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accepting his point of view. The pressure for acceptance or rejection of ideas must come
from the subject himself if the ideas are to carry emotional conviction.
Referring to this phase of the experience as discussion may appear to be
unwarranted. It is seldom discussion in the ordinary sense of the word since a person
outside of the experience would be likely to have much difficulty in following what was
transpiring. There are likely to be very prolonged periods of silence, few sentences may
be completed as the thoughts seem to break off in the middle. Actually the close nature
of the communication permits this sort of discussion to be filled with meaning as far as
the participants are concerned.
As has been pointed out previously the LSD reaction is essentially a feeling
experience. The translation from intense but undefined non-verbal feelings into
structured, delineated ideas, ideas which can be examined, discussed and weighed
intellectually, is almost always made with difficulty.
There are certain types of questions which may be helpful to the subject. Through
considering them, he gives ideational structure to what he feels.
Questions which lead to an examination of the self-concept are usually interesting and
lead to valuable discussion. This would include such questions as:
1. Who are you?
2. How much does your identity determine your behavior?
3. Where are you in space and time?
4. Where do your thoughts come from?
5. How are you different from other people?
6. How are you the same as others?
7. What is the basis of your system of values?
Questions which may stimulate thinking in the area of inter-personal relations are
also extremely useful. This area might be approached through such questions as:
1. If all people are the same in essence, what keeps them separate?
2. What is love?
3. What is wisdom?
4. What is trust?
5. If you could have any single wish come true, what would you wish for?
6. Why are some people more pleasant than others?
Other more useful questions will undoubtedly occur to the therapist and such
questions often will act as the beginning of discussion. The therapist must, however,
continually guard against the tendency to assume that his answers to such questions are
the only correct solutions. The subject s answers will represent truth as the subject sees
it.
It is of great importance that the subject in dealing with these questions, attempt
to verbalize his conclusions. Memory seems less capable of storing and recalling feeling
tones than it does of holding verbal symbols representing ideas. If the subject is to be able
to recall and use his experience it is important that his feelings be structured into thoughts
and the thoughts described in language and if possible written down or otherwise
recorded for subsequent reference. Should he wish to make notes of certain points he
should be encouraged to do so. He may find it somewhat difficult to co-ordinate his
movements and writing may prove difficult. Osmond (41) suggests the use of a
chinagraph pencil which calls for less exact finger movements, yet permits the notation of
salient ideas.
Sometimes this is extremely difficult and a very useful short cut into the memory
files seems to be made if role-playing introduced. Ion such role-playing any hypothetical
setting may be used and the people in the experience may decide to examine the
relationships which would exist between them were they executive, politicians,
churchmen, soldiers or any other group. The setting may be anywhere under any
conditions ranging from disaster to tranquility. The relationship of each to other may be
examined under varying emotional settings ranging from situations in which they relate
on the basis of hatred and suspicion to those in which they work with each other in an
atmosphere of affection, appreciation and trust.
In view of the level of empathy which exists, this procedure will rapidly
demonstrate the motivational pattern of each of the participants and show how these
patterns can and do relate to each other. The roles need very little enactment as the
potentialities of the personality in the hypothesized situation tend to be very readily
evident to the participants.
If the subject has been asked to prepare a list of questions, the answers to which
he feels will be helpful to him in guiding his future conduct, he should now be
encouraged to look at his list. It is very likely that the self-understanding he has gained
will make the answers to the questions seem obvious. Most frequently the questions have
arisen from arises in which the subject has been rationalizing to avoid accepting what he
already feels to be true. LSD, by removing the need to rationalize, lets him see beyond
the question into the underlying motives. He should be encouraged to make certain that
he sees the answers clearly and understand how to use this insight. It the subject requests
help the therapist should offer any aid he can in discussing such questions.
While this period of discussion actually continues until the experience is
terminated, there are other important stages which it overlaps which should be reviewed.
Chapter 18. STAGES IN THE EXPERIENCE
VI DIMINISHMENT OF SYMPTOMS
Usually after about five or six hours the symptoms seem to diminish rather
rapidly. The subject will begin to feel that the session is all over. In cases in which the
subject has been unable to achieve a high level of experience he may begin to express a
desire to end the session. This can be destructive of the relationships which have been
built up. If the subject attempts to shake off the remaining symptoms and get rid of them
they tend to become more pronounced. The more he fights against them, the more
agitated he is likely to become and he may develop a paranoid reaction. His desire to get
out of the drug state leads him to feel that that state is undesirable and unreal. This type
of thinking, unless diverted, may rapidly lead to suspicion, hostility and withdrawal.
The subject has been warned about this in the instructions given to him prior to
the session. A further warning at this time may be useful or may be disregarded. He
should be assured that the experience is far from over and much that is interesting lies
ahead. It is wise to try to interest him in some aspect of the experience not yet covered or
in some area of discussion in which he is particularly interested. It is unwise to leave him
alone at this time or to let him leave the group. Any attempt to fight against the residual
symptoms is very unlikely to be successful. It should be pointed out to the subject that
this apparent diminishment of symptoms is due to his having learned how to adjust to
them. They are still present but he is going to put the level of stabilization to something
of a test in a short time by going to a restaurant for a good meal.
The discussion may begin to falter at about this time and one way of maintaining
interest is by seeing how each person in the group adds to the appreciation of music.
Those selections which have the greatest appeal for the subject might be used at this time.
The subject will find that when he tries to listen to the music as another person hears it,
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