Group Discussion - Exploring ketamine-assisted therapy
Tirsdag 21. oktober klokken 18:00 - 20:00
Doors open from 17:30, please arrive before 17:50
Mashti Community, Oslo
Please check the ticket confirmation email for practical information.
Opening doors: Exploring ketamine (psychedelic)-assisted therapy.
When new doors open in our lives, are we the same person before we step through, as we are on the other side? What happens when we try to hold on to old ideas of who we are? This is a frequent and common challenge for anyone in life, be it growing up, becoming a parent, or embarking on a journey of self-discovery. Like a garden being weeded so that flowers may grow, we are often asked to let go of old worldviews to make way for something new. What happens when such questions are asked of us as a society? Would we even recognise them?
Ketamine treatment, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, or medicine-assisted therapy, has been in use as an experimental approach to treating treatment-resistant depression for the past 10-15 years.
Since August, this novel treatment has been approved in Norway for delivery throughout the public health care system. Research articles and personal accounts abound, yet despite the growing body of evidence, this treatment is still in its infancy. How do we meet this ‘new’ therapy? How will it look in another 10-15 years?
In this talk, we will explore together the past of ketamine as a medicine, its role in mental health treatment, and various ways in which we can understand this new form of treatment, which appears to fall on the cusp of traditional antidepressants, psychology, and psychedelic-assisted therapy.
In dialogue, we will explore how we view medicines, how we understand mental health, and what role indigenous practices play in our modern world.
Because of ketamine’s somewhat unique past as a medicine for surgery, a recreational drug, and now a psychedelic-like substance, there is uncertainty and excitement as to what the future of mental health care will look like. For many, it seems natural that this emerging form of treatment be swallowed by existing paradigms - feeding existing world views (biomedical models, social rank models, neuroplasticity models, New Age approaches, etc) - for what other option is there? This is not necessarily a bad thing, and yet could there be space for something more?
Let us open the doors together, if even for a moment, and explore what may be asked of us moving forward, and as indigenous shamans may see it, ask what dream is seeking to be dreamed…
We will gather as 20 curious and open individuals, each bringing a lifetime of experience coupled with an inquiring attitude, to explore mental health and the time in which we live.
Host
Ciarán (Keer-awn) is a medical doctor working with medicine-assisted therapy. He has a background in psychiatry, and training in Celtic shamanism, EMDR and energy therapy. His work is inspired by Carl Jung, world mythology, and existential (meaning-seeking) philosophy. He continues his journey to decolonise his mind and rewild his soul, while holding an open heart for the world in suffering.
In Ciarán’s work, he holds space for the soul and genius of each individual. This can be understood as the wider and deeper aspect of oneself, that seeks to find expression in life and grow into a fuller sense of being. It is our deeper sense of self that it often dismissed, devalued, and disregarded in the rush and pressure of modern society and culture. Returning to soul is to come home in your being.
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Mashti Community • Borggata 1, 0650 Oslo, Oslo, Norge
