Psychedelic Ethics: Exploring the Shadow and Embracing A Harm Conscious Model

Speakers: Dori G Lewis, Shoshana Aal

CE credits offered: 1.5
Program Level: Intermediate

Recently, more and more podcasts (and video) regarding inappropriate relationships and inappropriate use of touch in both research and underground psychedelic space are emerging. We are swimming in a culture and society saturated with stories of sexual assault, and other forms of manipulation and extortion, particularly where power dynamics are concerned (yoga teachers/gurus, spiritual leaders, educators, film producers). In this talk we explore how we avoid doing harm as psychedelic providers, how to shift the conversation from cancel culture to a more growth oriented stance that centers community conversation and self awareness, and why psychedelic facilitating seems to be a breeding ground for misuse of power. We explore harm reduction, indigenous wisdom as ways to remediate these harms and create community supported actionable steps.

Learning Objectives:

Develop a shared understanding of the current ethical risks in the psychedelic space
Understand the impact of personal and collective shadow on ethical missteps
Educate listeners on actionable steps towards ethical harm reduction in psychedelic facilitation
Access indigenous practices that have been protective for communities doing psychedelic medicine work

About Dori G Lewis & Shoshana Aal

Dori G. Lewis is a co-founder of Elemental Psychedelics and the owner-operator of Reflective Healing in Fort Collins, CO, a psychotherapy group practice that specializes in psychedelic therapy using ketamine, integration therapy, transpersonal psychotherapy, and providing clinical supervision. To date, she has stewarded nearly 100 ketamine therapy sessions and countless more individual and group ceremonies. Dori is currently in an apprenticeship with a mushroom medicine elder from the Zapotec lineage in Oaxaca, Mexico. She has also received shamanic journey training from Sandra Ingerman and practices this style of altered states work in her clinical practice in Fort Collins. Her clinical background includes having earned two master's degrees from Teachers College, Columbia University, in counseling education and psychology. Dori feels strongly that the shamanic teachings she has received and the indigenous wisdom she is currently receiving, help her bridge traditional counseling practice with the shamanic realms that hold incredible meaning and connection for psychedelic therapy and education.Dori has come to deeply value a slow and embodied approach to working with plant and psychedelic medicines – an approach that she believes helps move us from the conceptual, into the body to support a more integrated life. Additionally, she has come to honor all the pathways that bring us into our own right relationship with the natural world, including that of the medicine paths.As interest in psychedelic medicine continues to grow, Dori feels it is the responsibility of those who have a voice in the professional and psychedelic communities to stay informed and intercept as well as challenge disinformation and questionably ethical practices that are being put out into the public arena. She also firmly believes that those with power and access in this space aim to use those platforms to raise up the voices of those who carry indigenous knowledge and wisdom.

Dr. Shoshana Aal (they/them) is the founder of The Kaleidoscope Center, located in Lakewood, Colorado where they provide ketamine therapy, group therapy, and supervision in ketamine therapy. Shoshana runs the Ethical Psychedelics book club and listserv. Shoshana has worked at the Integrative Psychiatry Institute, Naropa Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Certificate, on the MindMed’s MM120 study on LSD for Anxiety, and on the upcoming Reuniuon Neuroscience RE104 study on psilocybin for PPD. Shoshana’s work includes a focus on ethics, social justice, trauma, cultural diversity, and the LGBTQIA experience. Memberships and volunteer experiences includes several psychedelic organizations and social justice initiatives such as The Nowak Society, Colorado KAP Consultation group, SPORE, Team lead in SPORE’s Equity Team, SPORE Cultural/Community Workgroup, and The Zendo. In their personal life they are a parent, a forager, a homesteader, and an artist.