{"id":4479,"date":"2025-05-30T18:07:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T18:07:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/psychedelics\/?page_id=4479"},"modified":"2025-05-30T18:07:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T18:07:15","slug":"james-collins","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/psychedelic-colloquium-archive\/james-collins\/","title":{"rendered":"James Collins"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Contributor – Speaker<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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James Collins, MPhil, MBACP, GMBPsS, is a trainee counselling psychologist completing his DCPsych at the New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling (NSPC), London, where his research focuses on how individuals make sense of profound psychedelic experiences, particularly with 5-MeO-DMT, utilising Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.\u00a0James brings a unique perspective to psychedelic research, combining clinical training with leadership experience in psychedelic healthcare, and a focus on utilising qualitative research approaches to explore experience and meaning. As former Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director of Awakn Life Sciences, he established Europe’s first chain of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy clinics, scaling operations across six countries and securing regulatory licenses for ketamine-assisted therapy targeting anxiety, depression, PTSD, eating disorders, and addiction.\u00a0Currently practising as a psychotherapist across NHS and charity settings, James employs an existential-phenomenological approach informed by his doctoral training. His clinical work spans diverse populations, including individuals experiencing homelessness and complex mental health challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Colloquium Presentation: 13 June 2025, 3:30-5pm (Room G17, Mood Disorder Centre, Sir Henry Wellcome Building)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Lived Experience of 5-MeO-DMT: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Among Experienced Psychedelic Users<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abstract<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The psychedelic compound 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) is among the most potent substances in this class, producing intense experiences associated with significant changes in cognition and affect. Clinical research indicates that a single inhalation can occasion profound mystical experiences and improve mental well-being, with ongoing trials investigating its potential for treatment-resistant depression and alcohol use disorder. While quantitative studies have documented these outcomes, qualitative research into the lived experience remains limited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This study employs Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to explore how individuals make meaning from their experiences with 5-MeO-DMT. Six participants with prior psychedelic experience were interviewed following their 5-MeO-DMT experience, capturing reflections after the initial afterglow period. Three Group Experiential Themes emerged from the analysis: \u2018Exploring the depths of existence\u2019 revealed participants’ paradoxical relationship with these profound yet challenging experiences, characterised by the tension between fear of the intensity that pushes against existential boundaries and an almost magnetic attraction to the beauty and wonder, alongside the productive struggle to articulate ineffable encounters. \u2018Unearthing new perspectives\u2019 traced the journey from intense corporeal experiences through \u2018losing the self\u2019 to metaphysical insight, highlighting how participants navigate bodily transcendence and reassembly of self and reality, leaving them \u2018feeling wise\u2019. \u2018Embracing new ways of being\u2019 showed how participants integrate fundamental transformations in their way of being-in-the-world, encompassing authentic self-revelation, enhanced relational capacities, and ongoing processes of healing and spiritual unfolding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research reveals how participants navigate between preparation and surrender, individual transformation and universal connection, and immediate insights and gradual becoming. These findings expand understanding of the transformative potential of psychedelic experiences by providing detailed insights into the phenomenology of 5-MeO-DMT states and their ongoing impact, potentially informing theoretical frameworks for understanding psychedelic experiences and guiding clinical applications, including treatment protocols, integration practices, and therapeutic support strategies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Contributor – Speaker James Collins, MPhil, MBACP, GMBPsS, is a trainee counselling psychologist completing his DCPsych at the New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling (NSPC), London, where his research focuses on how individuals make sense of profound psychedelic experiences, particularly with 5-MeO-DMT, utilising Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.\u00a0James brings a unique perspective to psychedelic research, combining clinical […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-sidebar-boxed-feature-img.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJames Collins - Psychedelic Colloquium Archive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/psychedelic-colloquium-archive\/james-collins\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"James Collins - 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