05 - Nine Perfect Strangers
03/16/22 • 45 min
Content Warning: Sensitive stories that include uninformed consent / sexual abuse
Spoiler Alert for ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’
Dr. T and The Truth Fairy discuss accuracies and controversies within the portrayal of microdosing on Hulu’s ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ show.
With a nod to the fact that spoilers regarding the plot of ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ are revealed in this episode, the character of the therapist Masha (Nicole Kidman) and the choices she makes regarding nondisclosure and microdosing with her clients at Tranquillum are under scrutiny and criticism from the psychedelic therapy community. While some things portrayed are not inaccurate, Dr T and The Truth Fairy discuss how Masha’s sense of urgency to rush the dosing and her decision not to inform her clients about the medicines she’s given them go against the best ideals of their practice.
The concept of informed consent is not abstract, rather it is the foundation from which therapy must proceed. The Truth Fairy reveals the potential dangers contained in urgency on the part of the therapist and in continuous dose increase. She and Dr T agree that careful preparation of clients is essential care, which Masha does not do. However, not everything rings untrue. They break down the facts and follies contained in the portrayal and share their own experienced-based best practices regarding psychedelic therapy.
“To bring serious trauma out of dissociation we have to be very very prepared on how we work with someone, how prepared they are to meet information, and we have to be so careful about how they meet their trauma.” - The Truth Fairy
Resources mentioned in this episode:
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Content Warning: Sensitive stories that include uninformed consent / sexual abuse
Spoiler Alert for ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’
Dr. T and The Truth Fairy discuss accuracies and controversies within the portrayal of microdosing on Hulu’s ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ show.
With a nod to the fact that spoilers regarding the plot of ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ are revealed in this episode, the character of the therapist Masha (Nicole Kidman) and the choices she makes regarding nondisclosure and microdosing with her clients at Tranquillum are under scrutiny and criticism from the psychedelic therapy community. While some things portrayed are not inaccurate, Dr T and The Truth Fairy discuss how Masha’s sense of urgency to rush the dosing and her decision not to inform her clients about the medicines she’s given them go against the best ideals of their practice.
The concept of informed consent is not abstract, rather it is the foundation from which therapy must proceed. The Truth Fairy reveals the potential dangers contained in urgency on the part of the therapist and in continuous dose increase. She and Dr T agree that careful preparation of clients is essential care, which Masha does not do. However, not everything rings untrue. They break down the facts and follies contained in the portrayal and share their own experienced-based best practices regarding psychedelic therapy.
“To bring serious trauma out of dissociation we have to be very very prepared on how we work with someone, how prepared they are to meet information, and we have to be so careful about how they meet their trauma.” - The Truth Fairy
Resources mentioned in this episode:
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Previous Episode
04 - Touch: Part 2
Content Warning: Sensitive stories and themes that include abuse.
In Part Two of ‘Touch’ in psychedelic therapy, Dr. T and The Truth Fairy explore touch from the perspective of the theory of ‘temporary celibacy’ and the idea of sublimating sexual energy into creative or sublime energies for therapeutic purposes.
Touch and connection are key elements in human thriving: as The Truth Fairy notes, one of the worst traumas we can suffer, especially at an early age, is touch starvation and emotional starvation. We are all seeking intimacy, relationship, and connection. It is how to use touch in a consensual and therapeutic way that Dr. T and The Truth Fairy explore in depth. How to, as therapists, adopt a notion of ‘temporary celibacy’ when approaching clients.
They discuss the Wheel of Consent and share experiences and stories from their own learning and practices where open lines of communication and observation regarding consent and comfort are established between therapist and client. Dr. T notes that the therapist must role model healthy boundaries within the relationship. And The Truth Fairy details how she addresses what Dr. T terms the ‘shame hangover’ when a client feels they’ve been too vulnerable in emotional disclosure upon a session’s conclusion.
“Temporary celibacy. A vow that we as therapists and practitioners and guides need to take every single time we embark on a medical journey or ceremony. ... To vow never to cross lines, never to touch without deep intention, never to touch without consent, never to touch without profound neutral intention.” - The Truth Fairy
Resources mentioned in this episode:
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Punk Therapy: website
Next Episode
06 - Interview With The Truth Fairy
Content Warning: Trauma and abuse memories
Dr. T interviews The Truth Fairy as part of his research and together they explore the value of somatic therapy as well as how a therapist must be prepared for the journey when combining somatic with psychedelics.
Dr. T presents The Truth Fairy with some questions he has developed as part of his research, questions she’s not heard ahead of time. What results is a conversation on what somatic means and its importance to the therapeutic process. The Truth Fairy explains the differences between right and left brain tendencies and how somatic healing seeks to tap into the more creative and connective abilities of the right brain.
Dr. T addresses the idea of the relational in therapy and the concept of “relationship over outcome” which leads to questions about including medicine in the work. The Truth Fairy relates experiential stories on how somatic therapy looks very different when working with psychedelics and lays out things the therapist must prepare for themselves and their client before embarking on that journey.
“The body is an extraordinary, complex organism with so many systems, organ systems, all working in synchrony and collaboration on the best of days and working out of synchrony and out of collaboration on more difficult days. We have history inside us.” The Truth Fairy
Resources mentioned in this episode:
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