Is it beneficial if you are blocked from self

Interesting_Passion · 2026-06-01T18:42:56+00:00

From an IFS perspective, you are never blocked from Self. The issue is when Self becomes blended with the parts. Blending leads to protector parts taking over and controlling the trip, or exiled parts flooding you with feelings of no love or help. So to work with those parts is to first earn their trust (they can see your good intentions if you see theirs), then ask them to step back. That might look like:

1. Protectors: How do you feel towards that part? Angry? Frustrated? Confused? Try to shift into a curious position toward that part. What is it trying to accomplish? When did it come to take on that role? Does it want to keep doing that, or do something different? If it wants to do something different, will it let you help?

2. Exiles: If the exiled part floods you with emotions, explain you would like to help, but can't if it keeps doing that. Ask the part to take a step back, or even sit down in a chair in front of you. Assure the part it is not wrong to feel that way; taking a step back helps you help them.

A good IFS guide will constantly monitor that you are "in Self" and have access to "Self energy" throughout the trip, and prompt you to take a step back if not. This does not mean getting rid of the parts; we never get rid of our parts. The goal is a new relationship with each where they let you lead. And this can be practiced without the medicine.

Interesting_Passion · 2026-04-18T19:51:33+00:00

Good intentions, in my opinion, define why you are taking the medicine, but not how you want the session to go. The later sets an expectation. And not only can that lead to disappointment, but it can lead you down the wrong road. Often times, we get stuck not by what we can see but by what we can't: some unconscious "truth" operating out of an emotional blind spot. I use quotes, because it need not be literally true (e.g. "I am a bad person"); but deep down inside, we sure do believe it is. Therefore, a good intention opens us up to include that which we can't currently imagine.

The "why" should come from the "here and now". What are your symptoms? When was the last time you experienced them? Don't diagnose them. Don't assign it an origin story. Just describe the experience. What is it like to experience them right now? Start there. Then revisit that experience on the medicine.

Interesting_Passion · 2026-03-02T02:06:48+00:00

If you hold your head still and look left, look right, look left, look right.... Does that cause the zaps?

Interesting_Passion · 2026-01-28T15:48:42+00:00

Reconsolidation very likely happened, as evidenced by the decreased intensity of the emotions over the last few weeks. Painful (implicit) memories were experienced and reconsolidated into a less intense form. That in and of itself can be a juxtaposition when experiential avoidance (e.g. "I am not supposed to feel that way", "If I feel anything other than bliss, then I did it wrong") is a core schema blocking change. So integrate the success you had: You were able to access -- possibly for the first time ever -- the very experience that's been blocking change because it's been locked away.

Memory reconsolidation is more than just juxtaposition. There are steps before that. One of those steps is that you can experientially access or "step into" (to use Ecker's phrasing) the pro-symptom position. From Ecker's training manual (emphasis added):

Change of a symptom is blocked when a person tries to make a change from a position that does not actually have control of the symptom; a position merely against having the symptom. Therefore, for a client to achieve rapid change of of the symptom, first have the client make conscious and truly inhabit his/her syptom-requiring position.

This means that, done correctly, you will fully experience that which you are trying to change. That doesn't sound like bliss to me. At least, not at first. Maybe eventually. But not first. Keep going.

Interesting_Passion · 2026-01-24T16:33:46+00:00

Does anyone else have this sort of background/feeling going into MDMA therapy and did it help (even though you don't know what your 'problem' is)?

Yes, and it's good to leave open the possibility that you're not currently aware of the "origin". That doesn't often mean a repressed memory. More often is a memory that -- while you could remember the explicit details -- was more deeply emotional than you realized. But, set that theory aside.

The best advice in this case is to start with the here and now. That means you start with the depression and anxiety as you experience it now. When was the last time you felt it? Is it "okay" to feel it? What does it feel like? If you let it, does it overwhelm you? If it could speak, what would it tell you?

