With the high incidence of depression, anxiety, and other Covid related conditions many people are turning to counseling, medications, and supplements. Although these approaches can be very helpful, some people continue to suffer. As we have seen elsewhere on this website, these emotions can have detrimental effects on one’s physical health.
During these times of great change, it is vital to have a powerful treatment to help regain an inner sense of peace to maintain optimal health.
Hypnotherapy and psychedelics have each successfully been used in treatment for thousands of years.
But because psychedelics and LSD are thought of as dangerous drugs, they are not widely in use. For this reason, Psychedelic-Like Hypnosis, which doens’t use psychedelic drugs can be a very powerful tool.
Psychedelics have been used for hundreds if not thousands of years for holistic healing1.
Due to reports on the potency and remarkable effects of LSD in the early 1950s and 1960’s, psychedelics, became widely used by clinically with tens of thousands of patients estimated over a period of about 15 years2.
These drugs had almost become part of mainstream medicine until it was made illegal in 1967.
There are now positive preliminary reports on the safety and efficacy of psychedelics for obsessive compulsive disorder, end-of-life psychological distress for alcohol, and tobacco addiction and for major depressive disorder.
Safety, tolerability, and efficacy of psilocybin in 9 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Moreno FA, Wiegand CB, Taitano EK, Delgado PL; J Clin Psychiatry. 2006 Nov; 67(11):1735-40.
Safety and efficacy of lysergic acid diethylamide-assisted psychotherapy for anxiety associated with life-threatening diseases. Gasser P, Holstein D, Michel Y, Doblin R, Yazar-Klosinski B, Passie T, Brenneisen R; J Nerv Ment Dis. 2014 Jul; 202(7):513-20.
Psilocybin-assisted treatment for alcohol dependence: a proof-of-concept study.
Bogenschutz MP, Forcehimes AA, Pommy JA, Wilcox CE, Barbosa PC, Strassman RJ
J Psychopharmacol. 2015 Mar; 29(3):289-99.
Pilot study of the 5-HT2AR agonist psilocybin in the treatment of tobacco addiction.
Johnson MW, Garcia-Romeu A, Cosimano MP, Griffiths RR
J Psychopharmacol. 2014 Nov; 28(11):983-92.
Antidepressant effects of a single dose of ayahuasca in patients with recurrent depression: a preliminary report; Osório Fde L, Sanches RF, Macedo LR, Santos RG, Maia-de-Oliveira JP, Wichert-Ana L, Araujo DB, Riba J, Crippa JA, Hallak JE Braz; J Psychiatry. 2015 Jan-Mar; 37(1):13-20.
According to three very well-designed studies, a single treatment with psychedelics also produced a substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer.
Psilocybin produces substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer: A randomized double-blind trial.
Griffiths RR, Johnson MW, Carducci MA, Umbricht A, Richards WA, Richards BD, Cosimano MP, Klinedinst MA’ J Psychopharmacol. 2016 Dec; 30(12):1181-1197.
Pilot study of psilocybin treatment for anxiety in patients with advanced-stage cancer; Grob CS, Danforth AL, Chopra GS, Hagerty M, McKay CR, Halberstadt AL, Greer G; Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2011 Jan; 68(1):71-8.
Rapid and sustained symptom reduction following psilocybin treatment for anxiety and depression in patients with life-threatening cancer: a randomized controlled trial.
Ross S, Bossis A, Guss J, Agin-Liebes G, Malone T, Cohen B, Mennenga SE, Belser A, Kalliontzi K, Babb J, Su Z, Corby P, Schmidt BL; J Psychopharmacol. 2016 Dec; 30(12):1165-1180.
Another study was done using psychedelics with patients who failed to respond to other treatments. It found a rapid, marked, and enduring anti-anxiety and depression.
Carhart-Harris RL, Bolstridge M, Day CMJ, Rucker J, Watts R, Erritzoe DE et al (2016. a). Psilocybin with psychological support for treatment-resistant depression: six-month follow-up. The British Association for Psychopharmacology Summer Meeting. 17–20 July, Brighton, UK.
A large study showed that a single dose of LSD, in alcoholism treatment programs, is associated with a decrease in alcohol misuse.
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) for alcoholism: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials; J Psychopharmacol. 2012 Jul;26(7):994-1002. Teri S Krebs, Pål-Ørjan Johansen.
