Psilocybin's Erasure of EGO.

The psychoanalytic journey and the psilocybin journey both reveal unconscious dynamics. In this article a psychoanalyst discusses his own psilocybin journey. Similarities and differences between these journeys are discussed. Possibilities are offered for a dialogue in which psilocybin may contribute to psychoanalytic understanding and psychoanalysis may contribute to the understanding of psychedelic sessions. Patients may benefit from this cross-fertilization.

Working With Suicidal Patients.

Working with suicidal patients requires that the therapist not be afraid of threats or gestures. The therapeutic partnership requires the patient to stay alive until the next session. Any suicidal gesture will trigger the end of this treatment on the grounds that the patient has shown the treatment was not good enough. Twelve dangerous, neurotic beliefs driving suicidal actions are examined in concert with twelve interventions aimed at dismantling their power over the patient.

Neuroscientific Advances in the Treatment of Trauma.

Neuroscience is partnering with psychoanalysis in the best sense of the word, namely, supporting some aspects of psychoanalytic thinking while challenging others. This dialogue needs to continue because, where trauma is concerned, neither side is privy to the whole picture. Current congruence, dissonance, and considerations for technique are explored.

Your Therapist Is Wrong-And So Am I.

Three books by Barnaby B. Barratt emphasize the timelessness of unconscious themes and the "pluritemporality" of free associations. Psychic energy is universal but unrepresentable. Repression renders consciousness unreliable. Such themes separate psychoanalysis from all other schools of psychotherapy that mistakenly think they can bring the patient to some new level of safety and mastery in life. Rather, the essence of psychoanalysis is its discovery that self-authorship is an illusion. Patients are healed during psychoanalysis by abandoning their egoistic quests in favor of embracing energy for living without regard to outcomes. This healing method contrasts with virtually all other psychotherapies that misconstrue Freud's revolution and revert to conventional illusions of self-directedness. Recovering Freud's original radicality may save psychoanalysis-and civilization itself.

Clinical Hypnosis Today.

Freud's objections to hypnosis have little relevance to modern approaches. Contemporary hypnosis has evolved beyond direct suggestion to include the suspending of critical thinking in order to allow the patient's unconscious mind to take over and make internal changes. Aspects of the author's experiences as a patient, trainee, and practitioner are noted by way of dispelling some common misunderstandings. The growing profession of hypnosis has support from research in neuroscience. A rapprochement with psychoanalysis may be possible.