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Paper short abstract

This paper explores the role of suffering in ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, drawing from ethnographic fieldwork conducted in California, USA. It looks at how 'shadow' experiences are supported and integrated within a context of psychedelic spirituality, social inequality and hyper-individualism.

Paper long abstract

This paper is based on fieldwork conducted in California, USA, studying the effects of ketamine assisted psychotherapy. It draws from interviews with patients and practitioners, as well as participant observation in ketamine clinics and psychedelic retreats. The paper explores the role of suffering in different approaches to ketamine therapy, via a critical inquiry into the nature of the "inner healing intelligence", understood to be the mind's innate capacity to heal itself under supportive conditions. In this ideology of healing, all phenomena that arise within the psychedelic experience are the product of the "inner healing intelligence" and are surfacing for processing, release and understanding. This includes ‘shadow’ experiences, which, if handled correctly, can lead to positive healing outcomes. The paper critically explores how practitioners’ spiritual beliefs and practices work to create a safe environment for participants to explore these deeper aspects of psyche, by invoking the reality of the sacred and trust in the "inner healing intelligence". It also looks at case studies of people who have healed from suicidal depression and PTSD with ketamine therapy, where things "get worse before they get better", and how this trajectory of healing may only benefit a privileged class of people with time and space for integration. It places such healing practices within the social context of California, which is marked by hyper-individualism, stark inequality and social issues such as homelessness and addiction, where ketamine clinics are run as businesses whose profit motive may interfere with adequate patient care.