Two-Eyed Seeing: Honouring the Roots of Psychedelic Medicine
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Authors
Bowman, Bethany
Issue Date
2024-04
Type
Capstone
Language
en
Keywords
psychedelics , psychedelic-assisted therapy , psychedelic medicine , Indigenous knowledge , traditional knowledge , two-eyed seeing
Alternative Title
Abstract
Psychedelic medicine is surging in popularity, and the Western world seems poised at the brink of legalizing specific psychedelics for therapeutic use. However, in its current form, psychedelic medicine replicates the same power structures and inequities as does the Western medicalized framework from whence it came. Applying the conceptual framework of etuaptmumk, Two-Eyed Seeing, this paper challenges the supremacy of Western biomedical approaches to psychedelic medicine and instead advocates for a new way of seeing that honours the global cross-cultural roots of psychedelic medicine and elevates Traditional and Indigenous Knowledges as fully developed systems of knowledge whose ontologies and epistemologies stand equally alongside their Western counterparts. I will explore the origins of sacred plant medicines, select principles of Traditional Knowledge, and examine the history, evidence base, and current practices of the Western psychedelic biomedical model. Two-Eyed Seeing helps one see with one eye from the strengths of Traditional Knowledge and from the other with the strengths of Western approaches. This project offers a practical framework to help counsellors in the field of psychedelic-assisted therapy braid together the best of both in a way that is integrative and complementary.
Description
Citation
Publisher
License
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States
openAccess
openAccess