79: Dr Ansgar Rougemont-Bücking on Trauma, Psychedelics, and Holistic Healing

We are delighted to host Dr Ansgar Rougemont-Bücking on this episode of the mangu.tv podcast. 

Ansgar is a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, researcher, and author specialising in addiction, traumatic dissociation, and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. His integrative, transdisciplinary work combines neuroscience, depth psychology, and cultural analysis to examine how unresolved trauma shapes individual and collective behaviour. In his book Vampirocene: How Structural Traumatic Dissociation Is Leading Society into a Spiral of Violence (2023), he proposes the concept of a collective Stockholm syndrome to explain the normalisation of neglect and structural violence. He describes three contemporary traumatic archetypes: the vampire (narcissistic self-exaggeration), the zombie (dehumanisation), and the werewolf (rage born from fear and deprivation). Rougemont-Bücking calls for a “culture of conscience” to move beyond the dynamics of division and oppression characteristic of the Vampirocene toward a more empathetic, caring Anthropocene.

Ansgar speaks about his upbringing in Germany and how it influenced his decision to work with psychotherapy and psychedelics. He shares his academic journey, from studying medicine to specialising in neurology and psychiatry. Ansgar speaks about a very difficult moment in his life, and his subsequent discovery of holotropic breathwork & psychedelics. He talks about some of the inspiration behind his book, authors, and studies on traumatic dissociation, and three traumatic archetypes.

Giancarlo and Ansgar discuss the intersection of holistic medicine, consciousness, and science, highlighting the challenges in the current biomedical model. They speak about modern-day psychedelic-assisted therapy and the importance of integration and the need for a more empathetic and holistic healing approach.