044: Interview with Dr. Rosalind Watts, Clinical Psychologist in the Psychedelic Research Group at Imperial College London

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It’s April 2, 2017, and we are talking with Dr. Rosalind Watts, Clinical Psychologist at Imperial College London, working alongside Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris.

Joe’s story of psilocybin on his first “date” with his now-wife, and psilocybin’s role in their engagement

The Couples Using Magic Mushrooms as Relationship Therapy

Kevin’s regular practice of taking psychedelic medicine with his wife

How Ros came to study psychedelic therapy after initially becoming disillusioned with the limits of talk therapy for the treatment of anxiety and depression; her initial skepticism about psychedelics based on their negative legacy

The importance of the patient-therapist relationship

Some guidelines from one of the father figures of psychedelic therapy, Bill Richards: “We prepare people to welcome whatever they may encounter – no picking and choosing. Sometimes you have to go through the dark night to get to the top of the mountain and the sunrise. If the inner dragon or monster appears, look him in the eye – go straight towards him. If you look the monster in the eye and go towards it, ask it what it wants – there’s always resolution, transformation, and new knowledge. When you run from it, you get into panic and paranoia, like a typical nightmare – and then you say, ‘I’ve had a bad trip.’”

Although psychedelics including psilocybin tend to be considered non-addictive, there are examples of people using them habitually

Ros mentions some examples of people in the psilocybin study for depression giving up addictions and habitual behavior

To help fund this important research, visit the Psychedelic Research Group at Imperial College London