VISION

Different studies' results suggest that the use of psychedelics in therapeutic contexts can foster and/or increase feelings, emotions, and perspectives that can facilitate the reconciliation process. For example, several studies conducted by the Psychedelic Research Group (PRG) at the Imperial College in London have shown that lifelong use of psychedelics is associated with less authoritative views of the world (Nour,Evans, Carhart-Harris, 2017). 

​

These previous results lead us to believe that the use of psychedelics can facilitate a reconciliation process. Also, we assume that sharing a mystical and/or cathartic experience, such as the ones experienced during the use of psychedelics, including ayahuasca, can be useful to cure personal and social psychological suffering.

 

Some studies demonstrate that psychedelic medicine can increase the feelings of group cohesion and connectedness so we propose to include Ayahuasca sessions in a therapeutic context with the different parties involved in the conflict and assess its potential to facilitate the reconciliation process in the context of the Colombian armed conflict; following the pilot study conducted by MAPS and the Imperial College London applied in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

 

With the help of an interdisciplinary team, we will start to investigate the conflict resolution processes that have been carried out during the conflict and post-conflict time in Colombia emphasizing the different reconciliation methods used by the diverse institutions working for the Colombian peace. With this context, we will start designing the protocol to be used in the application phase. 

 

After 60 years of war, we believe that this project can favorably influence the post-conflict process that Colombia is experiencing right now.