June 1, 2023 Update
Be Well is delighted to announce that we are working closely with a new San Miguel based group offering many new healing modalities. Discover Deep Wellness (DiscoverDeepWellness.com) has had over eight years of experience working safely and effectively with consciousness-altering medicines. Their safety profile is a result of paying very close attention to the source of their medications coupled with the close physical /psychological support offered throughout any treatment session (see more below under “set and setting”.)
There is a rapidly growing interest in various psychedelic or hallucinogenic agents for their therapeutic benefits. The novel drugs currently under study or already in use in clinics in the US include Ketamine, psilocybin, peyote, LSD , MDMA and increasingly ayahuasca (DMT), especially in Latin America.
When combined with adapted therapeutic processes often described as “integration therapy” the studies reveal a remarkably more effective approach to many common disorders.
It is beyond the scope of this newsletter to discuss which medicines promise the best results for the conditions below. Indeed responses vary greatly person by person. However, the following treatments are being offered in many parts of the world, following a long period of research looking for both impact and safety considerations.
PTSD
Severe, treatment-resistant depression with or without generalized anxiety disorders.
A wide variety of obsessive compulsive disorders
Some chronic pain conditions
Reducing compulsive relationships with drugs , alcohol, and eating disorders
End of life Issues including those normal in people facing their later years of life or those facing a terminal diagnosis.
These “disorders” and painful life passages haunt many of us. San Miguel, reflecting similar trends in the industrialized north has a growing number of people interested in exploring the “new” and in some cases very old therapies. Each month sees further highly credible studies emerge from research institutions worldwide demonstrating that these new modalities are clearly more robust in their impact on mood related disorders and have a better long term safety profile than most traditional psychopharmacological therapies, particularly for depression and PTSD.
For many scientists, these substances represent a paradigm shift in our understanding of consciousness. They have the potential to probe long-standing philosophical issues: the nature of creativity, spirituality, and consciousness itself. The hope of the many researchers engaged in this field of study is that wider access to psychedelics may lead us to a renewed sense of hope, meaning, and purpose.
In the US and other countries in the industrialized north a tremendous number of well-managed large studies are looking at the effect of several substances known for impacting the brain in entirely novel ways when compared to traditional pharmaceuticals. As mentioned earlier, their effects are predictable and safe. They all report increased brain connectivity not just while taking these drugs but in some cases for months post treatment. These changes are not seen with conventional drugs for depression. Since ancient times, plants (many found in prehistoric ruins throughout the world) gave us penicillin, digitalis, valium, quinine, and powerful anesthetics such as a derivative of curaré just to name a few.
The science that allows us to be more precise about processing the useful components and extracting what might cause harm allows us to produce predictable doses of vital drug therapies in sufficient quantities, to serve far more than just the select few who are able to pay the exorbitant costs charged by many pharmaceutical industries.
These drugs among others could easily be viewed as gifts of nature. Gifts, that poorly regulated health and pharmaceutical industries have exploited to further enrich the wealthy at the expense of the poor. Studies show that in American pharmacies, patients are paying up to and often more than 100 times the real costs of some of the most common drugs.
About Set and Setting
The term “Set” refers to the ways personality , character, and past experiences impact healing . The term “set” in relation to the use of the mind-altering drugs discussed here is a concept that embodies the mind-set and expectations a person brings to the experience with any given medicine.
The term “Setting” refers to the environment encompassing a treatment session. Safety considerations are taken seriously and psychological support is available at all times; a medical professional is available whenever indicated. DDW offers a very inviting and comfortable space, music playlists, and eye shades, fluids and food as needed. The staff of Discover Deep Wellness is committed to honoring your desires for whatever journey you embark upon. There are those who desire periods of solitude and others who prefer a deep level of interaction throughout the length of the experience.
Attention to both set and setting are essential elements that can vastly enhance the impact of any psychedelic mediated healing experience.
Harm Reduction and medical oversight
All clients are screened medically and psychologically for any conditions that can be associated with the rare incidence of a poor outcome. There a few contraindicated conditions, the most common being heart disease. Well controlled high blood pressure does not exclude you from treatment and we monitor the blood pressure of those at risk throughout the session. A variety of common drugs and supplements are to be avoided immediately before and after treatments. All of these considerations help facilitate a successful experience and need to be discussed prior to embarking on a session.
DDW recommends that a preparatory session be scheduled with a therapist experienced with the particular mind-altering substances offered by DDW.
“We are all just walking each other home”
– Ram Dass