Psychedelic Transformations: A Taiwanese-German Comparison of Ethical and Sociocultural Aspects of New Therapies

Abstract

Psychedelic therapy is an emerging form of therapy being reintroduced in psychiatry. It involves the use of psychedelics, a class of drugs that can induce changes in one’s consciousness, including one’s experience of oneself, time, space, and environment. Using them within therapy has shown promising results. Still, more research is needed to address some ethical concerns about how psychedelics can change one’s personality, attitude toward death, and other core beliefs. One important challenge is that the transformative changes caused by psychedelics are unpredictable to some degree. Thus, it is important to investigate ways of managing the transformative power of psychedelics. Well-designed clinical guidelines and assessment tools are needed to protect patients from harm while benefiting from the transformative insights obtained through psychedelic therapy to cope with their mental disorders. This project aims to assess the ethical implications of forms of personal transformations via psychedelic therapy in the German and Taiwanese contexts and compare them to investigate their similarities and differences. This project will generate policy recommendations for increasing the context and cultural sensitivity of future international and national clinical regulations and guidelines of psychedelic therapy.

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