Eirini Ketzitzidou Argyri (Arket) is a transdisciplinary researcher, studying Normality-Challenging Experiences. She is currently a PhD candidate at Exeter University and Research Fellow with the Challenging Psychedelic Experiences Project. Her thesis explores how psychedelic experiences disrupt and diversify meaning-making, challenging assumptions about selfhood, relationships, and the nature of reality. Eirini’s work bridges psychology, education, and philosophy to examine perspective-shifting processes and adaptive pathways towards prosocial, holistic integration of diversifying experiences.

Awakening from Normality: Psychedelics as Ontologically Diversifying Experiences

This presentation explores how psychedelic experiences function as Ontologically Diversifying Experiences, challenging normative frameworks of selfhood, relationships, and reality. Synthesizing insights from recent psychedelic research, I examine how ontological shock and boundary-dissolving states disrupt cognitive, existential, and socially normative assumptions, with the potential to trigger trauma or foster psychological growth through transformative learning. Drawing on empirical data and theory, we will unpack mechanisms of disruption and integration, offering insights for harm reduction and self-development. Finally, we will discuss how recognizing the role of psychedelics in catalyzing diversifying experiences may inform societal approaches to altered states of consciousness.