Therapy
PT489 – Psychedelics, Art Therapy, and the Creative Process
February 23, 2024
Featuring: Alyssa Gursky, LPC
In this episode, Joe interviews Alyssa Gursky, LPC: artist, research associate and study therapist at the Social Neuroscience and Psychotherapy (SNaP) lab, and founder of Psychedelic Art Therapy LLC, which pioneers ketamine-assisted art therapy.
In this episode, Joe interviews Alyssa Gursky, LPC: artist, research associate and study therapist at the Social Neuroscience and Psychotherapy (SNaP) lab, and founder of Psychedelic Art Therapy LLC, which pioneers ketamine-assisted art therapy.
She talks about her first mushroom experience and how her art and creative process instantly felt different – how the judgment and concern about where the art was going disappeared and was replaced by a freedom; a return to a more childlike way of being, where all that mattered was the fun of the creative process, and expressing her inner world in art. They realized how much the creative process related to true embodiment and the ability to be fully present, and how healing it can be to simply be with other people and create art.
She talks about:
- The power of being seen in a group, and how the bravery of one person can completely shift the group dynamic
- The need for mentorship in the psychedelic space
- The comfort and freedom found in affinity groups
- The inspiring lives of Genesis P-Orridge and avant-garde filmmaker, Alejandro Jodorowsky
- Rick Rubin’s ability to treat creativity as a spiritual act
- and how attending a live wrestling event aligns with non-ordinary states.
Gursky is launching a virtual education and support group this March for anyone who wants to integrate art into client work or their own process. Visit her instagram for details.
Notable Quotes
“I used pastels pretty much the entirety of that whole first experience, and I was just so stunned at how much more freedom [I felt]. Like, there were concepts that I was learning, that your creative process is a reflection of your mind. And I felt like there was an observer really present, to where I remember drawing and there wasn’t this judgment of: ‘Well, what is this going to become?’ and ‘What am I doing with this?’ and ‘Should I have used that color?’ – this deep, neurotic, judgemental inner voice. But instead, it was just sensation.”
“When we’re not taking the time to process through what is in our bodies, we start to lose the ability to be present.”
“Psychedelics really help with this: helping people break through the veil of: just trust your impulses – that that artistic sublimation, the process of taking whatever is happening inside and allowing art to be a vehicle to have it on the outside: that is nervous system regulation. That is psychic healing, just to be like, ‘I kind of want to do that,’ and just trusting that. It seems like such a small act, but it’s such a big deal.”
“Art is helping us create the map of our psyche, and psychedelics are giving us wider access to that landscape. It feels like a match made in Heaven for me.”
Links
Psychedelics Today: Alyssa Gursky – Ketamine and Transpersonal Art Therapies
PT Live: Joe Moore & Alyssa Gursky, LPC Discuss Art Therapy, Affinity Groups, and More
Npr.org: Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Provocateur And Industrial Co-Creator, Dead At 70
Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear, by Dr. Carl L. Hart
Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs, by Johann Hari
Swimming in the Sacred: Wisdom from the Psychedelic Underground, by Rachel Harris
Maps.org: Dr. Oscar Janiger’s Pioneering LSD Research: A Forty Year Follow-up
The Creative Act: A Way of Being, by Rick Rubin
YouTube: May 1, 1969: Fred Rogers testifies before the Senate Subcommittee on Communications
