first people in Oregon to complete a state-approved psilocybin facilitator program. Breakthrough Bulletin spoke with Mr. Fields this week to understand more about the training itself, what it feels like to be part of one of the first cohorts to graduate from facilitator training, and why he chose to enter the psychedelic medicine field. Here’s what he had to say:
On why he chose the field:
“About four and a half years ago, I fell into a very deep depression. I couldn't get out of bed for days at a time. That’s when I decided to try psilocybin. It wasn’t long before it felt like I had a pep in my step, heard the birds chirping again, and colors were brighter. It was a very profound experience for me. I want to be a part of that experience for others who need it.”
On the training program itself:
“I was very impressed with the InnerTrek training. It was very thoughtful and rigorous, and I was amazed at how they took such a broad topic and so thoughtfully broke it down into discrete modules on science, history, ethics, and practical facilitator skills. The training spanned these myriad topics, but because the material was broken down so clearly, each topic still had incredible depth. I also felt so fortunate that, prior to my training in the program, I had experience facilitating more than 100 psilocybin sessions at a spiritual center with a federal religious exemption. Even coming equipped with that knowledge and experience, though, I felt like the training helped me to become a better facilitator.”
On the important role of facilitators in supplementing the psilocybin:
“During the experience of taking psychedelic medicines, one gets lots of ‘a-ha’ moments which are powerful, but may or may not be integrated into a person’s life after the medicine wears off. Yet, one of the many benefits of a facilitator is when you’re with one during the session, you can say things out loud and the facilitator can take notes on what you’re saying and then you get those at the end of the experience to review during integration. It’s so helpful. It can help you take actionable steps.
This post-session process of reviewing and integrating the insights that emerge often helps people to realize their life has meaning, their skills have value, they can be an authentic person, their actions have consequences—maybe you’ll think to yourself, ‘I don’t want to sit at home and drink all day anymore,’ maybe you’ve learned something else about yourself, your value, those sorts of realizations.
And then, are there any action steps we can take after the administration? Are you ready to pick up the phone and go to that AA meeting? While we are in the afterglow of the experience and you have some sense of what you want to do, I encourage people to put ideas down, pen to paper to take with them to integrate into their lives. It’s really powerful.”
2. “Things people previously thought were unchangeable now have the capability of being changed drastically, and long-lastingly.”
That’s what Dartmouth neuroscientist Katherine Nautiyal told Grid News’ Jonathan Lambert about the power of psychedelic medicine to “almost fundamentally” reshape the problematic mental patterns that manifest in someone’s personality. Summarizing some of the evidence to illustrate the point, Lambert writes:
“Just two large doses of psilocybin alleviated depression in 75 percent of participants one month after treatment and 58 percent a year later, according to a recent study of 27 patients. When tobacco smokers trying to quit underwent a similar paradigm, 80 percent reported success, significantly greater than the 35 percent associated with other strategies. MDMA can take the sting out of painful memories and may soon be approved by the FDA for PTSD. And psychedelics can help terminally ill cancer patients come to terms with death, substantially easing anxiety and depression for about 80 percent of participants in a recent clinical trial.”
3. “Oklahoma House advances psilocybin research program.”
Oregon, Colorado, and Oklahoma. Those aren’t three states grouped together very often. But psychedelic medicine, and especially its promise for helping military veterans, holds bipartisan promise. As Dale Denwalt explained in The Oklahoman:
“Oklahoma soon could authorize medical research into psilocybin … recent studies into the drug's efficacy have focused on its use in helping reduce the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression found in combat veterans and survivors of abuse. House Bill 2107 was advanced by the Oklahoma House of Representatives on Thursday and can now be heard in the Senate. Its author, state Rep. Daniel Pae, R-Lawton, said Texas already has adopted similar legislation, and it's also being considered in Montana, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Arizona.
Psilocybin is illegal in both federal and [Oklahoma] state law, but federal drug regulators have allowed some highly controlled research to take place. This legislation would allow similar studies on the state level. Pae said that the drug would be kept in a clinical setting and not be distributed for use at home. ‘I believe we have fantastic research institutions here in the state of Oklahoma, and I want them to be part of the conversation. I want us to be proactive and not reactive on this issue,’ Pae said.”
