Shaw, Jessica Corinne AllenDesrochers, Stefanie2024-08-202024-08-202024-08-14Desrochers, S. (2024). Emerging needs and psychedelic-assisted therapy: stories of 2SGLBTQ+ experiences of psychedelic consciousness (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.https://hdl.handle.net/1880/119431Varieties of psychedelic-assisted therapies (PAT) are in the process of being legalized and regulated or are already legally accessible depending on jurisdiction and substance. Psychedelics are increasingly available for healing, wellness, spiritual, and recreational purposes in a variety of legal, quasi-legal, and illicit ways. While the Indigenous traditional and ceremonial use of these sacred medicines has storied histories that go back generations, the new stories being told in media and academia about psychedelics focus on changes in attitudes towards psychedelics and their potential clinical applications. The stories that are told about psychedelics inevitably shape our experience of them, who can access these experiences and the meanings we make of them. Stories like the “War on Drugs” and now the “Psychedelic Renaissance” obfuscate the individual storied experiences of queer psychedelia and the many connections between queerness and psychedelic consciousness. Using the qualitative methodology of narrative inquiry, this research takes up accounts of four queer Albertans in the midst of their unique experiences with psychedelics. Each shared their stories of psychedelic experiences and how those stories impact the ways that they understand themselves, their gender, and sexuality. Tensions and resonances between and across the narrative threads of these queer stories are explored and offer recommendations for safe and equitable access to psychedelic consciousness, current practice with PAT, and the development of queer-affirming PAT. It concludes with wonders visions of liberatory approaches to psychedelic access and containers. As psychedelics come out of the closet, this research underscores the necessity of raising queer voices so that queer folks are not left behind.enUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.Education--Social Sciencesmaster thesis