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Trauma and Ecstasy by Alex Abraham–Book Review

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  • William Faulk
  • December 19, 2024
  • 7:40 am

Trauma and Ecstasy by Alex Abraham–Book Review

Trauma and Ecstasy is Alex Abraham’s compelling autobiographical account of using psychoactive drugs to heal from the lifelong physical and psychological damage of childhood sexual abuse. Abraham gives credit for moving past the trauma primarily to his efforts combining these drugs with talk therapy, stating that he had repressed his painful memories until finding this method. In harrowing detail, Abraham discusses personal experiences of screaming and crying on the couches of therapists and shamans while high out of his mind in a desperate search for inner peace, as well as the grotesque victimization he was subjected to as a child. This book isn’t a selection for the faint of heart.

 

The first fifty pages read like an unfolding mystery. Abraham flips between describing his early childhood and trying doctor after doctor as an adult to find the cause for the erectile dysfunction and prostate pain he was experiencing. When those problems started affecting relationships and increasing day-to-

Abraham’s personal experience will hopefully become a milestone in legalizing these modalities for therapeutic use.

day anxiety and depression, he began learning about alternative therapies using controlled experiments with MDMA, LSD, and psilocybin. These intense therapy sessions are depicted in detail, juxtaposed with graphic sections where Abraham recalls the acts of rape his teacher committed.

 

Related: What Is Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy for PTSD?

 

The hideousness of the ladder cannot be understated. In significant portions of the book, Abraham describes his childhood piano instructor systematically grooming and molesting him countless times, laying speculation he was one of many children targeted by a pedophile ring. These hellacious attacks were violent. His teacher would choke him to the point of losing consciousness, in some cases leaving him bleeding for days.

In taking these drugs, Abraham was able to finally confront these horrific events for the first time at the age of twenty-seven. Now in his early thirties, he describes writing this book as being part of his ongoing process of healing, with hopes that sharing how mind-altering drugs changed his life for the better might help someone heal from trauma of their own. Abraham’s personal experience will hopefully become a milestone in legalizing these modalities for therapeutic use.

 

Many strengths are on display in the memoir, but raw honesty stands out. There are as many pages devoted to resentment towards his family for not protecting him as to cathartic reconciliations between Abraham and his mother. Abraham privileges the audience with a window into therapy as it unfolds,

Trauma and Ecstasy isn’t just for survivors of abuse or people interested in psychedelics; it’s for anyone who wants to learn more about life.

going through sessions using psychotropics with shameless honesty, depicting himself breaking down, crying, convulsing, lashing out at his therapist, and contemplating suicide.

 

Alex Abraham best summarizes his message in his own words during an interview about the book: ‘Trauma and Ecstasy isn’t just for survivors of abuse or people interested in psychedelics; it’s for anyone who wants to learn more about life.’ Abraham’s endurance of injustice and subjugation is a testament to the human spirit, and his courageous show of humanity makes Trauma and Ecstasy a valuable read.

 

Related: How Psychedelic Therapy Can Help Heal Sexual Trauma

Photo of a young, clean-cut man in long-sleeved purple shirt.

Courtesy of Alex Abraham

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