Posts by Alex Cooper8

Gregory Wells6 said:Just a quick heads-up—I’m a woman, just an ordinary mom (just so you know).
To be honest, I realize that much of her behavior is really just a reflection of us—her parents. There is so much layered in there, isn't there? Between our divorce, the strained relationship she had with her father—whom she absolutely adored—and that lingering sense of abandonment... it's a lot. She has completely stepped into his role; she mimics his exact phrases, his conversational style, even his specific way of tackling problems. It's as if she's trying her hardest to inhabit his skin. She provokes me using his exact tactics—to such a granular level that I sometimes wonder if it's even possible? After all, she was just a little girl when we split up, so how does she know how to replicate certain things he used to say? I tried so hard to shield her from that dynamic, but it looks like I just couldn't quite manage it.
As for her creativity—well, I've been trying to nurture it for years, but I haven't quite hit the mark. She is incredibly gifted; she paints beautifully, has a real knack for music, and is a wonderful writer. Her literary pieces are actually quite intense—so much so that her teacher says it takes her a good half hour to recover after reading one of her stories! I encourage her constantly, and she'll start something with such passion, but the moment she realizes she needs to put in more work, or when she sees actual results, or even when she notices me showing genuine interest or pride in what she's done... she just quits. It’s almost as if she's afraid of success. She's never satisfied with what she's achieved; she'll just say, "I don't know how to do this," or "I'm not doing this!" In principle, nothing seems to truly captivate her—she gives up on everything so quickly. I can't help but feel her life is a bit empty. Just sitting around at local coffee shops, seeing the same faces and the same cliques every day... boys seem like such a fleeting distraction that I can barely keep track of them. It breaks my heart to see her youth slipping away like this, without any real purpose.

Given everything you’ve described (especially regarding her father), I think it might be helpful for her to find some kind of reconciliation with him—or rather, not necessarily with him specifically, but with some kind of representative male figure. It’s obvious she views you as the person who took her father away from her (you probably divorced before she was six or seven, or before that whole Oedipal complex phase typically resolves)... but I’m sure you’ve already heard all that from every psychologist or psychiatrist you've consulted. Usually, after age six or seven, kids tend to shift their competitive focus away from the same-sex parent to seek affection from the opposite-sex parent, and since you two split likely before that transition happened, things stayed skewed. There was probably tension brewing even before the divorce. Look, I can't tell you much; I'm just a freshman psychology student.

But I would honestly recommend looking into some developmental psychology texts; I'm certain they would be immensely helpful to you. And I don't mean those "pop psych" books written for housewives, but something a bit more substantial. They don't have to be the heavy hitters like Freud, but maybe browse a library for something serious on developmental stages—nothing strictly based on modern neuroscience, but perhaps something grounded in phenomenological psychology (Freud, Erikson, and so on; the affective and psychosocial approaches). Realistically speaking, every specialist has their own take on a problem; psychology isn't a singular science but a collection of disciplines that haven't even agreed on what they should be studying yet, let alone agreeing on findings—they often hold complementary yet contrasting views. Ultimately, you are the one who knows exactly what happened in this situation, so try to view yourself as the moderator in this entire dynamic.
And hey, don't pressure her to achieve anything through school competitions or other "official" ways of seeking validation. I remember being that age—I hated anything that felt conventional. There are plenty of online communities where creative people share their work (DeviantArt might be the biggest one out there, I guess... but then again, the internet is just as beautiful as it is dangerous

I'm rooting for you
Oh, by the way, I heard this psychiatrist mention once that kids who are overly sensitive actually tend to have much higher developmental potential... here's the link

you know, people tend to jump to conclusions way too easily when they try to assess something like this. especially when we're talking about teenagers who are just starting to navigate their own identities for the first time. honestly, one of the worst things you can do to someone at that stage is start slapping all these clinical diagnoses on them, basically shoving it in their face that they're "crazy." you mentioned she’s sharp... and that clarity can actually be a bit of a curse, particularly during those years when you're old enough to see that the world around you is completely broken, yet you aren't quite "somebody" by official societal standards yet, so you don't have any real agency to change anything.

it would be incredibly wise to channel all that energy into something creative, maybe art or something similar—though, naturally, it’ll probably be something typical for her age group. based on what you've described, she strikes me more as an eccentric than someone with BPD, which isn't even a bad thing once a person finds their balance later in life. eccentrics usually solve problems better than "normal" people do (Jung used to say: show me a normal person and I'll cure them 🙂), they just tend to do it in ways that are non-conventional from a social standpoint. i'm convinced we're dealing with someone who has massive potential for growth, but if there's too much pressure to conform to society, they might just drown, and if there's zero pressure to integrate at all, they drift into alienation... and after that, it's a downward spiral.

in my view, the most important thing is to look at these types of people as individuals rather than treating them as outliers who don't fit the social mold. one thing is certain—you can accept that she's different and guide her toward doing something constructive with that uniqueness. though, granted, what counts as "constructive" might not look conventional at first. and when you think she's acting crazy because you simply don't get what's happening, don't just reject it, whine, or judge. there's still the matter of her immediate environment, specifically the family. the question is, are you prepared to see yourselves reflected in her and question the reality surrounding you? don't approach conversations and relationships as a simple "us vs. her" dynamic, because through actual dialogue, reality isn't just reinterpreted—it's created.

