essay

Compassionate Resolution of Dishonesty

November 11, 2023
essay
internal family systems, therapy

Introduction # A complex array of motivations drive dishonesty. These include financial gain, self-preservation, social approval, ethical dilemmas, cognitive biases, and fear of punishment. Men are often more dishonest than women,1 and cultural and social factors also play a significant role in shaping attitudes towards honesty.2 Dishonesty in a relationship creates several challenges: Erosion of trust: Trust is a fundamental building block of any healthy relationship. When one party in the relationship is dishonest, it erodes the trust that has been established over time. ...

Origins of IFS in the bicameral mind

October 26, 2023
essay
internal family systems, history

This article was published in PARTS & SELF magazine and is reprinted here verbatim. Richard Schwartz derived the Internal Family Systems (IFS) method through clinical experience. While many reports of positive outcomes attest to the method’s validity, IFS is seen by some as a somewhat separate and niche approach within the broader field of psychology. One way of placing IFS in a historical context is to look for theories of psychological evolution that hinge on the differentiation of Parts from a mono-mind. ...

Psilomethoxin, My Case Report (Addendum #2)

October 9, 2023
essay
psychedelics, science

Purely based on subjective experience, I estimate the pharmacodynamics as: pm <- function(x) 7.5*dchisq(4*(x-.5), 6) The x axis is hours and the y axis is scaled so that 1 = a capsule of dried Pm mushroom powder. plot(function(x) pm(x), 0,6, xlab="hours",ylab="capsules") Using this function, you can estimate the effect of multiple capsules taken at different times. For example, suppose you take 2 at 10am, 1 at 10:45am, 1 at 11:15am, and 1 at 11:45am. ...

Psilomethoxin, My Case Report (Addendum #1)

September 3, 2023
essay
psychedelics, science

I have had IFS sessions with one client on multiple occasions with a self-administered psycholytic dose of psilomethoxin (Pm). In addition, I have shared Pm with five people Z, M, W, K1, and K2. What surprised me most from this exploration is that Pm seems to have a built-in exit valve. Or from the opposite point of view, the user only experiences the effects of Pm when focused inside. If you focus outside then you can completely miss the effects. ...

Psilomethoxin, My Case Report

February 16, 2023
essay
psychedelics, science

At the end of 2022, a new psychedelic became available. Psilomethoxin (Pm) offers a subjective experience similar to MDMA, but without MDMA’s stimulant-like effects. <—> In 1965, Marc Julia’s group at the Pasteur Institute synthesized psilomethoxin (Pm) from ortho-vanillin extracted from the Mexican vanilla orchid. The molecule was never bioassayed nor preserved as a reference sample, and that is how things stood for decades. The synthesis of Pm is an intricate and time-consuming process, with some chemists claiming that it would take a month. ...

Fiber is not necessarily fibrous

December 29, 2022
essay
nutrition, semantics

In nutrition science, the word fiber refers to the type of carbohydrate that the body can’t digest. This definition of fiber is so different from the kind of fiber found in many plants that they might as well be completely different words. <—> Coconut coir fibers are obtained from the outermost layer of the husk. They are typically light brown in color, durable, and resistant to water. Credit: Midjourney Indeed, these are a kind of fiber that your body cannot digest. ...