Customer Reviews

LSD Psychotherapy

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How many Amazon.com reviews state that one book or another is one of the most important ever written? Well, Stanislav Grof is possibly the greatest mind research pioneer in the Western tradition. In LSD Psychotherapy, Dr. Grof, a conventionally-trained MD, outlines a methodology for a process that serves as a paradigm for human transformation, as well as a basis for a radically revised understanding of reality.

This book is iconoclastic--all great breakthroughs in understanding are. Dr. Grof formulated his methods based on thousands of hours of first-hand clinical experience. He valiantly tries to dispel the sensationalism and misinformation about LSD, pointing out that the drug merely amplifies pre-existing mental processes, in much the same way that a microscope or telescope affords heightened glimpses of phenomena. Indeed LSD, he has said, responsibly administered in clinical settings, could be for the sciences of mind what the telescope is for astronomy, or the microscope for medicine and biology. The power and effectiveness of LSD-assisted therapy are unprecedented, yet the research is sadly truncated and unjustifiably ignored.

I wish this book were obsolete. Dr. Grof no doubt expected the process he pioneered to be developed further. Had responsible LSD research been allowed to continue through the present day, its methods and effectiveness might now be in advance of even those outlined herein. The occasional therapeutic failure, honestly referred to in the book, might be a success story today.

One would think that Dr. Grof's positing of experiential matrices, birth and pre-birth memories, and transpersonal aspects of reality would be a source of excitement to those with a genuine scientific spirit. LSD, however, is a topic that typically elicits hallmarks of non-critical thought from otherwise critical thinkers--distortion, hysteria, irrelevance, ridicule, and a reluctance to pursue inquiries that might overturn our most cherished assumptions. Our rational culture, it seems, is not so rational after all.

So LSD research gathers dust. Could this be partly because it might lead us back to a conception of the ultimate nature of reality that Western science for 400 years has been trying to eradicate?

The uphill battle for mainstream acceptance that Dr. Grof's research has faced is also partly due to our culture's stigmatizing of the therapeutic process itself. We value introspection lightly, and tend to characterize the need or desire for psychotherapy as evidence of weakness--something for people who are unable to work out their problems on their own.

However, what if our culture extolled the undertaking of the inner journey as highly as it does the quest for external and material achievement? People every day attempt to exorcise their demons--unsuccessfully--by building businesses or climbing mountains. If embarking on the process of inner healing and transformation that LSD-assisted therapy can facilitate were widely encouraged, our culture would be quite different--more joyous, more peaceful, perhaps even more scientific, and less abusive of the planet and each other.

If one wishes to learn to swim, at some point he has to stop reading books containing mathematical descriptions of human buoyancy and biomechanics in water. Ultimately he must take the plunge. Criticism of Dr. Grof's work rarely if ever comes from those who undertake the inner journey for themselves. No refutation of his "expanded cartography of the psyche" and speculations about the nature of reality is possible without incorporating the experiential aspect of the process. I cannot overemphasize the importance of this groundbreaking book.

I have to respond to the review of Zosimos, listed previously.

This is a training manual for hosting psycho-therapeutic sessions involving close encounters with LSD. Obviously, today this is going to be frankly difficult to pull off. Sandoz quit making it 40 years ago, and they made it out of organic base materials. The underground chemists of the 60's and 70's tended to use a synthetic base, and ended up with a product that was probably not the equivalent of the Sandoz pharmaceutical that was available to Grof.