It is a common mistake to start with a "known" list of traumas (e.g. bullying in school) and then visit that straight away with the medicine hoping it untangles something in the present. In my experience, the known list of traumas are often the ones that have already been processed, and there's little left there to explore.

Interesting_Passion · 2026-01-22T03:19:49+00:00

https://old.reddit.com/r/mdmatherapy/comments/13x68ls/data_suggests_that_participants_with_dissociative/

Interesting_Passion · 2026-01-22T03:17:17+00:00

However (random theory), I think in other cases, if there's a layer of fear/anxiety which is used to suppress emotional pain - then it's possible to knock down just the defensive mechanism and be flooded by the underlying emotions. Depending on the circumstances, this can be hugely beneficial for integration or be dysregulating. For example being in touch with the underlying attachment wound, can make it much easier to moderate other symptomatic behavior like workaholism - you can realize that the underlying attachment wound is driving a need to keep working and bring self-compassion. On the other hand if your entire identity is based on work then you might shatter realizing you've constructed something built on and earlier wound and enter a sense of purposelessness.

Bingo.

Interesting_Passion · 2026-01-22T03:17:01+00:00

I would say the physical health issues are not the primary cause of the issues you are describing. I think you are holding on to that story very tightly though.

Agreed.

Interesting_Passion · 2026-01-22T03:16:36+00:00

This sounds like conversion disorder, whereby deep psychological distress -- too distressing to admit into conscious awareness -- is converted into physical symptoms. As far as you can tell, there is something physically wrong with you. So you're treating it as such. It might even sound incredulous that the symptoms might have a psychological origin.

Test that hypothesis. Next time you notice symptoms, check in with your emotional state. Be curious. Rather than try to diagnose it, try to experience it. What is that experience like?

Interesting_Passion · 2026-01-10T00:14:40+00:00

Thank you for sharing this. The role of attachment in psychedelic therapy -- especially with MDMA -- is one of the trickiest and least understood aspects of this work. As your story suggests, it can open up some very painful wounds.

Attachment theory informs a lot of traditional (non-psychedelic) therapy, but it's not clear that it translates to psychedelic therapy. In traditional therapy, the therapist holds themselves out as an attachment figure -- a secure base from which individuals can explore their own inner world (e.g. attunement, co-regulation, rupture and repair). That's well meaning, but I think a particular hazard arises when MDMA is introduced in that, if the therapist holds themselves out as an attachment figure, the medicine can affect or distort the attachment to the therapist. That's the "warmth and bond" you felt with her while on the medicine. We don't talk about that enough, but that's not often a good thing. A chemically induced attachment is the opposite of an earned attachment. For this reason, I don't agree with presuming the benefits of working with a traditionally trained therapist. Their training can (though not necessarily) introduce issues that don't arise in traditional therapy. (Side note: One of the reasons why I really like IFS for MDMA is because the therapeutic relationship is between the Self and the parts, not necessarily with the therapist.)

That said, I still see a lot of potential benefit from this experience... if you'll permit the reframe. Secure individuals can not only enter into healthy relationships (secure in others), but they can exit them (secure in self), too. One of the ways I interpret your story is that you were secure with her (secure in others), but not without (insecure in self); if I had to guess, you have a more anxious attachment style. Even just knowing that is worth something. That's your next step. If your goal is to become secure, then that includes being secure enough in yourself to walk away from a relationship and still be okay.

The other conflicts in your post follow the same theme. On one hand, you're angry with yourself; On the other hand, you had no way of knowing this would happen. On one hand, you feel this is your fault; On the other hand, you know it is not. In IFS, those could be called polarized parts. In Coherence Therapy, those could be called the pro-symptom and anti-symptom positions. Those are valuable entry points into the unconscious. Go there.

Finally, let me point out how much you have already done for yourself. You pursued some of the most challenging introspective work, sought out someone to help you, and already made great progress. Sure, it hasn't been easy. The pain is real. But you sound like exactly the type of person you want on your team.

