From Isolation to Social (and Psychedelic) Integration

A Sociology of Collective Effervescence and Therapeutic Community in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy

Bibliographic Data

ID2250451
AuthorsJ R Rose (0000-0001-6528-5236, Community & Behavioral Health and the Department of Sociology State University of New York (SUNY) Polytechnic Institute Utica New York USA, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume47
Issue1
Pagese13872-e13872
Publication date2025-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociology of Health & Illness (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0141-9889 • E-ISSN: 1467-9566
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1467-9566.13872
PMID39699853
OpenAlexW4405615445
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited90

There is a disparity between contemporary scientific investigations into psychedelic phenomena and their 20th-century counterparts, notably the lack of examination of psychedelic experiences within group settings. Whereas early research studies from the 1950s to the 1970s explored communal settings in psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT), today's resurgence of scholarship in the field primarily considers individualised, often clinical, settings. Consequently, there is an absence of empirical research and theoretical innovation on collective psychedelic contexts, for example, how social connectedness occurs relationally and what its impacts are. This paper addresses this gap by revisiting and applying Emile Durkheim's theory of 'collective effervescence.' By analysing interview data from participants of a group-based weeklong PAT retreat and supplementing it with ethnographic data, this study highlights the usefulness of incorporating sociological theory to examine and explain the social dynamics and therapeutic outcomes of collective psychedelic experiences. In doing so, this research study contributes to bridging the divide between psychedelic science, psychedelic studies and the social sciences by offering sociological insight into the transformative yet hitherto neglected potential of group-based psychedelic events for therapeutic benefits

Aesthetics · Art · Epistemology · Isolation (microbiology) · Psychoanalysis · Psychotherapist · Social isolation · Social science · Sociology · Therapeutic community · Cross-Cultural and Social Analysis · Philosophy · Psychedelics and Drug Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access