Speaker Bio
Laura Pustarfi,PhD, (she/her) is Director of the Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Research Certificate Program and adjunct faculty in Philosophy and Religion at California Institute of Integral Studies. She examines trees and plants in Western thought with particular focus on an arboreal and vegetal ontology and ethics that respects plants themselves. She is currently working on a volume co-edited with Dr. David Macauley, The Wisdom of Trees: Thinking Through Arboreality, expected to be published in 2024.
Keith Williams is an assistant professor (educational studies) at Athabasca University. His work focuses on better understanding how to be good relations with our more-than-human kin. Keith draws heavily on Haudenosaunee teachings (part of his paternal lineage is from a Mohawk community on the shores of Lake Ontario), posthuman philosophy, and his lived experience with family members—human and otherwise. Keith has an undergraduate degree in plant science, a master’s in mycology, and a Ph.D. in educational studies with a focus on Indigenous ways of knowing and being.
ICPR 2024 Abstract
Kinship with psychedelics: plants and fungi in the therapeutic relationship
The past two decades have witnessed a flourishing of interest in psychedelic compounds. As the research into psychedelic medicines grows, plants and fungi themselves have been sidelined and decontextualized in the quest for clinical efficacy and rescheduling. This presentation introduces the concept of plant intelligence and broader notions of plant agency through theoretical methods.
Recent scientific research shows that plants learn, remember, communicate, and have relationships with each other and fungi, pointing towards plant intelligence and agency. Through contextualizing major psychedelic plants and fungi, we will foreground their origins, ecology, and cultural relevance. Indigenous gift logic, giving without the expectation of receiving in return, will be discussed as a heuristic for right relations with psychedelic medicines [1]. We will discuss how plant intelligence and agency is relevant for professionals in clinical and research settings. We will more deeply consider our intimate relationships with plants and fungi which could broaden the qualities of the therapeutic alliance in the field of psychedelic-assisted therapy.
[1] Williams K, Brant S. Tending a vibrant world: Gift logic and sacred plant medicines. History of Pharmacy and Pharmaceuticals. 2023 Oct 1;65(1):8-32.