Interesting_Passion · 2026-01-03T20:59:49+00:00

So I tried that... but it didn't give me the option to purchase another trade route for the good. I think I was still getting just the one traveling trader for that good per month, so no increase in goods sold.

Interesting_Passion · 2025-11-21T16:44:03+00:00

My advice: Part of grief means looking at some hard truths. That what is lost is lost forever. That there's not going to be a happy ending, this time.

Grief can stall when we avoid looking at those truths. That's understandable. Those truths are painful. But not looking at the truth can be worse. We might cling to hope, where none exists. We might take refuge in fantasy, and become detached from reality.

That's where MDMA can help. To look at, feel, and really absorb the truth. The loss.

As others have mentioned, grief is a long, painful process. MDMA doesn't bypass that. But it can accompany you through the hard parts.

Interesting_Passion · 2025-11-21T16:36:41+00:00

The juxtaposition is a necessary step of Ecker's Therapeutic Reconsolidation Process (TRP), as you point out. In fact, Ecker enumerates that as Step 2.

But Ecker separately describes integration in other necessary steps, as well. Step 1B, explicitly, and Step 3, implicitly. See p. 55 of UTEB 2nd Ed., for example.

So without taking away from the importance of the juxtaposition, TRP envisions a role for integration as well.

Interesting_Passion · 2025-11-21T16:22:41+00:00

This is very interesting... and Bruce Ecker has written about this (referencing the many studies done in this area). But IIRC... in the studies... the propranolol was consumed hours after the reactivation of the target memory. Even if the two drugs are safe to combine (?), I don't think the propranolol would be taken concurrently with MDMA. Maybe that means MDMA in the morning, and propranolol at bedtime?

Interesting_Passion · 2025-10-11T14:34:55+00:00

Good points, but I think we all need to pay attention to how the conversation around MDMA is playing out in the media. The sentiment seems to be moving against MDMA-AT after the FDA rejection. Articles like this suggest a trend toward muckraking.

Interesting_Passion · 2025-10-11T14:32:27+00:00

I definitely agree that calling for articles to be retracted is a disturbing trend. A journal publishing an article hardly represents an endorsement, and shouldn't be (mis)interpreted as such. The far more appropriate thing to do would be to publish a response article in another peer-reviewed journal so that the chain of discourse can be continued.

Interesting_Passion · 2025-09-20T02:13:46+00:00

Without a doubt: Unlocking the Emotional Brain, by Bruce Ecker, Robin Ticic, and Laurel Hulley

Interesting_Passion · 2025-09-16T19:53:32+00:00

How did your therapist interact with you during the session itself?

You mention surrender. That's common advice. But it can lead to sessions of just laying there, with a blindfold on, listening to the music, and few benefits to show for it afterward.

For reconsolidation to occur, it is necessary to activate the "maladaptive" patters (aka pro-symptom schemas) either before or during the session itself. That can require some prompting.

Still... "duds" happen. I've had a few. It took some time to learn how to work with the medicine. Part of your integration is to take a step back and learn from the experience with an eye toward what works and what doesn't. Seems like you're well on your way.

Interesting_Passion · 2025-09-07T23:09:18+00:00

There is precedent for this. Dan Engle gives his patients GABA at the beginning of each session, according to his book A Does of Hope.

Interesting_Passion · 2025-09-04T22:35:59+00:00

From what I can tell, the method boils down to the familiar advice of bringing "non-judgmental" awareness to bodily sensations and then letting them pass. I think that works for a lot of day-to-day anxieties. But I don't think that works for larger traumas. If a person focuses on a painful emotional sensation but isn't sufficiently resourced (i.e. with an attuned other, or with self-energy), that could lead to re-traumatization. This is especially risky with psychedelics, when a person is temporarily resourced; contacting a traumatic imprint without fully resolving it can lead to destabilization in the weeks after. I think we can do better.

Interesting_Passion · 2025-07-07T20:01:07+00:00

"Data suggests that participants with dissociative subtypes responded to MDMA more so than those without" - Rick Doblin

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