HEALING TRAUMA WITH PSYCHEDELIC CANNABIS

Have you ever eaten a high-dose edible that left you seeing colored patterns, or experiencing wild body sensations? If so, you’ve experienced cannabis as a psychedelic.

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in exploring alternative approaches to healing trauma, and psychedelics have emerged as powerful tools for this.

While not traditionally classified or experienced as a psychedelic, cannabis has unique properties that can produce the same psychedelic states that release trauma as other more potent medicines.

This blog delves into the connection between cannabis and trauma recovery, shedding light on its potential benefits and offering considerations for reducing any possible risk or harm. Feel free to spark one up, and let’s get into it. 

Understanding Somatic Healing

When we experience stressful events or circumstances beyond our ability to cope, emotions become stored in our bodies as trauma.

These stored emotions affect our entire nervous system, leading to physical discomfort, emotional distress, and mental health issues.  A range of issues and disorders have been linked to trauma, from digestive issues, chronic pain, and insomnia, among countless others. This is especially the case if we experienced stressful or traumatic events as children, when our brains were still forming.

Somatic healing of trauma involves addressing and releasing these stored emotions through the body's sensations and experiences.

The stored stresses and traumas are dislodged through a combination of somatic mindfulness, movement, feeling our emotions, and allowing what arises. Traditional talk therapy does not factor in, and we don’t have to consciously know or remember what it is the body is releasing, just allow the releases via sensations and emotions and stay with it.

Cannabis And The Somatic Experience

When used intentionally, - with the purpose to heal, - and at larger doses than for recreational intentions, cannabis is able to induce altered states of consciousness that open the door to extremely-deep somatic explorations.

The plant is exceptional among psychedelics for heightening sensory perception, deepening body awareness, helping with emotional release, and encouraging introspection and integration.

These effects create an inner-environment where individuals can safely reconnect with their bodies and emotions, and, eventually, to the residues of painful past experiences that continue to live in the body and cause distress.

Let’s look at each of the ways in which cannabis’ psychedelic properties aid in trauma-healing in more detail, and compare its usefulness in healing trauma to some of the other, more conventional (and potent) psychedelic medicines.

Benefits Of Cannabis-Assisted Trauma-Healing

~ Heightened Body Awareness:

Cannabis can enhance the connection to our bodies, making us more attuned to physical sensations and emotions. This heightened awareness can help identify and release somatic markers of trauma, without talk therapy.

While some other psychedelics are also somatic (psilocybin mushroom and Ayahuasca, to name a few), often the potency is so high, the journey becomes more about the cosmic voyage and connecting to the universe, and less about sensations, tension, emotions, and numbness (lack of sensation) in the body. Since trauma lives in the body, we need to access the body to release it. 

~ Full-Body Emotional Release:

Endocannabinoid receptors are embedded in every tissue in our bodies, and live throughout the entire nervous system. As such, cannabis can facilitate the release of suppressed emotions from the body in ways that other psychedelics can not. This emotional catharsis is a crucial step towards healing, and obviously, is best done in a safe and supportive setting (more on that below).

Again, other psychedelics also offer emotional release, but receptors for these medicines are not found throughout the entire body the way our cannabis receptors are, indicating that cannabis might be a more potent form of emotional and energetic release from the body (somatic healing). 

~ Expanded Perspective:

Altered states induced by cannabis and other psychedelics provide new perspectives on traumatic experiences. This fresh outlook can lead to insights, understanding, and a sense of acceptance from our stories in ways that promote healing.

Because cannabis, - even at very high doses, - can offer more agency than conventional psychedelics, we get access to insights and deeply-buried emotions in a way that we can “consent to.” This means, instead of being thrust into a deep psychedelic experience (which can be traumatizing for a person who didn’t have agency during their traumatic experience), the psychedelic cannabis session is experienced as more gentle, more consensual, and with more agency. This is super important for trauma healing. 

~ Great For Integration:

By bridging the gap between mind and body, cannabis-assisted somatic healing promotes integration, - helping individuals align their mental, emotional, and physical aspects, which fosters a holistic sense of well-being.

And while all psychedelics have this potential, cannabis is often used for post-psychedelic integration after the more potent conventional psychedelics, and as such, can be used (at a much lower dose) after a psychedelic cannabis journey. A day or two after a big trip, we can smoke a little cannabis, and use the plant to help us integrate the insights and healings that came up in the journey.

