Translated from our German original by AI. The German text was researched, written, and edited by the Psychedelia Foundation team and remains the authoritative version.
Joanna Foote Adler and Isa Gucciardi present the “Depth Hypnosis Spiritual Counseling” (DHSC) model in a paper in the Journal of Psychedelic Studies as an approach to preparing for psychedelic experiences and integrating them afterward. Psychedelic substances are being used more widely in therapeutic and non-therapeutic settings alike, and that has created demand for counseling suited to those settings.
DHSC is described as a transpersonal counseling model that brings together elements of transpersonal psychology, Buddhist psychology, hypnotherapy, “Applied Shamanism,” and “Integrated Energy Medicine.” The authors write that it also draws on the knowledge and practices of earth-based spiritual traditions, in which psychoactive plants have long been used as medicine.
For preparation, the authors name work on one’s own intention and expectations, and attention to set and setting. Strategies for self-regulation are also meant to play a part. The integration that follows takes in both challenging, distressing experiences and what are known as peak experiences. The aim is to make sense of the insights gained during a psychedelic experience and carry them into everyday life.
The paper is a case report and a conceptual account of the DHSC approach. It does not test in a controlled clinical trial whether DHSC improves the preparation for or the integration of psychedelic experiences. The authors do point to an earlier pilot study of DHSC in which changes were observed over eight sessions in measures including anxiety, depression, PTSD, and general wellbeing. Those preliminary findings do not relate specifically to psychedelic experiences.
The article therefore gives an overview of how a counseling model with a transpersonal and spiritual orientation could be used for psychedelic preparation and integration. Statements about particular spiritual concepts or energetic processes belong to the model as presented and are not empirically demonstrated mechanisms.
