Title & Introduction

  • Paper Title: De-Centering the Organism: Psychedelic Therapies, Fungi, and the Body without Organs
  • Published In: Polymatheia – Volume 18, Number 1
  • Publish Date: 2025
  • Authors: Ernesto Grillo Rabello, Giuliana de Paula Oliveira, Lucas Conforti Protti, Fabio Hebert da Silva
  • Objective: To explore the intersection of clinical psychology, psychedelic therapies, and the philosophical concept of the Body without Organs (BwO), questioning traditional notions of the body and subjectivity in therapy.
  • Importance: This study challenges the anatomo-physiological paradigm and proposes alternative frameworks for understanding the therapeutic potential of psychedelics, incorporating schizoanalysis and ecological perspectives.

Summary & Takeaways

Key Takeaway: Psychedelic experiences destabilize conventional understandings of the body and subjectivity, allowing for a reconceptualization of psychotherapy that embraces fluidity, interconnectedness, and non-hierarchical forms of existence.

Practical Application:
Integrating schizoanalytic and ecological frameworks into psychedelic therapy can foster new therapeutic models that emphasize decentralized, non-binary approaches to identity and healing.

Key Background Information

  • Context: Traditional clinical psychology often operates within a rigid, neuroscientific framework that treats the body as a stable, organismic entity. The introduction of psychedelics and schizoanalysis offers an alternative perspective that views the body as a dynamic, interconnected field of forces.
  • Hypothesis: The therapeutic potential of psychedelics lies not only in their neurochemical effects but also in their capacity to dissolve rigid subjectivities and facilitate alternative forms of embodiment and self-understanding.

Methodology

  • Study Design: Theoretical analysis integrating schizoanalysis, post-structuralist philosophy, and ethnographic reflections on psychedelic therapy.
  • Participants: Not applicable (conceptual study).
  • Intervention/Exposure: Examination of psychedelic experiences and their theoretical implications.
  • Controls: Not applicable.
  • Duration: Not applicable.

Key Findings

Primary Outcomes:

  • Psychedelics disrupt traditional notions of the body, revealing it as a process of assemblages rather than a fixed entity.
  • The BwO, a concept derived from Antonin Artaud’s peyote experiences and expanded by Deleuze and Guattari, provides a useful framework for understanding psychedelic embodiment.
  • Psychedelic fungi, particularly their decentralized and non-hierarchical mycelial structures, serve as metaphors for alternative models of subjectivity and therapy.
  • The anatomo-physiological paradigm, which dominates psychology and medicine, restricts the potential of psychedelic therapy by reinforcing hierarchical and binary understandings of the body.
  • Schizoanalysis offers an alternative to traditional psychoanalysis, advocating for a fluid, interconnected understanding of human experience that aligns with the effects of psychedelics.

Secondary Outcomes:

  • Foucault’s critique of disciplinary power and biopower is relevant for understanding how modern psychiatry regulates and controls subjectivity.
  • The historical suppression of alternative healing practices by Western medicine has led to a narrow understanding of psychedelic therapy, which must be expanded to include indigenous and ecological perspectives.
  • The neoliberal appropriation of psychedelics risks reducing their transformative potential by framing them solely within the context of medicalized treatment rather than as tools for radical reimagining of subjectivity.

Interpretation & Implications

  • Conclusion: Psychedelic therapies should move beyond neurochemical explanations and embrace schizoanalytic, ecological, and post-structuralist perspectives to fully realize their transformative potential.
  • Implications: Future psychedelic research should integrate concepts from philosophy, ecology, and indigenous knowledge systems to develop more holistic and decolonized approaches to therapy.
  • Limitations: This study is theoretical and does not include empirical data or clinical trials. Further research is needed to assess how these conceptual insights translate into practical therapeutic applications.

Researchers & Publication

  • Researchers: Ernesto Grillo Rabello, Giuliana de Paula Oliveira, Lucas Conforti Protti, Fabio Hebert da Silva
  • Publication Name: Polymatheia – Volume 18, Number 1
  • Study URL: https://doi.org/10.52521/poly.v18i1.14994
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