Leo Zeff

Dr. Leo Zeff was an American psychologist and psychotherapist in Oakland, California who pioneered the use of ecstasy (MDMA) and other psychoactive drugs in psychotherapy in the 1970s.

In 1977, when Alexander Shulgin introduced Zeff to MDMA, the drug was still legal. Zeff popularized it in the psychotherapeutic community,[1] dubbing it "Adam" because he believed it returned one to a state of primordial innocence[2].

Leo Zeff was introduced to LSD in 1961 when he was working as a Jungian therapist, and he developed a method for administering LSD to patients during psychotherapy.[3]

Prior to working with psychedelics, Leo Zeff had been a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army.[3]

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References

  1. ^ Bennett, Drake (2005-01-30). "Dr. Ecstasy". New York Times Magazine. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/30/magazine/30ECSTASY.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print&position=&oref=slogin. Retrieved 2008-06-01. "Ann Shulgin remembers a speaker at Zeff's memorial service saying that Zeff had introduced the drug to 'about 4,000' therapists."
  2. ^ Brown, Ethan (September 2002). "Professor X". Wired 10 (9). http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.09/professorx.html?pg=3&topic=&topic_set=. Retrieved 2009-02-01. "Zeff was so enthusiastic about the compound that he postponed his retirement to travel across the country introducing MDMA to hundreds of his fellow therapists. Along the way, he gave the drug its first street name, Adam, because he believed it stripped away neuroses and put users in a primordial state." 
  3. ^ a b Erowid Review: The Secret Chief (2005)