Remember that Grof was engaged in Research, not practice, at a time when this was truly a new frontier. In the early days most the research was being sponsored by the CIA. Not in Czechoslovakia. This was a period of intense intellectual challenge. Grof had been trained as a confirmed Freudian. He gave the stuff to his experimental research subjects--then observed what happened. Now, this is basic science. His preconceptions were all Freudian. But mapping his observations to Freudian theory left a lot hanging over the edges. He quickly grasped the fact that LSD is a non specific mental amplifier. He also realized that neurotic resistance limited the reaction tot he drug, and that numerous encounters were required to break through this resistance. On other occasions, the full range of effects would manifest themselves in a single session. One of his breakthroughs was the recognition that, experientially speaking, the unconscious tends to categorize together experiences that share a common pattern of elements. For example, someone feeling intense pressure at work might recall, with great affect, a collection of memories from their childhood when they were under intense pressure by teachers, parents, a playground bully choking them, getting tangled in the blankets of their crib, intra-uterine birth contractions. These layers of related memories he called condensed experiences, or Co-ex systems, because, collectively, they tended to organize the personality, and, when remembered, seemed to lose their organizational influence. Grof observed that subjects who recalled the various stages of their birth resolved many of their previous symptoms. But not always. Sometimes it was only as if they had peeled away a layer, exposing a deeper nodal disturbance, as if they had opened a door in the floor of the basement that leads down to catacombs. The act of reliving these apparently repressed conflicts or traumas seemed to deflate their energy and organizing influence within the subjects personality. These layers seemed deeper because they typically emerged later in a series of sessions, after birth related material stopped surfacing. The birth related material he called peri-natal, and he regarded them to be the gateway to a transpersonal, or collective unconscious, as suggested by the writings of C.G. Jung regarding the racial archetypes. Grof discovered that, under the appropriate circumstances, the psyche tends towards equilibrium, and will strive towards a greater integration of the personality--a phenomenon frequently observed among those engaged in surviving a horrendous ordeal, sometimes among schizophrenics, the dying, or mystics. He detailed the mechanics of the process the mind follows to effect self-healing.

The reviewer below, Zosimos, has it ALL wrong. None of Grof's theoretical frameworks began as a set of apriori assumptions, as Zosimos' own prejudice and bias suggest. Instead, they began as attempts to understand, and illuminate, to make sense out of the bizarre transormative phenemena he and his assistants observed emerging in the course of their investigations --and to find practical, therapeutic applications. His insights into the deeper nature of the personality are simply without equal, transcending psycho-analysis, psychiatric theory, and the history of religions.

This material is clearly intended for a technical audience, and encompasses both the history of psychedelic therapeutic models, as well as practical guidance for conducting therapeutic sessions gathered from a lifetime of research into the subject.

Although this manual specifically targets LSD-25, the best practices cited would apply to any psycho-therapeutic approach with any entheogenic compounds.

This is an area that is fraught with controversy, largely because of the political ramifications of a psychiatric procedure which has, as its principle effect, healing and liberation. This is a profound threat to a militaristic, authoritarian society governed by a powerful ruling class and Big Religion. Better to keep the Djinn locked safely inside the lamp.

While the primary importance of the role of set and setting has been mentioned from the earliest days, and it must be remembered that a "therapeutic" model imposes its own potential for suggestibility--with all its self-fullfilling prophetic consequences--yet in spite of this, the notion of a therapeutic outcome is desireable above all others. This is an issue of great complexity and profundity, made all the more so by the mystification and mythifications of popular culture.

The metaphor of blind men touching an elephant and describing what they feel seems somehow appropo of the various schools of psychotherapy. Now that we know the rest of the story, each school was modelling only a tiny aspect of the elephant. Grof, apparently has made an honest attempt to model the whole beast in its entirety, using electro-magnetic imaging. LSD produces a situation of unique opportunity for observing the dynamics of mental processes in their extremity. If LSD acts as a general amplifier of mental processes, then the dynamics of the personality, following such amplification, should be the same regardless of the stimulus. Grof has established that this is, indeed, the case, through research with holotropic breathwork. Yet, LSD is the substance, sine qua non, for inducing the highest degree of psychic amplification quickly and beyond question. The amplification of mental processes CAN be achieved using other methods that do not involve drugs, and may be more manageable.

The therapeutic goals desribed by Grof are valuable, but at a certain point the therapeutic process becomes something else entirely--self integration turns into the quest for self realization. LSD is a powerful substance, undeniable potential as a useful therapeutic tool, yet extremely dangerous in the wrong hands. All in all, it seems that the biggest problem with close encounters with entheogens is living with the fact, that, when the jello cools and the personality re-solidifies, the individual is left with the challenge of self actualization within the reality of the socio-cultural matrix into which they have been born. LSD may reveal the mysteries of the galactic core and show you the winding way of the Magician at midnite, but in the end you must walk the Earth with your feet on the ground, and your head out of the clouds.

LSD PSYCHOTHERAPY: THE HEALING POTENTIAL OF PSYCHEDELIC MEDICINE, by Stanislav Grof, M.D., is a comprehensive guidebook for psychedelic therapists, based on the author's seventeen years as an LSD psychotherapist.

