Cassandra Vieten, Ph.D. - Beyond the Mind’s Eye: Imagination as Medicine

In this episode of The Psychedelic Podcast, Paul F. Austin welcomes Dr. Cassandra Vieten, Director of Research at the Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination and Clinical Psychology Director at the Psychedelics and Health Research Initiative at UCSD. 

Find full show notes and links here: https://thethirdwave.co/podcast/episode-286/?ref=278

Dr. Vieten shares insights on the relationship between imagination, psychedelics, and mental health, exploring how these elements intersect to create transformative experiences. She discusses groundbreaking research on psilocybin for phantom limb pain, the importance of both scientific rigor and therapeutic wisdom in psychedelic research, and how imagination can be cultivated as a vital skill for personal and societal transformation.

Cassandra Vieten is Clinical Professor and Director of the Center for Mindfulness at the Centers for Integrative Health in the Department of Family Medicine at UC San Diego. She is also Director of Research at the Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination and Clinical Psychology Director at the Psychedelics and Health Research Initiative at UCSD. She is Senior Advisor of the John W. Brick Mental Health Foundation where she served as Executive Director from 2019-2023, and a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, where she served as President from 2013-2019. Her research has focused on spirituality and health, transformative experiences and practices, the development of mindfulness-based interventions for emotional well-being, and development of media technologies to inspire awe. She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies, and completed her research training in behavioral genetics at UC San Francisco. She has authored three books, published numerous articles in scientific journals, and is an internationally recognized keynote speaker and workshop leader.

Highlights:

• The mental health renaissance
• Exercise and mental wellness
• Origins of the Clarke Center
• Understanding noetic sciences
• Imagination and development
• Psilocybin for phantom limb pain
• Psychedelics vs opioids for pain
• Psychedelics with or without therapy
• Group vs individual treatment
• Imagination as transformation

Episode Links:

• Dr. Vieten’s Website
• Clark Center for Human Imagination Center for Mindfulness at UC San Diego
• Dr. Vieten’s TEDx Talk at TEDxSanDiego
• Institute of Noetic Sciences

Episode Sponsor:

• The Practitioner Certification Program by Third Wave’s Psychedelic Coaching Institute.