Abstract

Psychedelics have been widely discussed in popular narratives and academia as mind-revealing agents and useful probes for exploring the nature of consciousness among users, patients, and scientists. However, the extent of their contribution to the study of the human mind and brain remains unclear. Drawing on contemporary interdisciplinary research in neuroscience, anthropology, and psychology, this presentation explores the role of psychedelics in the (de)construction of human experience, the sense of self, and the contextually embedded character of consciousness.

We will further explore how a ‘neurophenomenological’ approach to the study of psychedelics, which highlights the primacy of lived experience for the study of human consciousness, provides further gains by fostering an understanding of the plastic and dynamic nature of the psychedelic experience from a multiscale perspective that includes mind, brain, body, history, and context. Finally, we will review the implications of a neurophenomenological approach in psychedelic therapy and broader practice, which we have previously referred to as ‘psychedelic apprenticeship’. By taking experience seriously, this approach may be able to address pressing ethical issues surrounding the potential for mind-revealing insights and false memories to arise during psychedelic therapy.