Guruism and Cult Dynamics in Psychedelic Practices with Joseph Holcomb Adams
Psychedelic Medicine Podcast with Dr. Lynn Marie Morski
Release Date: 02/05/2025
Psychedelics and Religion with Hunt Priest, MDiv
Psychedelic Medicine Podcast with Dr. Lynn Marie Morski
In this episode, Hunt Priest joins to discuss the intersection of psychedelic experiences and religion. Hunt is the founder of Ligare: A Christian Psychedelic Society and was a participant in the Johns Hopkins/NYU Psilocybin Study for Religious Leaders in 2016. The epiphanies he had at Hopkins forever changed the trajectory of his work and led him to start Ligare in 2021. In this conversation, Hunt Priest reflects on how participating in the Johns Hopkins study reshaped his understanding of Christianity, embodiment, and spiritual experience. Drawing on his background as an Episcopal priest, he...
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Encore Episode: How Psychedelics Affect the Brain with Manesh Girn, PhD
Psychedelic Medicine Podcast with Dr. Lynn Marie Morski
In this encore episode of the Psychedelic Medicine Podcast, psychedelic science researcher and educator Dr. Manesh Girn discusses his studies investigating psychedelic brain action. Manesh earned PhD in neuroscience at McGill University and is an author on over a dozen peer-reviewed articles on psychedelics and related topics. He is also chief research officer at EntheoTech Bioscience and runs the YouTube channel the Psychedelic Scientist. In this conversation, Manesh discusses his recent article in Trends in Cognitive Sciences titled He explains the complexity science approach used...
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Which Psychedelic for Which Condition? with Will Van Derveer, MD
Psychedelic Medicine Podcast with Dr. Lynn Marie Morski
In this episode, Will Van Derveer, MD joins to unpack what we know about which psychedelic medicines are best suited to particular mental health conditions. Dr. Van Derveer has trained several thousand mental health professionals in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, provided ketamine assisted therapy to hundreds of people, and has staffed MDMA therapy trials with MAPS. His book, Psychedelic Therapy: A Revolutionary Approach to Restoring Your Mental Health and Reclaiming Your Life, will be published by Shambala in the spring of 2026. In this conversation, Dr. Van Derveer offers a...
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Psychedelics for the Menopause Transition with Alicia Bigelow, ND
Psychedelic Medicine Podcast with Dr. Lynn Marie Morski
In this episode, Alicia Bigelow, ND joins to discuss the potential of psychedelic medicine to support the menopause transition. Dr. Ali Bigelow is a naturopathic physician, ketamine provider and licensed psilocybin facilitator in Portland, OR. She leads individual and group retreats, enjoys incorporating live music into her sessions when desired, and is passionate about supporting those navigating life transitions, such as end of life and menopause, through her low dose group, Menomorphosis. Dr. Bigelow will be doing retreats in 2026 with Rise Up Journeys at In this conversation, Dr. Bigelow...
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Psychedelics as Catalysts for Human Agency with Matthew W. Johnson, PhD
Psychedelic Medicine Podcast with Dr. Lynn Marie Morski
In this episode, Matthew W. Johnson, PhD returns to discuss how psychedelics can be leveraged to catalyze human agency. Dr. Johnson has been at the forefront of psychedelic research for 21 years, having conducted seminal research on the effects of psilocybin on mystical experience, personality, and treatment of cancer distress, major depressive disorder, and tobacco addiction. His work with tobacco addiction received the first federal funding for a classic psychedelic in the modern era of research. In this conversation, Dr. Johnson explores psychedelics as powerful enhancers of human...
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Psychedelics and Movement with Dmitry Repin, PhD
Psychedelic Medicine Podcast with Dr. Lynn Marie Morski
In this episode, Dmitry Repin, PhD joins to discuss the intersection of bodily movement and psychedelics. Dr. Repin is the co-founder of the Institute for Psychedelic Research at Tel Aviv University, holds a PhD in cognitive neuroscience, and is the producer and creative force behind the . In this conversation, Dr. Repin explores how psychedelics may influence movement, proprioception, and motor learning, drawing from his background in neuroscience and his transformative experiences with dance practices like . He describes his team’s innovative clinical study pairing psilocybin with guided...
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Psychedelic Medicine: Updates from the field with Lynn Marie Morski, JD, MD
Psychedelic Medicine Podcast with Dr. Lynn Marie Morski
In this episode, Psychedelic Medicine Podcast host, Dr. Lynn Marie Morski, provides the latest updates from the field of psychedelic medicine. Dr. Morski discusses the breakthrough therapy designation which a number of psychedelic compounds have received in the past few years, the most recent of which is BPL-003, a nasal spray formulation of 5-MeO-DMT. One of the exciting aspects of this new compound, Dr. Morski notes, is that it is shorter-acting than most serotonergic psychedelics—a feature which may make treatment with this substance less expensive and more accessible. Another...
