Integração de experiências desafiadoras com psicodélico: contribuições psicanalíticas

Abstract

Psychedelic experiences are often characterized by the emergence of unconscious contents. Among the various types, those known as challenging or difficult bring intense negative emotions, such as fear and anguish, and can even be traumatic. However, these experiences can benefit individuals if they seek to understand them with professional help, by elaborating the emotions and content that arise – a process called integration. The present study aimed to provide a setting/opportunity for the integration of difficult and potentially traumatic experiences resulting from the use of psychedelic substances (LSD, LSA, or psilocybin). This is a qualitative study based on concepts from Psychoanalysis, mainly Winnicottian, to understand reports of challenging experiences. Two young adult female university students who had been in a challenging experience with LSD participated in the study. Each participant took part in four sessions of semi-structured clinical interviews based on the technique of free association. Additionally, the free drawing technique was used for aesthetic expression related to the challenging experience. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee on Human Research at the Federal University of São Carlos (Opinion No. 4.901.570, CAAE No. 48776121.7.0000.5504). The analysis was based on the construction of joint meanings between the researcher/participant pair, the application of psychoanalytic theoretical concepts, and an exploration of socio-cultural issues intricately linked to conflicts emerging from psychedelic experiences. With both participants, it was possible to integrate the challenging psychedelic experience, discovering connections between emerging content and pre-existing but less conscious conflicts. With this study, we hope to contribute to the bridging of Psychology and Psychoanalysis with reports stemming from psychedelic experiences, a gap that deserves to be discussed in the academic and professional spheres.