Speaker Bio
With influences from anthropology, biology, psychology, and philosophy, Martha’s research is inter-disciplinary. She uses psychological techniques and her anthropological training to answer questions relevant to scientists and social scientists alike. Her research and consultancy practice is guided by the themes of social cohesion, ritual, and belonging. Her primary focus is on the rituals underlying social cohesion and the ensuing cooperation and conflict emerging from tightly bonded groups.
ICPR 2024 Abstract
Putting the social cure (back) into psychedelic treatments: a research agenda for harnessing social identity and social connection to improve therapeutic success
The current explosion in psychedelics research has identified promising avenues for therapeutic use of psychedelics to treat conditions as diverse as anxiety, PTSD, anorexia, depression, and addiction. While psychedelic-assisted therapy is indeed promising, in its medicalized form it still lacks a vital ingredient: a group dimension to cure. By embedding psychedelic-use in group settings, we argue that the effects of psychedelic-assisted therapies can be amplified in ways that mirror their potency in indigenous and community settings. This talk outlines the theoretical relevance of the ‘social cure’ model to this analysis [1] and draws on the strong empirical evidence base that supports this model to underscore the vital contribution of groups and group contexts to the effects of psychedelics, and the importance of the social identity-based relationship between them. We conclude by offering seven suggestions for therapeutic practice and research. These provide an agenda for future work to investigate the additive effects of establishing and maintaining social identities and group connections in the context of psychedelic treatment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first approach to apply social cure theorising to psychedelic-assisted therapies [2].
1. Haslam C, Jetten J, Cruwys T, Dingle G, Haslam SA. The New Psychology of Health: Unlocking the Social Cure. Routledge; 2018.
2. Newson M, Haslam A, Haslam C, Cruwys T, & Roseman L (under review) Psychedelics and the social cure: improving therapeutic success via connection. Psychiatry Research.