May 10, 2023·edited May 10, 2023Liked by Sasha Chapin
Thanks for sharing Sasha.
One thing that gets missed or, at best, glossed over in most of the research and literature on therapeutic use of psychedelics/MDMA is that the folks who need it most are often on really powerful psychoactive drugs - usually SSRIs. These drugs of course cause major neurochemical adaptations that mess with the mechanisms of psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, etc, which renders a lot of the research and anecdotal accounts on therapeutic modalities and outcomes irrelevant. As someone who has been on SSRIs for a long time, I've noticed that I end up ignoring most discussions around these kinds of therapies because I feel like I'm 'ineligible'.
With all that said: have you read or heard anything about long-term SSRI users and MDMA therapy?
One of the best long-form things I've ever read on MDMA. Bravo, Sasha!!! I'm still working on finding the "best" interweaving of IFS and MDMA for myself and for others. It's a lovely space to be in, with so much potential.
This was such a well-written, thorough, and informative essay. Thank you for bringing some sense and sensibility to the psychedelics equation. I've been writing about similar topics and was particularly struck by your attention to problematic, insta-cure expectations. I'm new on Substack, so I hope this is kosher. I wanted to share my recent essay on the long, winding road of psychedelic-assisted therapy: https://lyssamenard.substack.com/p/psychedelics-dont-work-the-way-youve
I've also got one on picking a psychedelics guide, if anyone's interested. Much appreciation for your work 🙏
Great piece, Sasha. How much of this guidance do you think is specific to MDMA? If you were preparing a guide for similar work with psilocybin, for example, would it be very different?
Fantastic guide! Corroborates my views towards reflective MDMA sessions -- will be sharing this a bunch. Two safe self-guided sessions have been foundational days in my life. There's still not much broad recognition that MDMA can play this kind of role
Maybe, but there are many roadblocks ahead. One possibility is that "MAPS-MDMA" gets put in another Schedule but MDMA stays in Schedule I (bifurcated scheduling), or say MDMA gets put in a lower Schedule, it's still illegal outside of medical/therapy situations. That being said, a lot of states and cities are working on decrim and hopefully the US will at least have some parity with some EU countries (I'm in The Netherlands) that consumers wont feel unsafe whilst using (though still test everything etc).
"People on MDMA do not have secrets"
I agree with the general point, people are much more open than usual. Though I would say that you can still hold secrets. Or conversely share "secret" desires that you don't fully agree with in a sober state.
I didn't see anything mentioned about dosing. It might be useful to note that usually one large dose is taken and then a booster of 50%. Which is usually also less than is being used by those raving (who redose 2-3x).
And "discover that European techno finally makes sense." Haha, true that!
I absolutely adore this type of balanced perspective, it's especially important for the topic but I also just find it to be really refreshing in general ❤️
Super helpful, thanks Sasha! I'm a therapist with training in IFS, as well as EMDR which I'd also recommend as a supplementary / preparatory treatment for MDMA therapy, and haven't found as much out there practically speaking for MDMA therapy as for other psychedelics used therapeutically. Will file this away to come back to for when I can start to legally do this stuff professionally.
Thanks for sharing Sasha.
One thing that gets missed or, at best, glossed over in most of the research and literature on therapeutic use of psychedelics/MDMA is that the folks who need it most are often on really powerful psychoactive drugs - usually SSRIs. These drugs of course cause major neurochemical adaptations that mess with the mechanisms of psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, etc, which renders a lot of the research and anecdotal accounts on therapeutic modalities and outcomes irrelevant. As someone who has been on SSRIs for a long time, I've noticed that I end up ignoring most discussions around these kinds of therapies because I feel like I'm 'ineligible'.
With all that said: have you read or heard anything about long-term SSRI users and MDMA therapy?
One of the best long-form things I've ever read on MDMA. Bravo, Sasha!!! I'm still working on finding the "best" interweaving of IFS and MDMA for myself and for others. It's a lovely space to be in, with so much potential.
This was such a well-written, thorough, and informative essay. Thank you for bringing some sense and sensibility to the psychedelics equation. I've been writing about similar topics and was particularly struck by your attention to problematic, insta-cure expectations. I'm new on Substack, so I hope this is kosher. I wanted to share my recent essay on the long, winding road of psychedelic-assisted therapy: https://lyssamenard.substack.com/p/psychedelics-dont-work-the-way-youve
I've also got one on picking a psychedelics guide, if anyone's interested. Much appreciation for your work 🙏
Great piece, Sasha. How much of this guidance do you think is specific to MDMA? If you were preparing a guide for similar work with psilocybin, for example, would it be very different?
Fantastic guide! Corroborates my views towards reflective MDMA sessions -- will be sharing this a bunch. Two safe self-guided sessions have been foundational days in my life. There's still not much broad recognition that MDMA can play this kind of role
Where is oxytocin nasal spray?
Great primer on MDMA Sasha!
"MDMA will be decriminalized/legal soon"
Maybe, but there are many roadblocks ahead. One possibility is that "MAPS-MDMA" gets put in another Schedule but MDMA stays in Schedule I (bifurcated scheduling), or say MDMA gets put in a lower Schedule, it's still illegal outside of medical/therapy situations. That being said, a lot of states and cities are working on decrim and hopefully the US will at least have some parity with some EU countries (I'm in The Netherlands) that consumers wont feel unsafe whilst using (though still test everything etc).
"People on MDMA do not have secrets"
I agree with the general point, people are much more open than usual. Though I would say that you can still hold secrets. Or conversely share "secret" desires that you don't fully agree with in a sober state.
I didn't see anything mentioned about dosing. It might be useful to note that usually one large dose is taken and then a booster of 50%. Which is usually also less than is being used by those raving (who redose 2-3x).
And "discover that European techno finally makes sense." Haha, true that!
I absolutely adore this type of balanced perspective, it's especially important for the topic but I also just find it to be really refreshing in general ❤️
Agree with all of this. Having lots of personal experience I’m now training as a facilitator.
Thanks for sharing honestly - we must explore all possibilities and consider all experiences . I’m happy to have read that you did benefit 🙏🏻
Super helpful, thanks Sasha! I'm a therapist with training in IFS, as well as EMDR which I'd also recommend as a supplementary / preparatory treatment for MDMA therapy, and haven't found as much out there practically speaking for MDMA therapy as for other psychedelics used therapeutically. Will file this away to come back to for when I can start to legally do this stuff professionally.
This was wonderful to read, thank you for sharing.