Hello all, and a warm welcome to new BPA subscribers 😊
The MetaPsyche space for BPA General Members is already offering a place to develop personal and professional connections and we're starting to explore topics which will deepen our understanding of human consciousness, such as:
Neuroscience, Ancient Wisdom, Lucid/Social Dreaming, Intuition, Hypnosis, Spirituality, Mental Health, Near Death Experiences, Shared Death Experiences, Music, Meditation, Yoga & Breathwork.
And topics which help us reflect on all aspects of psychedelics, such as:
Therapy, Research, History, Philosophy, Ethics, Legalities & Plant Medicines.
Amazing people have already joined, from the worlds of:
Psychedelic Therapy, Psychology, Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Hypnotherapy, Counselling, Neuroscience, Mental Health Nursing, Drug Reform Activism, Art, Reiki, NLP & EFT.
We’d love to have you join us. Membership fees are £20.00 per month. If you would like to apply please visit the Membership Page.
BPA General Members are enjoying zoom meetings, and are looking forward to upcoming workshops and panel discussions (see below). We are also starting to think about choosing a book for the book club which will begin in September.
BPA Professional Membership:
General Members will be eligible for Professional Membership later this year. The BPA have created a Code of Ethics for Professional Psychedelic Therapists, which is receiving interest from various organisations, both in the UK and internationally. We believe the BPA CoE will be a valuable professional standard for psychedelic therapists (the document can be read here).
BPA Member Workshops in August:
There will be two complementary workshops next month.
The first is on the 11th at 7:30 (UK time) with educator and author Thomas Roberts:
SPOILER ALERT! You'll never think of Snow White the same way again! Guided by Stanislav Grof's map of our minds, we'll ramble through the Snow White movie.
This unique presentation is based on Robert's paper:
FREUDIAN, JUNGIAN, GROFIAN — STEPS TOWARD THE PSYCHEDELIC HUMANITIES
The second workshop will be with legal psychedelic therapist
Coen de Koning from the Netherlands who will be talking about his client experiences (Date to be determined soon).
BPA Panel Discussions in August:
The BPA is focusing on developing a model for the legalisation of psychedelic therapy in Scotland. This model could then be reproduced throughout the UK. To begin this conversation, we are holding a panel discussion, which will be hosted by Diane Elliott and John Anderson from the BPA and guests will include: Neil Woods, Annmarie Ward, Dr Lauren Macdonald, Dr James Hawkins, Dr Jake Hawthorn and Robert Laurie. More information can be found here.
The BPA CSEC Professional Certification programme:
January - December 2022
The CSEC programme is designed for those who would like to explore expanded conscious states, including psychedelic experiences, to deepen understanding in order to elevate their integration work with clients. Most people who undergo an expansion of consciousness experience, including a psychedelic experience, will usually have many existential questions, about life and death. In order to meet those enquires, it will be helpful for a therapist to have gained philosophical awareness and to have developed a specific skillset. Therefore, the course will be separated into two parts:
CSCE Part I will include: Consciousness, Mystical Experiences, Spirituality, Religion, Ancient Wisdom, Lucid Dreams, Intuition, and Near-Death/Shared Death Experiences.
CSEC Part II will explore psychedelics and: History, Philosophy, Current Research, Ethics, Legalities, Music and Meditation. Part II will also provide a Psychedelic Therapy module, which will include direct online instruction from a legal psychedelic therapist, based in the Netherlands. He will be sharing his experiences of working with clients. The Psychedelic Therapy module will also offer an optional 3-day visit to the Netherlands next year.
The CSEC course is a foundational programme, the BPA will also offer Psychedelic Facilitator Training to participants who have completed CSEC-I and CSEC-II. This training will begin in September 2022.
The BPA's education objective is to make consciousness and psychedelic training as affordable as possible and BPA General Members will receive a 50% discount.
The costs of the CSEC programme are as follows:
CSEC Part I
Fundamentals of Consciousness, January - April 2022:
£1200.00 or £600.00 for BPA members (payable monthly).
CSEC Part II
Foundational Psychedelics, May - September 2022:
£1800.00 or £900.00 for BPA members (payable monthly).
(Price does not include costs of optional visit to the Netherlands).
Please register interest: diane.elliott@britishpsychedelicassociation.org
The Psychedelic Journal: Space To Explore
Authors: Jamie C Johnstone & Jonathan Waterlow
The Psychedelic Journal offers you space to explore, document and reflect on your experiences. Its pages are filled with beautiful artwork, stimulating quotations, poetry, and a series of carefully chosen prompts designed to kindle creativity, reflection and insight.
The BPA is very fortunate to have Jonathan as one of our Founding Board Members, we asked him a few questions about the journal:
The Psychedelic Journal is a wonderful way to capture thoughts and keep a record. Can you tell us how you both came up with the idea?
Psychedelic experiences can be incredibly profound, yet all too fleeting. We really wanted a special space to preserve what we saw and learned during those experiences – an intentional, almost sacred space for that purpose alone, rather than using just another notebook or a Word doc. We also wanted to create something that would be visually and mentally stimulating without being prescriptive, without trying to shape someone's unique experience. Rather, we want to offer gentle encouragement to play, wonder, create, and reflect.
How do you think writing down your thoughts helps with personal reflection and insight into psychedelic experiences?
We think the process of integration is the hardest part of psychedelic experiences, so to have your thoughts, insights, hopes and fears all in one place can help you to identify patterns, themes, and recurring issues. Looking back at previous entries, we've been struck by how often we keep retreading the same ground – a clear sign that we need to put a bit more conscious thought into how we can integrate these insights into everyday life. By the same token, this also helps us to recognise and acknowledge positive developments that can too easily be forgotten and left unappreciated if we just keep moving on to the next 'problem'. In this way, the journal can become a place of real celebration as well as helping us to craft new intentions and points of focus, both for the next psychedelic experience, and for the rest of our lives.
The journal contains beautiful poems and quotes in the book, do you have a favourite?
We wanted to include visual and written prompts to help inspire a childlike sense of wonder and play. They're offered as starting points, but the journey each person takes will always be distinctly their own. There's quotes from literature, scientists, spiritual teachers, and philosophers, but our personal favourites come from the wonderful poet JJ Bitters, master of deceptively simple verse. Some of these are taken from his new translation of the Tao Te Ching, which he's published as 'The Now of Things'. Just to pick one, which opens the journal:
If I think I know
I cannot grow
Growth is knowing
I do not know
Many thanks to Jonathan and Jamie for creating this beautiful journal.
Thanks for reading.
Until next time...
The BPA Team🧡