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Loizaga-Velder - Schmid Ayahuasca Healing

The document discusses a group discussion that took place at the International Ayahuasca Conference in Heidelberg, Germany in 2008. The group discussed definitions of healing as it relates to Ayahuasca and agreed that Ayahuasca can be a strong healing tool. However, it is important to not give patients false hope and consider both the positive and negative aspects. Ideal use of Ayahuasca therapeutically would involve both traditional and Western practitioners.

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Jacobo Villarreal
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30 views4 pages

Loizaga-Velder - Schmid Ayahuasca Healing

The document discusses a group discussion that took place at the International Ayahuasca Conference in Heidelberg, Germany in 2008. The group discussed definitions of healing as it relates to Ayahuasca and agreed that Ayahuasca can be a strong healing tool. However, it is important to not give patients false hope and consider both the positive and negative aspects. Ideal use of Ayahuasca therapeutically would involve both traditional and Western practitioners.

Uploaded by

Jacobo Villarreal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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___________________________________________________________www.neip.

info

Ayahuasca and Healing: Notes from the “World Café” at the


International Ayahuasca Conference Heidelberg
Anya Loizaga-Velder & Janine Tatjana Schmid

The International Ayahuasca Conference at the University of Heidelberg, Germany was held
from May 16th to 18th 2008. The conference covered interdisciplinary aspects regarding, the use
of ayahuasca, its rituals, its religious and therapeutic uses, contextual politics and particularly, its
expansion throughout the world (see Jungaberle and Labate in press). The following notes were
taken during a group discussion on therapeutic aspects of ayahuasca, that took place in the
“World Café” dialogues during the congress 1.

After controversially discussing the healing effects of Ayahuasca, the “World Café” group
accepted a definition of healing resulting in the following: healing means more than a cure from
disease, but rather to be able to achieve physical, mental, spiritual and social well being and
harmony with creation.
‘True healing’ was understood to come from an inner process and implies growth. Considering
this definition the participants agreed that Ayahuasca can be a strong healing tool.
Healing effects of Ayahuasca were related in important portion to the modified states of
consciousness and ritual aspects, including the ritual songs, the aromatherapy, energetic
interventions of the healers and the spiritual realm.

However, it seemed to be a Westerners view to look at Ayahuasca as a purely positive healing


medium. Instead, looking at traditional cultures it is also used for sorcery and can even be
harmful. Thus, the traditional view on Ayahuasca would be both: positive and negative.
In the traditional medicine Ayahuasca is understood as a plant that can heal or can harm
depending on the person who uses it or the purpose for which it is used.

It is very important not to give patients false hope that Ayahuasca cures all. Sometimes other
therapies lead to ‘healing’ and it is important for patients to know this.
It is quite common in South America that shamans refer patients to a western doctor or also, that
a western doctor refers patients to a shaman.

1
The “World Café” is a method for conversational process based on a set of integrated design principles
which aim to evoke the collective intelligence of a group (see www.theworldcafe.com).
___________________________________________________________www.neip.info

In this way, some think of Ayahuasca as an excellent training tool for Western therapists, as it can
provide profound introspection and insights.
However, if Ayahuasca was to become integrated as a therapeutic tool in western medicine, the
aspect of structured ritual and the sacred dimension must be included and not neglected.
In this respect it was mentioned that traditional healers usually undergo initiation processes of
many years, which implies the structured use of altered states of consciousness and deep
introspection. In their training, traditional healers receive songs that can subtlety guide and
structure the Ayahuasca induced trance and also obtain tools for dealing with difficult situations
in the Ayahuasca experience.
It was said, a traditional healer is as specialized in the therapeutic use of Ayahuasca as a
neurosurgeon in western medicine. You could not learn neurosurgery within a few weeks just as
you could not learn traditional healing of Ayahuasca in a few weeks. Therefore it was suggested
ideally, to work in a multidisciplinary team where Ayahuasca is used in a ritual setting guided by
a traditionally trained expert and western therapist in charge of the preparation and integration of
the experience as well as medical problems.
But training in psychedelic or psycholytic therapy was not considered as sufficient by many
members of the World Café because the indigenous ritual of Ayahuasca was seen as the results of
a long experience with the Ayahuasca induced modified states of consciousness, and should
therefore only be transformed by someone who has understood it at its depths.

There might be a lot of knowledge in traditional medicine that could make a very valuable
contribution to western therapy but has not been explored sufficiently. As a matter of fact,
ayahuasca is rarely given to patients in indigenous ceremonies. Usually the shaman takes
Ayahuasca in order to diagnose, perform energetic and spiritual interventions or receive
indications for healing.
Indications can arise, for instance from an insight the indigenous healer receives through
Ayahuasca, such as which healing plants would be most effective for curing a specific disease,
recommendations of how to solve a social problem or even insights for who to turn to for further
assistance, including a western doctor.
___________________________________________________________www.neip.info

Another point in regards to the transfer of ritual to another culture relates to the issue of
cultural integration.

• Should the traditional Ayahusca ritual be adapted to the western culture or would it be
more beneficial if the western culture adapts to the traditional Ayahuasca ritual?
• How much should (or should not) the ritual be transformed in order to gain the most
therapeutic benefits?
• How much knowledge in handling the plant is necessary?

In order to prevent harm, a careful preparation, screening, and consideration of contraindications


and follow up is important – This would be easier to realize if the use of Ayahusca became
legally accepted.

Reference:
Labate, B.C. and Jungaberle, H., Eds. (in press). The internationalization of ayahuasca.
Goettingen, Hogrefe.

About the authors:


Anya Loizaga-Velder is a German-Mexican clinical psychologist who has been investigating the
therapeutic potential of the ritual use of psychedelic plants for over 15 years. She currently is a
PhD candidate in Medical Psychology at Heidelberg University and is writing her dissertation on
the topic: The therapeutic uses of ayahuasca in addiction treatment. She is also collaborating in
Nierika a Mexican organization aiming at supporting the preservation of indigenous traditions
with sacred plant medicines (www.nierika.info).

Janine Tatjana Schmid is a clinical psychologist working at a rehabilitation hospital supporting


patients with chronic pain, musculoskeletal disorders, and cancer. She holds a Ph.D. in Medical
Psychology from the University of Heidelberg. Her doctoral thesis is entitled “Subjective
Theories of Self Treatment with the Psychoactive Substance Ayahuasca.” A summary has been
published as “Subjective Theories about (Self-) Treatment with Ayahuasca in the journal
Anthropology of Consciousness (2010). Her special interests are in shamanism and
psychotherapeutic methods as well as in the psychology of consciousness
___________________________________________________________www.neip.info

(www.schamanismusforschung.de).

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