The Psychological Flexibility Model from a cultural perspective: an interpretative analysis of two Native American healing rituals

Abstract

While the growth of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and its underlying construct, psychological flexibility, has been supported by numerous studies, it has received little attention from sociocultural disciplines. With the aim of considering the transdiagnostic Psychological Flexibility Model from a cultural perspective and from an interdisciplinary approach combining both Psychology and Anthropology, this article proposes an interpretative theoretical analysis of two Native American healing rituals: sweat lodge ceremonies and peyote ceremonies. Drawing from the fieldwork of Calabrese among the Navajo and Wilson among the Lakota Sioux, both healing rituals are interpreted and compared in light of the six processes of psychological flexibility. While recognising the adaptability of the model outside the cultural sphere of Western mental health sciences, the article concludes with two remarks: the relevance of the sociocultural construction of values and a potential connection between psychological flexibility and altered states of consciousness. ARTICLE HISTORY

Increases in Psychological Flexibility Mediate Relationship Between Acute Psychedelic Effects and Decreases in Racial Trauma Symptoms Among People of Color

“…Because the evidence presented above suggests that psychedelics can lead to beneficial outcomes when administered in clinical and naturalistic settings, and emerging evidence shows that psychedelic use is related to reductions in racebased trauma symptoms among POC, potential mediators of psychedelic effects on therapeutic outcomes could help increase understanding the mechanism underlying such effects. Previous studies suggest changes in the entropy of brain network connectivity, 39 the experience of awe/ego dissolution, 40,41 and changes in psychological flexibility 30,[42][43][44][45][46] may mediate therapeutic outcomes following a psychedelic experience.…”

Psychological flexibility mediates the relations between acute psychedelic effects and subjective decreases in depression and anxiety

“…Although more work is needed to fully understand the mechanisms of therapeutic action, the beneficial effects of these substances appear to be associated with the intensity of certain types of acute psychedelic effects (e.g., mystical-type phenomena, psychological insight) during these experiences in both healthy (Griffiths et al, 2008(Griffiths et al, , 2011Barrett et al, 2015) and clinical (Ross et al, 2016;Griffiths et al, 2008;Griffiths et al, 2011;Roseman, Nutt, & Carhart-Harris, 2018;Davis et al, 2018;Garcia-Romeu et al, 2019) populations. Potential mediators of psychedelic effects on therapeutic outcomes have been suggested, including changes in the entropy of brain network connectivity (Carhart-Harris et al, 2014), the importance of awe/ego dissolution (Hendricks, 2018;Preller & Vollenweider, 2018); and the possible role of changes in psychological flexibility following a psychedelic experience (Sabucedo, 2017;Kuypers et al, 2016;Walsh & Thiessen, 2018).…”

Vol 4 Issue 1

“…The psychological flexibility model supports the ability to accept and change in the process of daily living, this idea assisted the adaptive personality theme that emerged in this study's data analysis (Watts & Luoma, 2019). A cultural exploration among Native Americans for psychological flexibility has produced evidence of linking psychological flexibility for healing through a potentially altered state of consciousness as seen in the responses that showed attention, focus, creativity, and decision making (Sabucedo, 2017). This illustrated that temporary changes in the state of mind expressed adaptive personality hence confirming the trustworthiness of the results.…”