Main description:

This book offers a series of perspectives on the therapeutic potential of the ritual and clinical use of the Amazonian hallucinogenic brew ayahuasca in the treatment and management of various disorders. This book presents biomedical and anthropological data on the use of ayahuasca and provides critiques on how it is used for treating depression, PTSD, anxiety, substance dependence, and eating disorders. The volume also explores ayahuasca's role in the psychological well-being and quality of life of humans, and discusses possibilities of it enhancing cognition and coping with grief. The book examines ayahuasca's association with psychotherapy and also highlights the challenges of integrating plant medicines into psychiatry. Further, the book expands on some preliminary research with animals, suggesting that ayahuasca acts at multiple levels of neural complexity. The study on the neurogenic effects of ayahuasca alkaloids opens a new avenue of research with potential applications ranging from psychiatric disorders to brain damage and dementia. Psychologists, psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals will find this book relevant to their work regarding substance abuse and alternative medicine.

Contents:

1. Ayahuasca as an Unusually Versatile Therapeutic Agent: From Molecules to Meta-cognition and Back

By Elisabeth Dominguez-Clave, Matilde Elices, Jose A. Morales Garcia, Juan Carlos Pascual, Joaquim Soler, Ana Perez-Castillo, & Jordi Riba

2. New Evidence of the Antidepressant Effects of Ayahuasca

By Fernanda Palhano-Fontes, Sergio A. Mota-Rolim, Bruno Lobao-Soares, Nicole Galvao-Coelho, Joao P. Maia-Oliveira, & Draulio B de Araujo

3. Psychedelic Medicines and Their Role in Shifting the Paradigm from Pharmacological Substitution Towards Transformation-Based Psychiatry

By Milan Scheidegger

4. Ayahuasca and its Potential Role in Psychotherapy

By Mauricio Diament, Bruno Ramos Gomes, & Luis Fernando Tofoli

5. A Qualitative Assessment of Risks and Benefits of Ayahuasca for Trauma Survivors

By Jessica L. Nielson, Julie D. Megler, & Clancy Cavnar

6. Ayahuasca and Childhood Trauma: Potential Therapeutic Applications and Risks

By Daniel Perkins & Jerome Sarris

7. Ayahuasca and Cognition

By Natasha Mason & Kim Kuypers

8. Healing with the Brew: Ayahuasca's Reconfiguration of "Addiction"

By Piera Talin

9. Ayahuasca Ritual Healing as an Addiction Treatment in Catalonia: Combining Cognitive and Cultural Perspectives

By Ismael Apud

10. Perspectives on Healing and Recovery from Addiction with Ayahuasca-Assisted Therapy Among Members of an Indigenous Community in Canada

By Elena Argento, Rielle Capler, Gerald Thomas, Philippe Lucas, & Kenneth Tupper

11. Ayahuasca as a Healing Tool Along the Continuum of Recovery from Eating Disorders

By Adele Lafrance, Marika Renelli, Jenna Fletcher, Anja Loizaga-Velder, & Kenneth Tupper

12. The Therapeutic Use of Ayahuasca in Grief

By Debora Gonzalez, Maria Carvalho, & Adam Andros

13. Depression, Anxiety and Sorcery: An Interview with Shipibo Healer Jose Lopez

By Adam Andros Aronovich & Beatriz Caiuby Labate