The PSIP Model

Razvi and Elfrink’s paper on Psychedelic Somatic Interactional Psychotherapy (PSIP) (2020, p. 4-18) provides a model of therapy that takes into account primary consciousness (also known as experiential self-referencing) and secondary consciousness (also known as narrative self-referencing) as well as their relationship to stages of nervous system threat, trauma, and psychedelics.

Note

Research is extremely limited in this area and this paper serves as a starting point to begin discussing potential mechanisms at work in psychedelic-assisted therapy. The PSIP Model is a proposed alternative to the non-directive, non-interactional model of psychotherapy that is the standard for psychedelic-assisted therapy.

We are not promoting its use, but rather using this model to provide a frame of reference for considering what may be the means by which psychedelic-assisted therapy assists clients who have or have not experienced trauma.

Reading

Razvi, S., & Elffink, S. (2020). The PSIP Model: An Introduction to a Novel Method of Therapy: Psychedelic Somatic Interactional Psychotherapy. The Journal of Psychedelic Psychiatry, 2 (3).

Learn More

To learn more about the PSIP Model, please visit Psychedelic Somatic for some educational videos on this approach in action.

Reflection

Reflect on what might be the advantages and disadvantages of helping people to regulate when outside their window of tolerance versus encouraging them to stay with the challenging experience, letting go of their typical conditioned avoidance, self-soothing, regulation, or safety behaviours.

If you would like to share your response, you can record your response on Flip. Once you have submitted your response, view the responses from your classmates.

References