The sensationalism surrounding the widespread use of LSD in the late 1960s and the subsequent legislative overkill virtually ended psychotherapeutic LSD research. Much of what had been learned over thirty years of scientific medical study was so distorted or suppressed that no objective overview was available to the general reader except for this book.
LSD Psychotherapy is a complete account of a remarkable chapter in the ever-continuing inquiry into our transpersonal nature and origins. The controlled studies described reveal exciting and challenging data about the nature of human consciousness, perception, and reality itself. Drawing on this work, Stanislav Grof outlines a new cartography of the human mind — one which accounts for experiences such as shamanic trances, near-death experiences, and altered states of consciousness. This vision is also the foundation for Dr. Grof’s revolutionary Holotropic Breathwork techniques.
The book is also a visual feast, with numerous color drawings and paintings created by research participants — many depicting archetypal images from the collective human consciousness.
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Why this book matters
- The only comprehensive, objective overview of thirty years of psychotherapeutic LSD research — a body of knowledge that was suppressed by prohibition and is only now being recovered
- Presents Grof’s landmark cartography of the human mind — the foundation for Holotropic Breathwork and decades of transpersonal psychology
- Reveals data about consciousness, perception, and reality that challenges the assumptions of mainstream psychiatry and opens new horizons for healing
- Illustrated with color drawings and paintings by research participants — archetypal images from the collective unconscious that form a powerful visual companion to the text
- An essential historical and clinical reference for anyone working with or studying psychedelic-assisted therapy and the science of consciousness
