The intersection of psychedelics and addiction recovery is a topic that is gaining increasing attention as more people explore alternative paths to healing. However, for those who participate in traditional 12-step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), discussing the use of
It’s important to note that at the time of the belladonna treatment the word “psychedelic” didn’t exist. It wouldn’t be coined until 1956, which is, perhaps coincidentally, the year that Bill Wilson first experimented with LSD. Researcher Dr. Humphrey Osmond,
It was studies like these that eventually led to the first experimentation of LSD by Bill Wilson. During the 1940s, Bill Wilson, a bit of a spiritual seeker who was interested in everything from Spiritualism to Jungian therapy, to Jesuit
Within a few months of this first session with LSD, Bill Wilson now does his first group LSD experience where everyone participating took lower doses of LSD. Present is Bill Wilson, Tom Powers, Dr. Betty Eisner (therapist) and Dr. Sidney
And as Bill continued to experiment with “something that could make a big difference to the lives of many who still suffered” other AA members were not so optimistic. If they were not happy with Bill seeking help from a
In the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous, there is a moment, later referred to as the “White light experience” when Bill Wilson, now detoxing in the Townes Hospital has his first spiritual experience in decades. The year is 1934 and