Every human goes through a development of consciousness over the years. This development of the levels of consciousness plays an important role in individuation and healing.
The focus of the therapeutic use of psychoactive substances, however, lies in a temporarily altered state of consciousness – in English, the word Trance is used for this – from which one returns, which, by loosening the boundaries between the conscious and the unconscious, enables insights and perspectives that are not or only with great difficulty accessible to everyday consciousness – and thus to conventional forms of therapy. In this way, memories and, in some cases, a comprehensive change of perspective on one’s own existence and behavior are possible, which often enables healing in much shorter periods of time than other therapies. The therapeutic use of psychoactive substances can therefore be understood as a technology of consciousness.
Consciousness is often understood as a mental process. The experience of the Institute for Substance Assisted Therapy has shown that this is not sufficient for healing and that a complete integration of split-off memories is required. This means not only mental insight, but also emotional awareness and body awareness. Emotions only become conscious when they are felt, bodily sensations only become conscious when they are felt. You cannot know or think feelings or bodily sensations. When all three levels come together, a holistic experience is created and with it an awareness that allows memories to be admitted, accepted and integrated as a whole. Then they can truly become the past, because all parts have been brought to a conclusion and have lost their driving force in the present. We do not work with the past, but with the traces it still leaves in the present.
According to this understanding of the therapeutic use of psychoactive substances, spiritual, transcendental or transpersonal aspects of human experience are not the primary goal, but an inevitable consequence of increasing recovery. A profound transcendental experience can indeed mean a deep shake-up that changes one’s whole life. It is often the small steps that bring more healing bit by bit.