“It’s like shrooms times a million, plus aliens”: an interpretative phenomenological analysis of experiential accounts from ayahuasca users in Britain

Psychedelic consciousness is linked with deeper awareness into one’s psyche and connection to the transpersonal (Metzner, 1998). Recently, academia has witnessed the growth of psychedelic research (Sessa, 2012). Specifically, qualitative analyses into these states, including ayahuasca. Anecdotal reports of ayahuasca include profound transformations in one’s psycho-spiritual nature (Shanon, 2002). Nevertheless, the data is sparse on the phenomenology and there is a shortage of face-to-face interviews on ayahuasca users from western civilisations (Luke, 2011). The aim of the present study was to examine the phenomenological accounts of ayahuasca users from Britain. Three participants (1 male, 2 females) completed semi-structured interviews. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis philosophy was used to interpret ayahuasca users’ experiences. Research found evidence for 3 super-themes: psychotherapeutic healing, spiritual re-birth and materialistic society anti-spiritual. Research findings promote the future exploration of the therapeutic applications of ayahuasca. Additionally, there is an opportunity to explore the psycho-social features of ayahuasca discursively