No Shortcuts

I DON’T BELIEVE there are any shortcuts in life. This is one of my core beliefs and while therapy teaches us the value in questioning our core beliefs, this one has continually held up under scrutiny. So when I was at a party the other night and someone told me that one medicine-assisted-therapy session (specifically, LSD) was like getting a year’s worth of therapy in one go, I got curious.

Seeing as I have not partaken in the psychedelic movement, I decided to put the question to a friend of mine who is well-versed in this world. She agreed that one psychedelic session could lead to insights that might take someone a year’s worth (or more) of therapy to uncover. However, in order to put those insights to work—to make different choices or behave differently in relationships—her experience is that it generally takes at least six months of therapy to facilitate that. Patterns of behaviors that have existed since childhood do not shift that easily. Change comes with loss and loss-aversion is one of our biggest motivators. 

 We also discussed the population that finds their way to psychedelics. I wondered if they had already discovered that they didn’t respond well to other forms of therapy—their trauma too big; their armor too thick. She agreed with this, saying that many in the psychedelic community had tried other therapy methods without much success. It takes patience to experience results from therapy. This can create a Catch-22 for those for whom patience is a struggle due to their trauma history. It’s reasonable to want quick results. We want relief from suffering for a reason. This is why so many of my clients appreciate EMDR—it works pretty quickly to heal past trauma, especially when clients put in the work in between sessions. 

 It would appear that the goals that bring people to therapy are also a factor. This article suggests that a single psychedelic session might provide a shortcut for those struggling with existential angst but not so much for those with deep attachment disturbances. 

 In mulling all of this over, I still believe there are no shortcuts—especially not with our healing journeys AND there are nuances. For some, a rapid shift in perspective might be all that is needed … at least right there and then. For them, perhaps there are shortcuts. 

 The therapy world does love its paradoxes.