Association for Behavior Analysis International

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39th Annual Convention; Minneapolis, MN; 2013

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B. F. Skinner Lecture Series Paper Session #170
CE Offered: PSY/BACB

Experimental Mysticism, Psilocybin, and Quantum Behavior Change: Research Results and Treatment Implications

Sunday, May 26, 2013
11:00 AM–11:50 AM
Auditorium Room 1 (Convention Center)
Area: BPH; Domain: Basic Research
Instruction Level: Basic
CE Instructor: Roland R Griffiths, Ph.D.
Chair: Jonathan W. Pinkston (University of North Texas)
ROLAND R. GRIFFITHS (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine)
Roland R. Griffiths, Ph.D., is a professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurosciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His principal research focus in both clinical and preclinical laboratories has been on the behavioral pharmacology of mood-altering drugs. His research has been largely supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, and he is the author of more than 300 journal articles and book chapters. He has been a consultant to the National Institutes of Health and to numerous pharmaceutical companies in the development of new psychotropic drugs. He is also a member of the Expert Advisory Panel on Drug Dependence for the World Health Organization. He has conducted extensive research with sedative-hypnotics and caffeine. About 12 years ago, he initiated a research program with the classic hallucinogen psilocybin, including studies of the effects of psilocybin in healthy volunteers and cancer patients, and a pilot study of psilocybin-facilitated smoking cessation.
Abstract:

Quantum behavioral change refers to sudden, distinctive, and benevolent experiences resulting in enduring changes in a broad range of emotions, cognitions and behaviors. Although the phenomenon of quantum change has been well described for more than 100 years, it has rarely been addressed within modern psychology and there are few meaningful prospective experimental studies because such experiences usually occur at low rates and often unpredictably. Recent rigorous double-blind studies at Johns Hopkins have shown that under carefully controlled conditions psilocybin, the active component of hallucinogenic mushrooms, can occasion profound personally and spiritually meaningful experiences (i.e., mystical-type or insightful-type experiences) in the majority of healthy participants. The experiences mediate sustained positive changes in behavior, attitudes, and personality. As assessed with questionnaires, most volunteers had a "complete" mystical-type experience after a high dose of psilocybin, although more than a third of volunteers also had experiences characterized by some fear, anxiety, or unpleasant psychological struggle. The finding that psilocybin can occasion, in most people studied, quantum change experiences indicates that such experiences and the behavioral changes they produce are now amenable to rigorous prospective scientific study. An exciting direction for future research is the exploration of possible therapeutic benefits of such experiences in treatment of various psychological and behavioral conditions (e.g., anxiety and depression among patients with life-threatening medical conditions such as cancer; treatment of behaviorally based public health problems such as drug dependence disorders).

Target Audience: The target audience is researchers and practitioners interested in current therapeutic uses of hallucinogenic compounds, their behavioral pharmacology, and potential for widespread behavior change.
Learning Objectives: 1. Learn about the pharmacology and history of psilocybin 2. Learn research demonstrating the abrupt and sustained changes in attitudes and behavior occasioned by psilocybin 3. Learn about possible therapeutic applications of psilocybin
 

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