The author has found that internalization of psychedelic therapy sessions--by lying down, wearing eyeshades, and listening to music throughout the session--is essential in order to gain the therapeutic benefit that comes from fully experiencing whatever emotions, fantasies, and psychosomatic symptoms the unconscious mind presents.

If low doses are used, the first few therapy sessions are usually a reliving of childhood traumas. Later sessons are a dramatic reliving of one's birth, and a shattering confrontation with death. After many such death-rebirth sessions, one typically experiences the final ego death, a profound psychospiritual annihilation, followed by visions of blinding white supernatural light with feelings of ecstasy and rebirth. All subsequent sessions are transpersonal, such as reliving fetal traumas, episodes of contact with deceased loved ones, and mystical/peak experiences of the divine.

Although the bulk of the book deals with emotionally troubled persons, there is still a significant amount of information on using LSD therapy with normal, healthy people for personal growth, as well as a section about helping the terminally ill with ppsychedelic therapy.

The several dozen color illustrations, including some new to this edition, are mostly of scenes from people's LSD therapy sessions, and help bring the book to life.

(Incidentally, it seems fitting that the new publisher of LSD PSYCHOTHERAPY is MAPS, since it is from their bulletin that I learned of a meditation-enhancing herb (legal, relatively safe) which may be also useful for psychotherapy, following Grof's guidelines.)

Please note that the small size of the type and the sometimes long convoluted sentence structure may require strong motivation for a reader to plow through the entire book.

Other books I recommend: BEYOND THE BRAIN: BIRTH, DEATH, AND TRANSCENDENCE IN PSYCHOTHERAPY, Grof's masterpiece distilling what he has learned about the human psyche from his years as an LSD psychotherapist; REALMS OF THE HUMAN UNCONSCIOUS: OBSERVATIONS FROM LSD RESEARCH, telling of his early low-dose LSD method, may be of interest to psychoanalytically-inclined readers of the Freudian persuasion; THE ADVENTURE OF SELF-DISCOVERY describes the group hyperventilation therapy Grof developed with his wife Christina, which has therapeutic results similar to LSD therapy, and may be used by itself, or as a complement to psychedelic therapy; BEYOND DEATH, a visual feast of world artwork on the theme of biological death and the soul's afterlife, as well as psychospiritual death-rebirth such as occurs in psychedelic therapy; Meduna's CARBON-DIOXIDE THERAPY (revised edition) describes a method possibly of interest to the adventurous psychiatrist, which may have results comparable to LSD therapy; and Sandra Ingerman's SOULD RETRIEVAL: MENDING THE FRAGMENTED SELF, about welcoming home the "inner-child" self which many of us lost early in life due to trauma, and may now return as we each grow and heal towards wholeness.

Stanislav Grof's book "LSD Psychotherapy" is definitely not a light read. Its divided into 9 main sections, and also includes an epilogue, index, two appendices, and an extensive bibliography. Weighing in at over 350 pages, it's Grof's history of LSD therapy, a discussion of the circumstances/therapeutic paradigms under which LSD has been used, and most importantly, a collection of practical wisdom gleaned from the "more than three thousand sessions over the years" which Dr. Grof personally supervised.

Although a book of this size and scope is obviously written for clinicians, it's nevertheless an interesting and informative read to the layperson. Dr. Grof's writing is erudite, informative, and flows surprisingly well (especially when one considers that English is actually not his native language. He was born in Czechoslovakia). He has very practical information regarding the set/setting required for this type of therapy, and lays down a clear outline of how a session should go, and what a subject (or sitter) is likely to encounter.

Two points he stressed repeatedly:
-- an LSD session is a transformational and decidedly internal experience. The goal isn't to see pretty colors or watch Disney cartoons in the palm of your hand; it's to undergo a great deal of introspection and apply what you learn from it.
-- LSD isn't always a lot of fun, nor is it supposed to be. He spends a lot of time discussing difficult experiences, and explaining how they hold the most potential for personal growth in a subject.

All in all, if you're interested in psychedelics, this book is a great read from a man who has devoted his life to researching these areas. If you like this book, I also recommend Myron Stolaroff's "The Secret Chief" (another primer on hallucinogenic psychotherapy) and Rick Strassman's "DMT: The Spirit Molecule".

i`m not very good writing in english, but this book rules, is quite serious and the investigation is very well done...the pics are great, so the edition

My previous review of this book was entitled" HEALING & GROWTH THROUGH SUPERVISED PSYCHEDELIC THERAPY," and I refer interested readers to that review, which also says "Reviewer: A Reader". To clarify, and in summary, if you are looking for my review, my amazon pen name is christopher theophilus, even though my review of "LSD Psycotherapy simply says the Reviewer is "A Reader," and does not identify me as "christopher theophilus. --Christopher Theophilus, from the green mountain state of Vermont.

