[wutbrodo]

Huh, I wonder to what extent this is dependent on the therapist understanding that you're on MDMA. I.e., would it be possible for a patient to take some MDMA (assuming you have experience with it) and then go to a therapist?

I've accidentally done as much myself with close friends instead of therapists: I started partying with Molly during a period in my life where I was already starting to recognize and work through some issues from my entire childhood: the wee hours of the morning after having an amazing night dancing is a pretty ideal setting to open up mental blocks and be honest with yourself and others. (It also made me almost instantly closer to those people, whom I consider some of the most important people in my life at this point).

[mjevans]

Some people climb mountains without professional guides.

Beginners usually need a trainer and a guide to at least get started and to not end up in a life risking situation.

In medical science those professionals are often called doctors and nurses.

[tfha]

Worth adding that a bad psychedelic experience can be quite damaging, and just like you shouldn't climb mountains without experience or a guide, you also shouldn't explore psychedelics without experience or a guide.

[wutbrodo]

I wasn't talking about beginners doing it, but there's enough confusion in the replies to my comment that the fault is probably mine for not being clear enough.

What I was wondering is more along the lines of: is the therapy appreciably different to complement the MDMA, or is it simply the increased openness etc that makes normal modes of therapy more effective?

I didn't intend to suggest that people _should_ take MDMA before therapy, but it was just a thought experiment to get at the above question. I only wondered about it because, as I said, I've incidentally done as much while talking with friends.

[et2o]

Agree MDMA has incredible potential for therapy. However I think your therapist should be comfortable/trained with it - just showing up isn’t ideal.

[wutbrodo]

To be clear, I wasn't talking about myself (I'm not in therapy), just idly wondering. I'm pretty comfortable with psychedelics personally, but have less experience with MDMA specifically and my impression is that it's a lot easier to manage than eg LSD.

There are plenty of psychoactive drugs that people don't think twice about managing themselves (weed, caffeine, alcohol), and I was just curious whether MDMA would fall into that category squarely enough (it's certainly easier to manage than alcohol is, for example).