You’re right about quite a few things.

It’s true that behavioral genetics and cognitive neuroscience currently grab the lion's share of the funding and attention, but I honestly don't see them stumbling upon any profound truths no matter how many times they try. The issue is pretty straightforward: they’re attempting to explain the human condition through the lens of conventional science—a field that, until just a century ago, was mostly preoccupied with studying the physical world and the reality we inhabit. The fundamental problem is that we, as sentient beings, are far more complex than the objective reality we live in. That's why I suspect we’ll eventually see the mainstream rise of a transpersonal approach; I actually just read somewhere that by mid-2008, some researchers in Scandinavia—I can't be entirely sure if it was Denmark specifically—were planning to start conducting studies involving LSD.

But hey, only time will tell.🙂

Gary James88 said:People have been chewing this over quite a bit in the "LSD" thread over on the spirituality subforum. If you want to dive in, go ahead, though you'll have to dig through a lot of pages.

Stanislav Grof is actually a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, not a psychologist, though his work obviously overlaps heavily with psychology.

In academic psychology—and pretty much everywhere else globally—using psychedelics is strictly prohibited for any reason, and even conducting research requires special permits.

Within academic psychology and psychiatry, Grof’s influence on personality theory is so massive that he’s often overlooked entirely, much like how people rarely mention transpersonal psychology, despite him being one of its founders. That's about the level of recognition he gets.

These days, Grof doesn't use psychedelics for therapy anymore; he uses a technique called "holothropic breathwork™."

Research into using psychedelics for therapy is usually wrapped in controversy. You've got a tiny handful of psychiatrists and psychologists who swear by their effectiveness, but they mostly rely on clinical observations and anecdotal evidence rather than rigorous experiments. Most of them have been kicked out of the institutions where they worked; the institutes claim it was due to professional misconduct, while they argue it's just a massive conspiracy against human freedom and psychedelic use.

It’s funny how you never hear Stanislav Grof mentioned around here, and I certainly never heard any of my professors bring him up back in college, much like how they act like geniuses like Carl Jung don't exist either. It seems there’s always this subset of people—the so-called "official" scientific community—who cling to this ridiculous reductionism regardless of how many times it's been proven wrong. It isn't that transpersonal psychology is being ignored entirely; it's just that the scientific establishment refuses to acknowledge it because it threatens the status quo of their current paradigm. We’re slowly crawling out of that outdated way of thinking, which is built on the absurdity of Darwinian evolution and a purely mechanistic view of the universe. I suppose that perspective might have held some weight in the natural sciences for a while since it offered easy answers, but applying it to psychology is honestly just laughable. I will say, though, that transpersonal psychology does crop up occasionally in other places. I’m currently studying over in Europe, and one professor—who is actually a pretty big deal in the field of psychology and psychotherapy there—brought up transpersonal approaches several times during his lectures. There are even entire schools of psychotherapy based on shamanic practices, which, when you look at it through the lens of quantum theory, is starting to make more and more sense. As we continue to move away from strict Darwinian evolution and Newtonian physics, I’m convinced that transpersonal psychology is only going to become more vital. But hey, who knows, time will tell, and in the meantime, I’ll just keep drifting along. 🙂

I mean, I don't know... the statistics suggest that using LSD can actually help heal as many as 30% of the most chronic alcoholics out there, which is an absolutely massive number if you really stop to think about it. But then again, I can't help but wonder how someone struggling with PTSD would even react when they're forced to relive those moments during an analysis—like being locked in a closet by their parents or something even more harrowing. I’m a bit skeptical about that part because you're dealing with an experience that feels almost identical in intensity to the actual trauma itself, and once you dive into that kind of thing while on psychedelics, there isn't exactly an easy way to just pull back. It seems to me like a therapist would have to play a pretty vital role here, just to judge whether a person is actually ready to go head-to-head with the skeletons in their own closet.

