Are Earth Medicines Being Westernized, Psychologized, Patriarchalize & Pharmacologized?

Are we psychologizing and pharmacologizing the psychedelic renaissance? The Western world has been redefining the use of earth medicines and psychedelic therapies, reducing them to clinical trials, micro-dosing protocols and pharmacological interventions. But in doing so, are we missing out on the sacred wisdom that these natural medicines have to offer?

I have been thinking a lot lately about the way our Western reductive approach to earth medicines and psychedelic therapies could be very limiting to the true potential of these powerful tools for healing and growth, and can even cause unintended harm. The New York Times recently released an article entitled ‘The Problem with Letting Therapy Speak Invade Everything.’ With pop psychology vernacular inundating all aspects of life, it may be time for the breath of life to be rescued all over again.

Philosopher Bayo Akomolafe writes of the need to “decenter Western psychology”. It seems that psychology discourse has grown from a simple means of understanding human behavior and mental health to a cultural phenomenon that affects the way we think, feel and experience the world.

Is the psychedelic renaissance awash in pop psychology vernacular with terms like “trip sitting”, “clinical trials”, “integration”, “micro-dosing protocols”, “patents” and “legalization”? What if indigenous and feminine wisdom, the language of the spirit, and sacred medicines themselves permeated the language in our Western medicine spaces, healing centers and psychedelic clinics?

As Katsi Cook, an Akwesasne Mohawk midwife and environmental health advocate has said, "We don't have a word for 'midwife' in our language. We have a word for the work that a midwife does, and that's to help bring the spirit through the body." Similarly, indigenous healers don't "trip sit" or "facilitate psychedelic therapy." They hold space for individuals to connect with the spirit of the plant and receive its teachings. They wait for the inevitable birth, and rebirth, of a soul to emerge.

Clinical trials and psychedelic psychotherapy have an important role to play in the development and implementation of new healing modalities, especially if we are trying to make these medicines available to all those suffering from the mental health crisis in the West in a cost-effective way. But, perhaps the Western model is broken and superimposing it on sacred earth medicines is not the best approach. We may once again be ignoring the voices of the elders, the indigenous, and the divine feminine wisdom. Will these voices be suppressed once again by a patriarchal model?

As ketamine clinics continue to debut in cities and suburbs, and the “god molecule”, 5 MEO DMT, is being placed in IV bags at Johns Hopkins, and companies are “pioneering new breakthroughs” with medical grade ayahuasca pills and synthesizing psilocybin mushrooms, are we headed to our primary care doctors to get ayahuasca refills?

Are we colonizing the medicine space and throwing out the voices of the indigenous, the feminine, and elder wisdom, and trading it for profits and a psychotherapeutic model that is limited? Should we circle, dance, and sit in medicine together as a Western culture? I believe, yes.

Let's move beyond the sterile, clinical, and colonizing approach to healing and embrace a more natural, earthy approach that incorporates the language of the medicine and holds space for individuals to connect with the spirit of the plant. Let's not forget the importance of familial, cultural, social, and religious systems in supporting our healing. It's time to bring back the circles, the dances, and the songs that connect us with the natural world and its healing power.