Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
Transpersonal Studies
Volume 33 | Issue 2 Article 11
7-1-2014
Recommended Citation
Wolfson, P. E. (2014). Wolfson, P. E. (2014). Psychedelic experiential pharmacology: Pioneering clinical explorations with Salvador
Roquet (How I came to all of this: Ketamine, admixtures and adjuvants, Don Juan and Carlos Castaneda too): An interview with
Richard Yensen. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 33(2), 160–174.. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 33 (2).
http://dx.doi.org/10.24972/ijts.2014.33.2.160
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Psychedelic Experiential Pharmacology:
Pioneering Clinical Explorations with Salvador Roquet
(How I Came to All of This: Ketamine, Admixtures and Adjuvants,
Don Juan and Carlos Castaneda Too)
An Interview with Richard Yensen
Philip E. Wolfson
The Center for Transformational Psychotherapy
San Francisco, CA, USA
Richard Yensen was a research fellow at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center from
1972 to 1976. He studied psychedelic psychotherapy with Stanislav Grof, M.D. and other
senior staff. During this time he treated patients with substance abuse disorders, cancer,
neurosis, and other health professionals seeking a training experience. Dr. Yensen did his
Ph.D. dissertation on the use of MDA in psychotherapy with neurotic outpatients and
conducted his research at the MPRC. Through many years of experience in government-
sanctioned psychedelic research, he has evolved a non-drug shamanistic psychotherapy
called Perceptual Affective Therapy. In the 1990’s Richard was co-holder of IND 3250, an
investigational new drug permit issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to study
LSD and psychotherapy until 2006. He is currently a licensed psychologist in California
and director of the Orenda Institute in Vancouver and Cortes Island, British Columbia,
Canada and president of the Salvador Roquet Psychosynthesis Association. He has served
on the faculties of Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins University and the University
of Maryland Medical School in Baltimore.
Keywords: Salvador Roquet, Richard Yensen, R. D. Laing, Carlos Castaneda, psychedelic psycho-
therapy, psychosynthesis, LSD, ketamine, MDA, ayahuasca, Datura, morning glory seeds, psilocybin
Phil Wolfson: Please tell us about your background. has been blessed with a wide variety of psychedelic plants
Richard Yensen: I am a Latino at heart and by heritage. and ancient traditions that have a great deal of healing
My mother was Panamanian, and I have deep roots in potential to contribute to modern psychotherapy.
the soil of America Latina. A portion of my childhood I have often felt, when visiting the first Nations of
was spent in the Panamanian isthmus, that bit of land Mexico, as if I were stepping back into ancient times.
that connects the two vast continents. There I learned The wonder and honor of knowing Maria Sabina, Don
Spanish and came to a certain sensitivity that would lead Ricardo, Niuweme, and other healers and shamans, has
me to a lifelong embrace of Latin culture and people. transformed my outlook on the practice of psychedelic
This inspired me to bring northern and southern cultures medicine.
into an inner amalgam of my own making.
PW: What role did your contact with indigenous
PW: When and where did you become interested in communities play in unfolding your passion?
psychedelic therapy and plant medicine? RY: My experience among native peoples has taught
RY: The desire to incorporate ancient healing practices me that human beings tend toward a meaning-seeking
with sacred plants into modern medicine has been a and meaning-making journey during their lives. As
central passion of mine, as a clinician and psychedelic individuals, we feel best when we are in touch with our
researcher, for over forty years. I was first ignited to study story, our purpose, our unique nature, and can envision
plant medicine during trips to Mexico, a country that with some clarity a meaningful path to guide us. It is
offered me friendship, collegiality, and adventure. Mexico truly remarkable that native peoples, from a wide variety