I’ve been thinking that there is massive potential in studying what we might call "healthy" personalities—assuming such a thing even exists—and just dissecting the general mechanics of how the psyche operates. I know this because I actually went through it once, and I have to say, the sheer volume of things I experienced ended up being documented later in standard psychology textbooks; it was one of those moments where you realize, "Oh, wow, I actually lived through that." It feels like we could really flesh out our map of the human mind if we integrated these experiences. From the perspective of mainstream science, everything seems perfectly fine as long as you keep it strictly on a personal level, but that’s where the disconnect happens. The reality is that most people, following a womb regression, report these intense transpersonal experiences—descending into the realm of archetypes, as Carl Jung described them, or encountering cosmic unity and this sense of transcendental love. To some, that sounds ridiculous, but from what I’ve gathered reading up and watching documentaries on new science—the kind rooted in quantum theory and intelligent evolution—it all fits together into a perfectly coherent model.

And just one more thing for those who might not be aware, Francis Crick—the man who actually discovered the structure of DNA—had previously envisioned the DNA molecule as a twisted chain while under the influence of LSD... though, of course, that was all neatly swept under the rug and only came to light after he passed away. There’s also that book out there about how Amazonian shamans have been seeing DNA strands during Ayahuasca (DMT) trips, titled Cosmic Serpent, which you can find downloading somewhere online if you look hard enough.

But regarding MDMA, which isn't technically classified as a psychedelic, I truly believe it could have legitimate uses in treating PTSD because there isn't really a risk of a "bad trip," and it proves effective in the vast majority of cases... I remember a woman in a documentary I watched, a survivor of sexual assault, speaking about it. Just imagine how much human suffering could be averted—not to mention the massive reduction in the production of antidepressants and anxiolytics.

On a broader note, I feel like a fundamental human right should include the consumption of any plant, fungus, or cactus, especially since we constantly whine about being such a deeply religious nation—and yes, in this century, when people are literally planning to colonize Mars, we’re still clinging to these old identities with pride, which is both sad and true. Where do we get the authority to claim that something God created is forbidden to us humans because it's "not good"? If we follow that logic, then His creation isn't good, which means He isn't good either, and then everything just collapses into total chaos, haha. But seriously, I think people should have the right to explore their own consciousness; sure, there would be abuse, and it certainly wouldn't be insignificant... but education is the key, though how can we realistically expect objective education in a society that is still preoccupied with infantile nonsense—debating which nation is superior, which religion is truer, whose skin color is more valuable, whether to introduce sex education in schools, or if homosexuality is a disease and other such trivialities.

Greetings to everyone on the forum; I'm new here, but I have to admit you guys are pretty cool.👍

What are your thoughts on using Psychedelics within the field of psychology?
I was just listening to some lectures by Stanislav Grof, who is pretty much considered one of the heavyweights in personality psychology—basically the face of transpersonal psychology—and he brought up some truly incredible stuff. I ended up watching a documentary on LSD afterward, featuring several psychologists who were actually involved in those research projects back in the day.

For the most part, there were massive amounts of positive results in psychotherapy, whether you were looking at treating addiction, alcoholism, or PTSD...
It seemed like the perfect tool for deep psychoanalysis, too. From what I can gather, LSD was being used in psychological practice for a solid decade... I have no idea why it was so abruptly "forgotten." The whole shift away from working with LSD happened basically the moment the government banned it.
Generally speaking, not a single shred of evidence was ever found to suggest that LSD is harmful, and when things are done under controlled conditions, the chance of having a "bad trip" is minimal.

There’s also this book about DMT, which is arguably the most potent tryptamine-based Psychedelic out there, and it's something our own brains naturally produce. It’s the only official study conducted on DMT, which, incidentally, is released during birth, orgasm, REM sleep, near-death experiences, and dying.

And more recently, there was research done with psilocybin—the active compound in psychedelic mushrooms—to treat people with chronic OCD, and the results they got were exceptionally positive.

Then there’s another controversial substance I saw a documentary on, which is MDMA (or what people call ecstasy today). Back in the 80s, it was used as a therapeutic aid for people suffering from PTSD. Psychotherapists claimed MDMA was the ultimate tool for analyzing and treating individuals with deep-seated trauma, and when it was banned, hundreds of American therapists voiced their frustration...
This last one might be a bit more contentious because it's widely documented that it can damage the serotonin system, but if you were to administer pure MDMA synthesized in, say, a Pfizer lab, paired with some antioxidants and a tiny bit of diazepam afterward, the harm would be reduced to almost nothing.

Essentially, the main theory is that almost all Psychedelics are banned in psychology, psychiatry, and psychotherapy simply because if people can actually "heal" themselves in a single session, pharmaceutical companies won't have anyone left to sell their drugs to—drugs that mostly just mask symptoms.

Anyway, what’s your take on using Psychedelics for healing or exploring the mind?

Oh, and one little quote: a psychologist once said that psychology without Psychedelics is like astronomy without a telescope.🙂