According to psychedelic researcher, Teri Krebs, “Many people report deeply meaningful experiences and lasting beneficial effects from using psychedelics.”
Studies have found that psychedelic drugs can help anxiety, depression, addiction and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
A 2018 study found psychedelics increase the number of connections between the neurons and other structures in the brain. The authors said those findings suggested that psychedelics may help repair and rewire circuits, which could help provide safe, effective, and quick mitigation of depression, and other mood and anxiety disorders.
Psychedelics Promote Structural and Functional Neural Plasticity; Cell Reports Vol 23, Issue 11; June 12, 2018; Calvin Ly, Alexandra C. Greb.
A study in a peer reviewed journal reported that the experience with psychedelic drugs (psilocybin, LSD, ayahuasca, and DMT) was “frequently interpreted as an encounter with God or Ultimate Reality.”
“Participants reported vivid memories of these encounter experiences which frequently involved communication with something most often described as God or Ultimate Reality and having the attributes of being conscious, benevolent, intelligent, sacred, eternal, and all-knowing.”
“These experiences were rated as among the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant lifetime experiences, with persisting moderate to strong positive changes in attitudes about self, life satisfaction, life purpose, and life meaning that participants attributed to these experiences.”
PLOS One (Public Library of Science). 2019; 14(4): e0214377. Published online 2019 Apr 23. Survey of subjective “God encounter experiences”: Comparisons among naturally occurring experiences and those occasioned by the classic psychedelics psilocybin, LSD, ayahuasca, or DMT.
Now we know the immense power of psychedelics to have profound experiences of Ultimate Reality. We know they can help achieve persisting strong positive changes in attitude about yourself, your life purpose and life meaning and potentially turn around long-term problems.
Now the question is, how can we legally do this in a way that can potentially mimic the psychedelic-like state?
The good news is, a psychedelic-like state can be induced in natural ways. This can be done using special breathwork, light, eye drops and acupuncture needles.
The experience is fine-tuned in advance, as well as at the session progresses based on the needs and responses of each patient.
It does not involve the intake of any psychedelic substances.
Although hypnosis alone is extremely powerful, the psychedelic-like additions can add extra power. This can be especially helpful for people who have not had success with previous hypnosis, people who need to go much deeper, or for people who are looking for a deeply mystical experience.
Breathing techniques to help reduce anxiety has a long history.
Holotropic breathwork became popular in the U.S when Psychedelic Assisted Therapy using LSD was banned. At that time, Dr. Stanislav Groff, a Czeck born psychiatrist who previously worked with patients using LSD reverted to a special type of breathwork to explore the power of non-ordinary states of consciousness and transpersonal psychology.
The practice of Holotropic Breathwork (“Holotropic” means a move toward wholeness) helps patients move toward wholeness through breathwork.
The process involves deep breathing and trust in your innate intelligence to bring up whatever needs healing. Pure Holotropic Breathwork is generally not guided
Contrary to traditional Holotropic Breathwork, the breathwork done in psychedelic-like hypnosis is guided by a hypnotic process.
Holotropic Breathwork has been used for many years in the treatment of anxiety, depression, stress, addiction, chronic pain, asthma, premenstrual tension, migraine headaches, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
This Holotropic-type breathwork portion of Psychedelic-like Hypnosis is not used for people with cardiovascular disease, hypertension, glaucoma, retinal detachment, recent injury or surgery, osteoporosis, history of panic attacks, psychosis, pregnancy, lactation, seizure disorder, or family history of aneurysms.
In addition to Holotropic Type Breathwork, special lighting can be used to help patients achieve the psychedelic-like state. The light is used to trigger your brain to alter consciousness without the need for psychedelic drugs.
Using electroencephalographic (EEG) brain scanning psychedelic researchers found a particular brainwave pattern in people having a psychedelic experience. They developed a technology using light that guides the patient’s brain to mimic that psychedelic-like state. Psychedelic Hypnosis combined with Root Cause Hypnosis can help the patient use that psychedelic-like state to help treat the root cause of their condition.
NOTE: It should be emphasized that, as with any therapy, Psychedelic-Like Hypnosis is not for everyone. A special screening will be done to determine whether you are a candidate prior to a session.
Disclaimer: All information provided by Dr. Bloom is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to prevent, diagnose, treat, or cure any physical or emotional condition. All treatments should be done after being evaluated and treated and under the care of your primary medical doctor. Individual results may vary. No results are guaranteed.