Jun. Dr. Riccardo Miceli McMilan - Psychedelics and Phenomenology - ( The MIND Philosophy Series #5)

Current literature on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy suggests that the therapeutic effects of this treatment rely on the subjective effects induced by psychedelic compounds. Despite this assertion, remarkably little is known about how the use of psychedelics in modern medical contexts alters human subjectivity. Whilst various psychometric scales such as the Mystical Experience Questionnaire provide some understanding of the ways in which psychedelics alter experience, these approaches are limited in that they do not necessarily provide an account of distinctive features of psychedelic-induced changes to subjectivity and how these changes relate to therapeutic outcomes. In this presentation I will outline how the philosophical tradition of phenomenology can inform our understanding on the subjective effects of psychedelic compounds. I will argue that a new interdisciplinary area of investigation called Psychedelic Phenomenology is needed. I outline how this investigation would look, as well as how this investigation would inform both the fields of psychedelic science and phenomenology respectively. Bio: Riccardo is a Junior Dr. and Bioethicist based in Brisbane, Australia. Riccardo’s research involves investigating psychedelic induced changes in subjectivity by drawing on the field of philosophical phenomenology, and in particular, phenomenological psychopathology. His work on psychedelic phenomenology aims to inform other areas of investigation such as causal mechanisms of psychedelic therapy, the nature of key concepts in phenomenological psychopathology, and ethical considerations for the use of psychedelics in medical contexts.