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Psilocybin-Assisted Group Therapy for Depression with Matthew Hicks, ND, MS
Psychedelic Medicine Podcast with Dr. Lynn Marie Morski
In this episode Matthew Hicks, ND, MS joins to dive into the topic of psilocybin-assisted group therapy for depression. Dr. Hicks is a research Investigator at the National University of Natural Medicine as well as a Naturopathic doctor and licensed psilocybin facilitator at Synaptic Institute. In this conversation, Dr. Hicks shares findings from one of the first studies investigating psilocybin-assisted group therapy for depression, conducted in Oregon’s new legal psilocybin framework. He explains how the high cost and labor-intensive nature of psychedelic therapy inspired him to explore a...
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Microdosing Psilocybin: Truth vs Hype with Rotem Petranker, PhD
Psychedelic Medicine Podcast with Dr. Lynn Marie Morski
In this episode Rotem Petranker, PhD joins to discuss the current state of research on microdosing psilocybin. Dr. Petranker is the co-founder of the Psychedelic Studies Research Program at the University of Toronto and the Canadian Centre for Psychedelic Science. He recently ran the world's largest randomized controlled trial on the effectiveness of microdosing psilocybin on Major Depressive Disorder. In this conversation, Dr. Petranker shares insights from running the world’s largest randomized controlled trial on psilocybin microdosing for major depressive disorder. He explains the...
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Encore Episode: Exploring Endogenous DMT with Rick Strassman, MD
Psychedelic Medicine Podcast with Dr. Lynn Marie Morski
In this episode of the Psychedelic Medicine Podcast, Rick Strassman, MD joins to discuss the topic of endogenous DMT. Dr. Strassman is adjunct associate professor of psychiatry at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and author of and . His DMT and psilocybin studies in the early 1990s initiated the renewal of human research with psychedelics in the U.S. In this conversation, Dr. Strassman discusses the finer details of DMT, from endogenous production in humans and animals, to visionary experiences and theological implications. Dr. Strassman also covers the research that's been done...
info_outlineIn this episode, Joseph Holcomb Adams joins to discuss the important topic of guruism and cult dynamics in psychedelic communities. Joseph is an ethicist who specializes in issues related to psychedelics, altered states, and transformative experiences.
In this conversation, Joseph introduces the concepts of a guru, guruism, and cult dynamics. He describes the social-psychological mechanisms behind the devotee-guru relationship and the development of ideological conformity in cults, explaining how the heightened states induced by psychedelics can contribute to these dynamics if participants and facilitators are not aware of these dangers and vigilant in guarding against them. Joseph explains that psychedelic experiences can lead to “experiential verification,” where the participant’s sense of the facilitator as a wise spiritual guide can seem to be confirmed through the intense mystical nature of the experience, which in turn can feed into a guru-disciple power dynamic where the participant feels reliant on the facilitator for their healing. In closing, Joseph focuses on the profound importance of education on these topics. He emphasizes that these potentially harmful dynamics will always be present, so raising awareness is crucial as psychedelic healing continues to become more mainstream.
In this episode you'll hear:
- The spectrum of cult dynamics
- How guruism and cult dynamics can become amplified in psychedelic practices
- How psychedelics influence suggestibility, transference, and projection
- Why it can be easy for psychedelic facilitators to unintentionally fall into guruism
- Ego inflation following psychedelic experiences
- How ecstatic ritual experiences promote group cohesion
- What can be done to address the risks of guruism and cultic dynamics in psychedelic practices
- The importance of informed consent
Quotes:
“[During a psychedelic experience] it can be very easy for the participant to basically associate and identify this mind-opening experience, this earth-shattering spiritual experience, with this person who facilitated it for them, who is right there, who seems to know all about this space of consciousness that they’re experiencing.” [13:22]
“If the facilitator… already has a big, inflated sense of their spiritual knowledge and ability, then that’s already right there, pushing them to step into that guru role and this can happen from their own psychedelic use.” [30:06]
“When we’re engaging in psychedelic-enhanced ecstatic group rituals, what we’re doing here is we’re basically using powerful neuropharmacological tools to help us really powerfully tap into these potentialities that are in our primordial nature as social, instinctively religious beings… That’s what we’re messing around with here.” [38:23]
“The most important risk mitigation factors—really it’s education and the awareness that comes from it.” [43:52]
Links:
“Oxytocin modulates charismatic influence in groups” by Ilanit Gordon and Yair Berson, 2018
Psychedelic Safety Flags: A Color System to Help Assess Practitioner Ethics and Safety
Previous episode: The Challenging Psychedelic Experiences Project with Jules Evans
Previous episode: Avoiding the Traps of Psychedelic Self-Absorption with Adam Aronovich PhD(c)