Most people know that love can be compared to a drug — and there’s a reason for that. All those hormones and oxytocin can really make that special someone feel totally addicting.
But, like all highs, you usually have to come down at some point, and that’s where couples therapy comes in. So why not try to bring back that exhilarating feeling with the help of therapist-guided psychedelic use?
A recent resurgence in psychedelic-assisted therapies has given rise to testing out how psychedelic substances like MDMA, LSD, and magic mushrooms can help couples feel even closer, or at least gain insight into the behaviors and perspectives of one another.
In any setting, the main goals of couples therapy are:
- Understanding how elements like family upbringing, society and moral ideals influence their connection
- Comprehending how past events have influenced the current relationship
- Developing more effective communication skills
- Understanding why disagreements become more heated
- Negotiating and resolving unresolved disputes
Once you add psychedelics to the treatment under the guidance of a therapist, couples can experience more honesty, open-mindedness, and an ability to apply what they’ve learned on their trip to their relationship.
As Truffle Report’s Tanya Ielyseieva wrote:
“Tripping with your partner can be a unique experience, as hallucinogenic drugs act on the serotonergic system. For many, the dissolution of ego helps them to realize and appreciate their partner’s love and trust like never before. Psychedelics inspire communication, trust, and self-awareness.”
A 2021 study also suggests that those who share psychedelic experiences together often end up feeling more deeply connected, even weeks after the experience.
While it may not be for every couple, there’s no doubt that psychedelic-aided therapy is promising. Here is how LSD, MDMA, and psilocybin could help couples who are looking for a healthier connection.
LSD
In any setting, LSD is an incredibly powerful mind-altering experience where, when used in the right setting, can act as a tool to help repair and improve relationships.
Ayelet Waldman reported that microdosing helped her and her marriage significantly:
“I would have blown up my marriage… I would have left Michael to punish myself. And that’s so crazy. All he ever did was love me, and try, but when you love someone who is mentally ill, you’re just pouring water into a bucket with a hole in it. It can be exhausting. I think the microdosing actually sealed the hole. Now it’s a smaller hole, but we all have to keep on pouring water.”
This was something that her husband, noticed. “I could just see right away it was having this immediate, focusing sense of perspective,” he shared.
MDMA
In the 1980s, researchers conducted studies on how MDMA-assisted couples therapy could lead to positive results. Unfortunately, those studies were halted in 1985 after the US made the substance illegal.
One of the psychotherapists who treated couples between 1980-1985, Dr. Rick Ingrasci reported that MDMA-aided couples therapy allows “a deeper bonding process to take place in relationships where for some reason the natural bonding process has been prevented from occurring… MDMA holds promise of allowing a healing to take place on those primary feeling levels.”
In a recent interview with GQ, therapist Jayne Gumpel shared that in her experience of leading psychedelic-aided couples therapy, “MDMA is very useful for people who are struggling with intimacy. What happens when couples come into therapy, they’re out of alignment. Usually, it’s around deep misunderstandings and hurt feelings, and they get very stuck in and attached to their narrative: “You did this, and that’s why I feel that.”
Magic Mushrooms
According to a 2017 study, psilocybin increased emotional empathy, which could definitely be useful in a therapeutic setting. Psilocybin also has an effect on serotonin receptors, which is why it’s been so promising in clinical trials to treat anxiety and depression.
Gumpel explained that “when you do the psilocybin, it engenders a feeling of oneness and well-being in the world. That’s not to say that all journeys are pleasant, but even with the ones that are not pleasant, there’s a sense of ego disillusion.”
A [deleted] user on Reddit shared a positive experience:
“My first shrooms experience with my boyfriend, we were finally comfortable enough to admit we loved each other. We lied down together and discovered what it meant to be one with the universe. It was the first time either of us understood what that meant. We’re getting married in August (: ”
