In this friendly step-by-step guide, psychologist John Selby explores how to use cannabis as a powerful and effective path to strengthen your relationship and nurture your intimate life. Drawing on his own NIH brain research on the emotional impact of psychoactive chemicals, he explains the difference between getting high alone and as a couple and examines from a psychological and neurological perspective what happens when you get high. Revealing seven primary types of inner experience and outer behavior stimulated by THC, the author shares stories from his four decades of practice as a couples therapist, discussing the power of THC and other cannabinoids to help heal emotional wounds and boost intimacy—and how to determine if using cannabis together is right for you and your partner.

The author explains how to properly prepare for a cannabis session and how to use breath, meditation, and other focusing techniques to deepen the effects of being high and facilitate bonding. He reveals how cannabis-assisted relating can not only deepen relationships but also help to heal anxiety, depression, and PTSD.

Depending on several variables, pot can make us feel stoned and relatively unconscious or high and acutely conscious… Can we get high together in ways that actively and predictably enhance our relationship? …

 

Only recently has science caught up with what therapists have known for decades—cannabis usually helps people feel less anxious and more open to exploring otherwise uncharted realms of intimate relating.

This book also explores the use of cannabis for sexual pleasure and how the muse of marijuana can serve as an inner therapist to work out relationship issues. Shared laughter and emotional freedom are likewise encouraged. Selby also explores cannabis’s energetic influence on the chakras and how to balance and integrate the seven energy centers together with your partner during a cannabis session.

“John’s teachings are sincere, incredibly skillful, and pragmatic. He takes all of the trial and error out of the equation, and this allows couples to immediately benefit from safe and sacred cannabis use.” —Daniel McQueen, author of Psychedelic Cannabis

“The guidance is also just as useful for individuals looking for reliable, extensively ‘field-tested’ information. The book covers all the important bases, is direct and intimate in tone, and chock-full of accessible suggestions, checklists, affirmations, and anecdotes.” —Stephen Gray, editor of Cannabis and Spirituality

“If you’ve ever imagined that there might be a kind older person with decades of personal and professional experience on how to best use cannabis, who would share in depth a multitude of ways to improve your experiences, you’re going to want this book. John Selby is all of the above and a lot more. This book will lead you into more pleasure, more awareness, greater depths, more sensory excitement, more fun, and more wisdom. Spoiler alert: the last few chapters take what you’ve learned from the rest to a whole new level. Consider this book to be a gift to yourself, your partner, and your relationship.” —James Fadiman, Ph.D., author of The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide