Psychedelic-assisted therapy
Opening the doors to inner healing
For people living with existantial distress* related to a life threatening disease.
* Existantial distress or “demoralization syndrome” is characterized by a feeling of despair and helplessness linked to the loss of meaning in existence. This loss of meaning caused by the illness causes the person to feel a lack of interest in life and no longer sees any reason to continue living in these conditions.
New in Canada
Therapeutic use of psychedelics
The Special Access Program
Since January 2022, Canada has been a pioneer in the therapeutic use of psychedelics. The Government of Canada's Special Access Program now allows people living with advanced chronic illness to have access to psychedelic substances such as psilocybin (psychoactive ingredient found in magic mushrooms) to relieve related hopelessness and anxiety. to their chronic medical condition or end of life. This moral suffering, also called demoralization syndrome, affects a significant number of people for whom usual treatments (medication and psychotherapy) prove ineffective. Clinical studies carried out with this clientele demonstrate a significant reduction in symptoms of anxiety and depression as well as a significant reduction in the fear of death after the use of a single dose of psilocybin. In addition to these benefits, participants report an increase in inner peace and a greater appreciation for life.
The Special Access Program
Since January 2022, Canada has been a pioneer in the therapeutic use of psychedelics. The Government of Canada's Special Access Program now allows people living with advanced chronic illness to have access to psychedelic substances like psilocybin (the psychoactive ingredient found in magic mushrooms) to relieve related hopelessness and anxiety to their chronic medical condition or their end of life. This moral suffering, also called demoralization syndrome, affects a significant number of people for whom usual treatments (medication and psychotherapy) prove to be ineffective. Clinical studies carried out with this clientele demonstrate a significant reduction in symptoms of anxiety and depression as well as a significant reduction in fear of death after the use of a single dose of psilocybin. In addition to these benefits, participants report an increase in inner peace and a greater appreciation for life.
Our approach
Mystical experience as a therapeutic mecanism
Psychedelic therapy has been the subject of numerous clinical studies which have demonstrated its effectiveness. The substance is administered in a supportive context by a healthcare professional. This can be used in the context of psychotherapy or more broadly as part of therapeutic and/or spiritual support as has been practiced for centuries in certain indigenous cultures. Our unique approach integrates the context of traditional use (where these substances are used from a spiritual perspective to promote the awakening of consciousness and inner healing) and a "modern" clinical context where the supervision, preparation and integration of the dosing session plays a central role in the therapeutic approach.
The study by Griffiths and colleagues (2016) carried out on 56 patients with advanced cancers reports that the benefits associated with the therapeutic use of psilocybin (reduction in symptoms of anxiety and depression, improvement in quality of life and greater acceptance of death) persist several months after the experience of consuming a single dose of psilocybin (called heroic dose, i.e. 25 mg).
Even more interesting, the observed benefits correlate closely with the spiritual experience participants had during the dosing session. Which leads the authors to assert that this experience, also called mystical experience, plays a fundamental therapeutic role in psilocybin treatment.
In this context our approach is distinguished by the fact that the psychedelic therapy we offer is particularly oriented to elicit this transformative spiritual experience which, according to participants in clinical studies, is one of the most significant experiences of their lives.
We generally have a very medical conception of healing where it is only considered as the removal of the disease. However, the concept of healing can be understood in a broader and more global perspective that takes into account the whole person.
The terms to cure and to heal indicate two distinct aspects of the purpose of care. Treating the illness or symptoms is something different from curing the person. This is all the more important in the context of a chronic illness where eliminating the pathology is not a therapeutic option. In this context, all necessary means should be deployed to promote the person's healing.
Researcher Thomas Egnew defines healing as the personal experience of relief from suffering. This healing is associated with being able to restore meaning to existence and regain a feeling of inner integrity. Indeed, experience shows that illness affects not only the physical body but the whole person who feels weakened in their identity and integrity.
The experience during psychedelic therapy allows you to regain this feeling of integrity and can facilitate the personal process with a view to restoring meaning to existence. The experience of unity (with nature, the universe or a higher reality) experienced by certain participants during clinical studies reflects this feeling of integrity.
Inner healing through psychedelic therapy
We generally have a very medical conception of healing where it is only considered as the removal of the disease. However, the concept of healing can be understood in a broader and more global perspective that takes into account the whole person.
The terms to cure and to heal indicate two distinct aspects of the purpose of care. Treating the illness or symptoms ( to cure ) is something different from curing the person ( to heal ). This is even more important in the context of a chronic illness where eliminating the pathology is not a therapeutic option. In this context, all necessary means should be deployed to promote the person's healing.
Researcher Thomas Egnew defines healing as a personal experience of relief from suffering. This healing is associated with being able to restore meaning to existence and regain a feeling of inner integrity. Indeed, experience shows that illness affects not only the physical body but the whole person who feels weakened in their identity and integrity.
The experience during psychedelic therapy allows people to regain this feeling of integrity and can facilitate a personal approach to restoring meaning to an existence disrupted by the illness. The experience of unity (with nature, the universe or a higher reality) experienced by certain participants during clinical studies reflects this feeling of integrity.
“Research in palliative care demonstrates that the quest for meaning and transcendence promote adaptation in the end-of-life context. For people living with a terminal illness, the ability to make or find meaning in existence (in suffering and death) promotes quality of life and spiritual well-being while reducing the desire to die quickly . The experience of self-transcendence is a potentially powerful human experience. During clinical trials with psilocybin among people who live with a terminal illness or who are facing death, the experience of self-transcendence experienced which allows one to no longer identify with the body or with cancer has generated -in the consciousness - a radical change in perspective towards illness. Thus, the possibility, thanks to the experience of self-transcendence, of no longer identifying with the sick and vulnerable body and of making contact with a stable and lasting inner dimension proves to be profoundly beneficial and offers significant therapeutic potential for spiritual transformation''.
Anthony Bossis (2021) Psilocybin, Spirituality, and Palliative Care: Research and Implications