{"id":76589,"date":"2022-08-11T12:33:07","date_gmt":"2022-08-11T10:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wholecelium.com\/?p=76589"},"modified":"2023-05-09T10:27:03","modified_gmt":"2023-05-09T08:27:03","slug":"la-nuova-scala-per-misurare-lintegrazione-psichedelica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wholecelium.com\/it\/blog\/the-new-scale-to-measure-psychedelic-integration\/","title":{"rendered":"La nuova scala per misurare l'integrazione psichedelica"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Integration Works<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Psychedelic trips have the ability to open our minds, our ways of being, the way we see ourselves and the way we see other people. They can bring to the forefront new priorities and goals that you wish to work towards. How we then bring these into our everyday life is a key part of the integration process. An example of an integration process is thus:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo by Joshua Sortino on Unsplash<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During your psychedelic experience you may have a striking insight. It could be that you wish to connect with and be closer to your family. The corresponding integration work to this insight would be actually taking the steps to making this happen, rather than just thinking about it. You could make sure to call your parents or siblings once a week, make plans to hang out, or make an effort to see how they are and tell them you love them.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is integration because you are acting upon the insights that emerged from your subconscious. A person\u2019s psychedelic experience can be worlds apart from another\u2019s. This means their integration process might be too.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Three Stages of Psychedelic Therapy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In high-dose psychedelic therapy there are 3 stages that are closely observed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preparation<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Firstly, your emotional preparation for the trip. This is in some respects the first part of integration, as it is often when people set their intentions. Setting your intention is not key to achieving a spiritual realization during a trip, but it significantly advances the journey. It is also the time in which the patient \u2014 who in the context of clinical trials\u00a0 is likely suffering from depression<\/a>, PTSD<\/a> or anxiety \u2014 can air any fears and have the process carefully explained to them by the therapist.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Trip Itself<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Second is the trip itself<\/a>. Usually this is in a clinical setting that has been made as cozy as possible<\/a>. It might have calming lights, and a soothing playlist that follows the trajectory of the trip.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Integration<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Thirdly, of course comes the integration. Therapist and patient work through the psychedelic experience together. Attempting to clarify insights gained from the trip and how these could be transformed into tangible changes in their lives. It is hoped these life-changes will have a positive effect on the patient\u2019s mental health.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Integration is Hard to Study<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With the advance of psychedelic therapy\u00a0 \u2014 such as the laying down of these steps as guidelines \u2014 comes a need to be able to quantify results. However, until recently the majority of the research attention has been focussed on the psychedelic experience itself (the trip)<\/em> rather than the integration aspect, despite the fact that each stage is key to the therapy process. Yale psychiatrist Jordan Slohsower explains the deficit of research;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile psychedelic integration is widely discussed as part of psychedelic therapy, it remains vaguely conceived, undertheorized, and may lack an operational relationship to the problem being treated. It is often a non-specific mixture of supportive listening and encouragement to engage in introspective practices, such as journaling, meditation, and spending time in nature.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Integration Engagement Scale<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

However, the larger psychedelic research grows, the more important it is to be able to analyze and view the practice as a whole. Integration, ironically, needs to be integrated. And that’s just what a new paper<\/a>, The Psychedelic Integration Scales: Tools for Measuring Psychedelic Integration Behaviors and Experiences<\/em>, published in Frontiers <\/em>journal aims to do. The authors\u2019 mission statement shares as much;\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe creation of the scales was a profitless endeavor, undertaken for the greater good and with the intention of public access for use by anyone.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their hope is that institutions will take them up as a standard, thus streamlining, clarifying and uniting results.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

They produced two scales, to measure the different areas of integration. Firstly, the Integration Engagement Scale (IES)<\/em> which is used to measure the behavioral changes resulting from a psychedelic experience. Patients will be asked how far they agree with statements including;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause of my [psychedelic] experience, I\u2019ve prioritized my overall wellness.\u201d <\/em>and,\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve found ways to carry the intentions I had for my experience into my daily life.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Experienced Integration Scale<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Secondly, the Experienced Integration Scale (EIS)<\/em> which aims to measure whether the patients emotional and mental well being and overall sense of self improved after the trip. In this scale the statements include;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel harmony between my experience and my inner being.\u201d, <\/em>and,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u201cI feel greater self-awareness during my experience.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The use of these scales is vital to help researchers, therapists and clinicians understand how to best facilitate the integration process. A tough thing to do for something so out-of-this-world as a psychedelic trip! A fixed scale however, would mean that researchers could try different techniques and protocols and see how they measure up in comparison.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making the Intangible, Tangible <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a funny thing, huh? Trying to make the intangible, tangible. But, the best minds are on it \u2014 and the future of psychedelic therapy looks bright. In the meantime why not just trip for fun on a sunny day \u2014 any wisdom you integrate is surely a bonus!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Una parte fondamentale dell'esperienza terapeutica psichedelica \u00e8 l'integrazione. L'integrazione \u00e8 la parte che avviene dopo il viaggio. \u00c8 l'atto di lavorare con le intuizioni, le emozioni e i nuovi atteggiamenti acquisiti attraverso l'esperienza psichedelica. L'integrazione \u00e8 definita come \"l'atto o il processo di unire cose diverse\": \u00e8 il modo in cui possiamo renderci \"interi\".<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":76900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"topics":[],"class_list":["post-76589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psychedelic-studies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wholecelium.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wholecelium.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wholecelium.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholecelium.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholecelium.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76589"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholecelium.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76589\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":123130,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholecelium.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76589\/revisions\/123130"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholecelium.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wholecelium.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholecelium.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholecelium.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76589"},{"taxonomy":"topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholecelium.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics?post=76589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}