28 Jun Integrating Difficult Experiences
Transpersonal experiences may be held as frightening, painful, overwhelming, or shattering to some people, and thus affect their lives in negative ways. Anyone who naively believes “there is no such thing as a bad trip” has never been on a locked psychiatric ward observing people who are casualties of psychedelic use. Some individuals are too fragile or emotionally unstable to be able to process difficult material, even with the help of a therapist. Although the majority of people report life-changing, positive results after a transpersonal experience, we cannot discount that for a minority, their lives are altered for the worse.
Grof & Grof (2010) write about the potential healing power of regression, and how it is important to explore regressive states with awareness in order to heal trauma and grow spiritually. Some people who have a “bad trip” can be helped to process their painful experience so that their understanding can lead to healing. In my own practice I have seen patients who have had a difficult time while on a psychedelic medicine, but over time as we discussed it in therapy, they came to realize that this processing of their shadow material enriched their lives.
Jenny Wade (2015) talks about how transpersonal sexual experiences may be unsettling and frightening, especially when they happen to people who have not known about them prior to their appearance. Elfers & Offrings (2019) remind us that any measure of sexuality must take into account the prevalence of sexual trauma in the general population. It is fairly well-known in the conventional culture that even ordinary sex may trigger memories of childhood abuse, molestation, or rape. The risk is higher with transpersonal experiences.
© 2023 Catherine Auman
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