EPISODE 12 - Greg Donaldson
“The more we lock the door, these parts of us… they are in the gym building up muscle, waiting for the moment”
GREG DONALDSON, Psychotherapist
I recently spoke to Greg Donaldson in the Library of the Psychosynthesis Trust, located in the heart of London. Greg is a personable, balanced and thoughtful psychotherapist, and I really enjoyed talking to him. Greg is part of the team of therapists who will be working with participants in the Double-Blind, Randomised Control Trial comparing the efficacy of psilocybin with conventional SSRI treatment for depression.
We Discuss
The therapeutic modality of Psychosynthesis
Greg’s practice and philosophy of emerging purpose
‘Autonomous sub-personalities’ and how their problematic manifestation in client’s day to day life is often the reason they intially seek therapy
The inner tyrant as the ‘king of the ghetto’
How the autonomous sub-personality of ‘achiever’ can monopolise people’s behaviour
The technique of ‘Chair Work’
Greg’s belief that therapists should set up therapeutic ‘base camps’ at the foot of the client’s discomfort
How Greg deals with clients’ ‘inner Mark Corrigan’
Greg’s role-play with Bill Richards and how he got involved with the Imperial College psychedelic research team.
Our concerns around the culture of psychedelics as cure-alls
Greg’s terrible grasp of the phrase ‘shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted’
The Double-blind, Randomised Control Trial - Psilocybin for Major Depression…
…and the therapeutic protocol for the study
The implicit ‘hug’ of a therapy session
Our preference for ‘free’ over ‘safe’ spaces
The pervasive issue of publication bias in psychology, and how the ongoing direction of optimal integration of psychedelics should not be wholly directed by current paradigms of ‘best practice’
Psilocybin nasal sprays
Peter Attia, Debra Kimless and Steve Goldner discussing THC and CBD
This ‘Pollanic’ (a.k.a. - polemic written by Michael Pollan)
Charles Raison’s work into the relative importance of ‘access’ vs ‘phenomenal’ consciousness in the psychedelic experience
Greg’s clinical practice
Greg Donaldson
Psychotherapist
Greg Donaldson is a psychotherapeutic counsellor working both Brighton and London. He holds a post-graduate diploma in psychosynthesis counselling and is currently undertaking an MA in psychosynthesis psychotherapy.
Greg is part of the Imperial College team who are researching the comparative effects of psilocybin and SSRIs on Major Depressive Disorder.