Harm-Reduction Considerations:

Now that we understand some of the basic ways psychedelic cannabis can facilitate trauma-healing in the body, let’s do an overview of ways we can ensure the experience provides the maximum healing benefit, with the least potential for harm.

In Brief, These Are:

- Set and Setting
- Journey Companions
- Dose
- Mindfulness
- Integration
- Working with a guide

Let’s Look At Each In More Detail:

~ Set And Setting:

Just like with other psychedelics, the environment in which cannabis is consumed matters. Choose a safe, comfortable, and supportive space to enhance the healing potential. Take time to lock the doors, put away anything that doesn’t support a healing voyage, and be sure to place candles in safe locations where they won’t get knocked over. Pick some trippy relaxing music without ads, and then turn your ringer off and phone far, far away.

~ Journey Companions:

It’s vital to pick trustworthy pals if you plan to do a psychedelic circle with others. When we are in altered states, we become even more impacted by the energies of other people, and if someone is on a different wavelength than us as the medicine takes effect, it can pull us down wormholes that are unhelpful or even not psychologically safe.

Be selective with who you'll journey with, or take your healing journey solo or with a trusted guide instead (More on that below). 

~ Dosage:

The dosing for a psychedelic cannabis journey will be higher than for recreational or functional cannabis use. Too-high doses can induce anxiety or bring trauma to the surface before we are ready, so play with an amount that is right for you, perhaps mixing indica and sativa blends for more balance, and adding products with a lot of the cannabinoid CBN to deepen the embodied experience. (CBN is the byproduct of aged THC, which means old cannabis has converted into this more sleepy, somatic molecule).

Having nano-encapsulated CBD tinctures handy can be useful if the THC dose is so high it’s causing stress. 

~ Mindfulness & Intention:

Approach cannabis use with intention and mindfulness, perhaps even ritualistically. The more energy and reverence we have for the medicine, the more she’ll be able to bring us the healing we desire. Set clear intentions for your healing journey, whether it's to explore your body sensations, emotions, or memories, or to practice floating down-stream, or to work with a specific issue you’re having.

Prepare for the journey so your mind is in a good space for it, and work to stay in a place where you’re in-acceptance of the experiences you have, not judging or resisting them.

Stay present, breathe. 

Float downstream. 

Embrace all feels. 

Let go, flow with the ride. 

And, - expect some amount of turbulence, it's part of the healing journey as trauma releases from the body. You got this.

Integration:

After the experience, take time to integrate your insights. Journaling, talking to a therapist, joining peer-integration circles, doing art, or engaging in body-based practices like yoga or meditation can aid integration.

When it comes to psychedelics, most of the healing happens after the journey, when we integrate the experiences we had on the medicine, and bring the insights into our daily lives.

Reflect post-trip. Write it down, talk it out. Integrate lessons. Rest, eat well, be gentle.  Perhaps smoke some more cannabis to aid in integration. 

Professional Guidance:

If you're considering cannabis as part of your trauma healing journey, you might decide to work with a therapist experienced in trauma and psychedelics, or a trained psychedelic guide. Not everyone needs this, for cannabis or even for other psychedelics, but it’s worth considering whether you do.

Some questions to ask when considering working with a guide or voyaging alone: How much trauma healing have I already done? How bad are my trauma symptoms? Do I have a mental health diagnosis that might be exacerbated by a hard trip? How experienced am I working with psychedelics? How safe and serene is the location I am thinking of using?

Some people prefer to “co-trip” with a friend, both laying back and having their own journeys beside each other. Some people prefer to use a guide, or a group circle to do healing journeys, and some voyage alone. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach here, so tune into your needs and do what feels best.

Conclusion:

Cannabis, when used intentionally and at higher doses, - can serve as a somatic psychedelic that supports trauma healing.

Its ability to foster body awareness, encourage emotional release, and provide fresh perspectives makes it a valuable tool in the journey towards recovery, in addition to the more conventional psychedelics like psilocybin and MDMA.

It can offer users more agency, and is also more deeply somatic, more useful for integration, and more readily-available and legal. For these reasons, cannabis could be the most-useful psychedelic for trauma healing.

With preparation, intentional use, set and setting, a higher dose, and integration, we can make the most of this amazing medicine. 

APPRECIATE YOU!
XO D.