Last week I attended ICPR. The pioneering and leading scientific conference in Europe is dedicated to advancing psychedelic research and therapies organized by OPEN Foundation.  It has been an inspiring, thought-provoking, educational, and uplifting experience.

ICPR features world-leading experts from many academic disciplines, including psychiatry, psychology, neuroscience, anthropology, ethnobotany, and philosophy who come together to give a scientific conference for academics, therapists, researchers, clinicians, policymakers, and members of the public. The OPEN Foundation has been organising 5 large and international conferences since 2010. Source ICPR Website.

Grateful

A compliment and thank you for granting a scholarship to people outside the academic field. Contributing towards creating a multidisciplinary environment, including new voices of critical enthusiasts with genuine interest, curiosity, and personal experience with psychedelic healing.

The program

I loved listening to the research insights. Found it incredibly valuable that there was such a rich palette of perspectives. About aesthetics, research models, therapy settings, Stamets and his oeuvre, and Kastrup about philosophical idealism.

Bearing in mind the understanding that we are all biased, joining the conference with no set agenda made it possible to order the perspectives from different stakeholders in the field and get a sense of the ecosystem they’re operating in.

My perspective

From 2020 – 2021 I worked on my protocol for treating and reducing symptoms of the long-term effects of repeated mild TBIs. I see psychedelics as yet another tool in my health & well-being toolkit. And believe that other factors besides the actual substance & dose are at least as necessary for it to work.

Why I opened up to psychedelics.

  • Going deeper into my emotions/feelings than I might have ever done before
  • Trying to reset my brain and get rid of limiting beliefs attached to brain trauma

For example, I added somatic work, meditation, writing, nutrition, and many other well-being practices into my approach of integrating psychedelics into my healing practices. Read more about this process in my article published in Ziva Voices.

Psychedelic-assisted therapy

Do I think there are groups of people that could benefit from psychedelic-assisted therapy? I believe so. Yet many factors can influence an experience, these are at least as critical for creating a safe and functioning system when starting to work with these substances. The panel of previous clinical trial participants shined a light on the importance of creating sense of community and not losing sight of the human aspects that come with the work.

I am personally interested in this topic since I worked on my own protocol to support dealing with symptoms after a traumatic brain injury. Read more about that here. 

Symptoms I worked on included:

  • Sensitivity to light or sound
  • Loss of Memory or concentration
  • Psychological issues like depression, mood swings, anxiety and irritability
  • Insomnia or sleeping more than usual
  • Profound confusion and agitation.
  • Slurred speech or difficulty with speaking.

Open up

Again, I did not set certain expectations for me to join the conference. I know by the way it made me feel spending these three days with the brightest in the field that I am drawn to the subject and love to contribute.

Keep asking questions and connect with curiosity! I am open to having a dialogue and perhaps able to plant some seeds that can flourish into new ideas, views, or adjustments to your current approach. For all people I spoke to and connected with. Thanks for including me!

Get curious, and perhaps even learn from my insights and observations gained from first-hand experiences while dealing with trauma, and basically life in general. Fueled by endless curiosity and a pinch of stubborness. It’s mostly a hell of a magical ride.

Conference participation

Do you want to invite me to a conference you are organising? Send me an email or book an exploration call. To see how I can help you to achieve your conference goals.