Psychedelic couples’ retreat therapy
In PiHKAL: A Chemical Love Story, author and psychonaut Alexander Shulgin reflects: “What comes to you when you take a psychedelic is not always a revelation of something new and startling. You’re more liable to find yourself reminded of simple things you know and forgot you knew — seeing them freshly — old, basic truths that long ago became cliches, so you stopped paying attention to them.”
In the collective consciousness, psychedelic journeys are typically associated with the wondrous and otherworldly: a trip that one takes to uncover startling truths about the nature of one’s self, one’s life path, or the broader cosmos. However, an observation shared by many who have worked with psychedelics is that these compounds overwhelmingly help one view the world with fresh eyes. When it comes to relationships, the capacity to truly see one’s partner again represents a revelatory departure point for raw, honest, healing conversations.
Offering this gift of renewed awareness, psychedelics represent a potent tool for couples therapy weekends. Regular intensive couples therapy allows a couple to reflect, explore issues, and commit to transformation in a mindful setting. A couples therapy weekend retreat allows the two members in a pair to set aside time and address issues as diverse as communication difficulties, infidelity, trust transgressions, intimacy, life transitions, and mental health challenges. However, while relationship weekend retreats or therapy sessions can temporarily reduce relationship distress and increase satisfaction, many couples do not maintain the gains of the intervention in the long run.
When teamed with a psychedelic substance, however, an intensive couples therapy retreat can trigger lasting transformation for both the individual and couple. Psychedelics, such as the truffles used in Beautiful Space retreats, have been shown in clinical trials to elicit enduring change that persists long after the relationship retreat has ended and the compound is no longer percolating through the bloodstream.
A study conducted by Johns Hopkins researchers found that a single dose of psilocybin, the psychedelic compound found in magic mushrooms and truffles, triggered a measurable and lasting personality change in almost 60 percent of participants. The researchers noted changes such as enhanced open-mindedness, which included a more liberated imagination, more open feelings, and a receptivity towards abstract ideas. Some participants also expressed that they underwent a mystical experience, experiencing a sense of sacred interconnectedness with all people and things. At the 14 month-follow-up, these changes were still present. According to the study leader, personality changes sustained for more than a year are likely permanent: a significant gain, considering that personality doesn’t usually change dramatically after the age of 30. It’s particularly noteworthy that the personality trait of openness tends to decrease as people age.
So, how can psychedelics, such as truffles, wield such enduring, powerful benefits during couples retreat therapy sessions? For starters, psychedelic compounds activate changes at a neurochemical level. Serotonergic psychedelic compounds, such as the psilocybin present in truffles, fire up the brain’s serotonin receptors in a disorganized way, shaking up well-worn neural pathways. As a result, the individual experiences heightened awareness, enhanced tactile senses, and more flexible and creative thought processes. In general, the mind loosens up and the individual experiences a boost in wellbeing: a dynamic combination for any couple seeking to overcome harmful patterns and habits.
Psychedelic pioneers Alexander and Ann Shulgin reflect that psychedelics represent an excellent tool for helping navigate relational issues. There’s already evidence to support the use of MDMA (another serotonergic psychedelic like psilocybin) in couples’ weekend retreat therapy. MDMA-assisted intensive couples therapy can help individuals overcome the fear of emotional hurt, improve communication and encourage introspection. Recent research focused on MDMA as a treatment for PTSD has also discovered that almost two-thirds of participants reported enhanced relationships with loved ones after working with the psychedelic.
However, MDMA couples counselling that took place in the 70s and 80s before the compound was made illegal also found that consuming the substance only represented part of the equation. Researchers emphasise that the drug alone didn’t cure relationship problems. Instead, the psychedelic facilitated a less defensive, more open climate, creating space (one might even say a beautiful space) for the couple to contemplate the perspective of the other more willingly. By dismantling defences, conversations could flow that addressed the underlying issues hindering the couple’s romantic connection. Such findings are echoed by other researchers exploring the nascent field of psychedelics and relationship retreats for couples. Brian Earp and Julian Savulescu, co-authors of Love Drugs: The Chemical Future of Relationships, emphasize that it is what a couple does with what they ‘see’ from their journey that is most critical. The direct effects of psilocybin on the brain are not as significant as how the two individuals implement insights from their couples therapy retreat. Integration of the experience into daily life is what propels relational healing.