Indigenous Voices in Psychedelic Therapy: Experiential Learnings from a Community-Based Group Psychedelic Therapy Program

ABSTRACT

Novel and traditional psychedelic medicines are attracting interest as potential treatments of mental illness. Before psychedelic therapies can be made available in culturally safe and effective ways to diverse peoples, the field must grapple with the complex legacies of colonialism and ongoing clashes between biomedical and Indigenous Ways of Knowing. This article presents results of a pilot program offering group-based therapy augmented by three sessions of ketamine at a psychedelic dose, for a group of Indigenous participants. This unique project was undertaken in partnership between Roots to Thrive and the Snuneymuxw First Nation to assess this approach’s effectiveness and safety for Indigenous peoples. Thematic analysis of qualitative interviews and anonymous feedback received throughout the program from eight participants and two Elders provided rich information on participant motivations, perceived barriers, appreciated and beneficial aspects of the program, and the psychedelic experiences, as well as important directions for further improvement. In addition to challenges, participants attributed significant benefits to the program while highlighting the importance of the involvement of Indigenous team members, the incorporation of traditional approaches to healing, and the cultivation of open and authentic relationships between group participants and facilitators. We discuss important lessons learned and the essential work of reconciliation in, and beyond, psychedelic therapies.

KEYWORDS:

• Group therapy
• Indigenous
• psychedelic therapy
• ketamine-assisted therapy
• community of practice
• reconciliation

SUPPLEMENTAL DATA

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2023.2258120

Acknowledgments

Extending our gratitude to the Vancouver Island University Fourth Year Nursing Students, April Gargar, Melanie Elphinstone, and Viktoria Rosteski, who contributed many hours to the data analysis process.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. First Nations Health Authority is the first and only provincial Health Authority of its kind in Canada. They work with BC First Nations, government partners, and others to plan, design, manage, and fund the delivery of health programs to improve health outcomes for BC First Nations people.

2. Culturally congruent care means to provide care that is meaningful and fits with cultural beliefs and lifeways. From a professional perspective, it refers to the use of emic (local cultural knowledge and lifeways) in meaningful and tailored ways that fit with etic (largely professional outsiders’ knowledge) to help specific cultures, whether ill, disabled, facing death, or facing other human conditions (Leininger 1999).

3. Participants are encouraged to share their experience in the present moment, minimizing references to past events and related narratives (or future projections), and maximizing somatic and emotional awareness. Sharing some descriptions of life events is important to provide context, allowing for relational connection and empathy, however, patterns of verbal rumination serve neither self-awareness nor relational connectedness (Nimra and Llera 2021).

4. The term “medicine” in this context is being used with an Indigenous lens, indicating anything that is healing on mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual levels, not just biological agents. For example, stones and sprigs of cedar and rosemary are included as part of the supportive environmental setting during the ketamine sessions.

Additional information

Funding

This project was partially funded through grants from the Ministry of Health and the BC NEIHR to support the project development and management. Knowledge Translation efforts and in-kind support through undergraduate and graduate student involvement were supported through VIU. Treatment funds were supported through the Roots to Thrive Society for Psychedelic Therapy and FNHA. Honoraria were provided to each participant as an offering of gratitude for their quality improvement contributions.