A previous reviewer writes about Grof: "His insights into the deeper nature of the personality are simply without equal, transcending psycho-analysis, psychiatric theory, and the history of religions. "

This quote reflects, in a nutshell, a view prevalent among the New Age 'transpersonal' crowd and psychedelic advocates. I doubt it reflects Grof's own beliefs which tended to morph, shift and readjust. While this book has clear historical value, the applicability or usefulness of Grof's idiosyncratic concepts is debatable. Working with the fascinating material that was emerging from LSD seances in Prague and at Johns Hopkins, Grof had to develop his ideas on the fly, swimming in order not to sink.

While a lot of people (rightfully) resent the limbo in which entheogenic research finds itself today, theysometimes find it difficult to accept that this is to a considerable extent a result of unethical behavior of the early pioneers who flounted conventional research standards. If hallucinogenic flights of fancy brought you personal and cosmic insights this doesn't mean they are going to be equally helpful to someone dealing with a psychotic breakdown.

The question that comes to mind is whether these treatments were designed to help people or to satisfy Grof's scientific curiosities and test his ideas about the 'development of consicousness'. I find the apparent ease with which Grof administered LSD to shizophrenics, psychotics and other mentally ill patients, disconcerting. In my view it is short of irresponsible and bordering on unethical, as LSD most likely pushed many unfortunate clients further into dissociation. In any case, while the man made his name in psychedelic circles, conventional recognition eluded him. I am sure that, as always, conspiracy theorists will be happy to put the blame on the guvmint; a responsible reader of LSDP, however, can't help but wonder what ultimately happened to those LSD-exposed schizophrenics.

Probably appropriately, these days Grof steers clear of controversial 'enthe0-therapy', appearing to be more interested in spiritual applications of hyperventilation. heh. While Grof was not amongst those chiefly responsible for the (undeserved) disrepute of entheogenic therapy, his undiscriminate use possibly contributed to the current state of affairs. Basically, Leary, Alpert and Grof mucked the field for everybody else, making it hard for bona fide researchers (such as UCLA's C. Grob) to secure reputation or federal funding. In any case, this is an interesting book that should be read by conventional and transpersonal shrinks, as well as the lay audience interested in putting into context their own extra-ordinary experiences. It is, however, one man's work, unsupported by peer review, unverified, highly speculative and with respect to psychiatry and psychotherapy, a dead end.

Stanislav Grof is one of the pioneers in using LSD for psychotherapeutic research. Personally, I'm not sure I buy it, but I read these books more for personal amusement than for any scientific content they may have. (I give this book five stars because it's interesting, not for it's scientific content, which I believe to be virtually nil.) In this book, Grof has thrown together some of the most bizarre and far-fetched speculative nonsense in an attempt to explain a hodge-podge of LSD experiences. Grof gives a detailed picture of the various forms of therapy including, psycholitic therapy, psychedelic therapy, hypnodelic therapy, and his own holotropic therapy (which is basically hyperventilation and doesn't require LSD). Grof then goes on to explain the effects of LSD. Here, he concocts a bewildering schemata of various LSD induced states, which fit under various matrices: COEX systems (systems of condensed experiences) and basic perinatal matrices (BPM I-IV). This is where things get a little hocky, because according to Grof (and he gets this from Otto Rank) we can regress the individual to birth and then resolve various aspects of the birth trauma, freeing the individual of various neuroses, etc. He throws in a mix of eastern philosophy and mysticism to explain various aspects of this regression process. Apparently, one can go beyond even this level, into that of transpersonal experiences (here essentially all hell breaks loose and virtually anything goes). The rest of the book is pretty much devoted to explaining various aspects of the therapy sessions, the effects of various environments, stimuli, etc. on the sessions, and much anecdotal evidence of alleged cures, resolutions of conflicts, breakdown of neurotic defense systems, etc. I haven't made up my mind how much of this I buy into, and I don't see any easy way to do so without more research being done. The book concludes with an appendix on the effects of LSD on chromosomes.