Houston Psychoanalytic Society
Clinical Conference
Trauma, Psychedelics, and Psychoanalysis
Part One

Presented by Psychoanalysts
Jeffrey Guss, MD & Lawrence Fischman, MD
Saturday, September 9, 2023
10:00AM - 4:15PM Central Time
(includes one 15-min. break & 1-hr. lunch)

Live via Zoom
*Pre-Registration required for Zoom invitation
The conference will not be recorded

5 CME/CEU/CE Credits

Registration Fees
HPS Full Members: $150
HPS Student Members: $75
Non-Members: $175

Instructional Level: Intermediate
A Brief History of Psychedelic Psychoanalytic Therapy and an Introduction to Psychedelic Phenomenology
Jeffrey Guss, MD

This talk will begin with a brief review of the history of psychedelic psychoanalytic treatment in the United States and Europe. Following this an introduction to psychedelic phenomenology from a psychoanalytic perspective will be offered, focusing on 1) hyper- associative states and 2) drug-induced ego dissolution (DIED). The relevance of these two phenomena for psychotherapy will be explored. 
Witnessing: A Psychodynamic Perspective on How Psychedelics Facilitate the Treatment of Trauma
Lawrence Fischman, MD

In seeking treatment for trauma, the multiplicity of individual preferences and available treatment modalities enhance the likelihood of fittedness between patient and therapist. While many individuals will benefit from prevalent spiritual and cognitive behavioral models of psychedelic-assisted trauma therapy, some patients and therapists will feel more comfortable with relational models. Here, I offer a psychodynamic model of how psychedelics may influence the process of witnessing, which has been seen as central to the psychoanalytic model of recovery from trauma.
OBJECTIVES
After attending the program in its entirety, attendees will be able to:
  1. describe and enumerate the settings and key individuals in the history of psychedelic psychoanalysis. 
  2. describe what "hyperassociative states" are and their central role in psychedelic psychoanalytic therapy. 
  3. describe what "drug-induced ego dissolution" is and its central role in psychedelic psychoanalytic therapy.
  4. define "witnessing" from a psychoanalytic perspective, and its role in the treatment
  5. explain how psychedelics alter the dynamics of witnessing, and facilitate the emergence of "not-me" in the psychotherapeutic process of trauma.
REFERENCES
1) Carhart-Harris, R. L.& Friston, K. J. (2019). "REBUS and the anarchic brain: Toward a unified model of the brain action of psychedelics." Pharmacological Reviews, 71(3): 316-344.
2) Fischman, F. G. (2019). Seeing without self: Discovering new meaning with psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, Neuropsychoanalysis, 21(2): 53-78, https://doi.org/10.1080/15294145.2019.1689528.
3) Fischman, L.G. (2022). Knowing and being known: Psychedelic–assisted psychotherapy and the sense of authenticity. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13: 933495–933495, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.933495.
4) Fischman, L.(2022). Seeing oneself through the eyes of another: A look at psychedelic insight. Neuro-Psychoanalysis, 24(2): 133–147, https://doi.org/10.1080/15294145.2022.2052163.
5) Guss, J. (2022) A psychoanalytic perspective on psychedelic experience. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 32(5): 452-468, https://doi.org/10.1080/10481885.2022.2106140.
6) Poland, W. (2000). The analyst’s witnessing and otherness. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 48(1): 7–34, https://doi.org/10.1177/00030651000480011301.
7) Stern, D. B. (2009). Partners in thought: A clinical process theory of narrative. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 78(3): 701–731, https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2167-4086.2009.tb00410.x.
8) Wagner, M. T., et al. (2017). Therapeutic effect of increased openness: Investigating mechanism of action in MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 31( 8): 967–74, https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881117711712.
IMAGES Illustration of figure with lights from Can Stock; photo of Freud's office from Alamy.
Presenters
Jeffrey Guss, MD is a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, researcher and teacher with specializations in psychoanalytic therapy and psychedelic therapy. He was Co-Principal Investigator and Director of Psychedelic Therapy Training for the NYU School of Medicine’s study on psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy in the treatment of cancer-related existential distress, published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, 2016. He is currently a Lead Trainer with Fluence, with a focus on the integration of psychedelic therapy with psychoanalysis. He is a study therapist in the NYU study on psilocybin-assisted treatment of major depressive disorder, and published on the integration of acceptance and commitment therapy with psychedelic assisted therapy for MDD in Journal of Contextual and Behavioral Science.
Jeff is interested in the integration of psychedelic therapies with contemporary psychoanalytic theory and has published in Studies in Gender and Sexuality and Psychoanalysis, Culture and Society. He co-authored a paper on the influence of therapists’ first hand experience with psychedelics on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy research in The Journal of Psychedelic Studies. He is an Instructor and Mentor with the California Institute of Integral Studies’ Center for Psychedelic Therapies. He maintains a private practice in New York City.
Lawrence Fischman, MD is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst (Columbia) who practiced in New York and Maine for 36 years. In addition to his full-time private practice, he was a Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry at New York-Presbyterian/ Weill Cornell Medical Center and later at Tufts University School of Medicine’s Maine Track, where he also serves on the Admissions subcommittee. In 1983, he published a paper comparing psychedelic drug states with dreams and psychosis in Schizophrenia Bulletin. He retired from practice in 2021 to devote more time to reading and writing about psychoanalytic perspectives on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. His paper "Seeing Without Self" is used as a foundational resource for a course on psychedelics and psychoanalysis at Fluence, where he has been teaching for the past two years. He enjoys living in Maine, and is excited by the emerging possibilities for integrating psychedelic experiences with psychoanalytically-based psychotherapy.

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of American Psychoanalytic Association and Houston Psychoanalytic Society. The American Psychoanalytic Association is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The American Psychoanalytic Association designates this Live Activity for a maximum of 5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE INFORMATION FOR ALL LEARNERS: None of the planners and presenters for this educational activity have relevant financial relationship(s)* to disclose with ineligible companies* whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.

*Financial relationships are relevant if the educational content an individual can control is related to the business lines or products of the ineligible company.

-Updated July 2021-

Houston Psychoanalytic Society is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Houston Psychoanalytic Society maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

HPS, through co-sponsorship with the Center for Psychoanalytic Studies, also offers approved CEUs for Texas state-approved social workers, licensed professional counselors, and marriage and family therapists.
1302 Waugh Dr. #276, Houston, TX 77019
(713) 429-5810