This commentary critically examines the interpretation and analytic choices in Goodwin and colleagues’ recent analysis of therapeutic alliance in psilocybin treatment for treatment-resistant depression. While the authors conclude that alliance did not meaningfully contribute to treatment efficacy, we argue that this interpretation is not supported by the reported results, which are, in...
Psilocybin shows promise for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), but long-term data are limited. This study examined the antidepressant effect of one or two psilocybin doses with adjunct psychotherapy in TRD until twelve months. This is a naturalistic follow-up of a phase 2b, randomized, active placebo-controlled trial, where participants were randomized to receive two drug administrations...
Importance: Psilocybin shows promise in treating depression, although limitations of previous research warrant further research. Objective: To investigate the efficacy and safety of oral psilocybin, 25 mg, with adjunct psychotherapy in treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Design, Setting, and Participants: This was a 2-center, triple-blinded (investigator, participant, rater), phase 2b, active...
Research has established that life stress may elevate the likelihood of challenging experiences with psychedelics, which may be linked to poorer outcomes from psychedelic use. Studies have highlighted the importance of therapeutic support, but questions remain about the type of effective support and its specific contribution. We examined the contribution of therapeutic-like contexts and support...
BACKGROUND: While clinical research on psychedelics often reports mild and transient side effects, broader survey studies indicate that a subset of users experiences lasting adverse mental health effects. This study investigated whether some of these meet diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). METHODS: = 243) was conducted with individuals reporting distressing...
Abstract In their recent case report article, Peck and colleagues suggested that two patients recovered dissociated traumatic memories during psilocybin treatment for anorexia nervosa. These case reports are of clinical and scientific interest and confirm that psychedelics may induce vivid memory-like experiences. However, the reports warrant scrutiny. Here, based on what is known about...
Psychedelic therapy is commonly understood as a form of psychotherapy. However, despite promising results from clinical trials, scientific progress has been hindered by a lack of theoretical integration between the fields of psychedelic and psychotherapy research. This article seeks to bridge this divide by outlining a transtheoretical understanding of psychedelic-occasioned psychological...
This article has been accepted for publication in Journal of Psychoactive Drugs - https://doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2026.2644857Background:Research has established that life stress may elevate the likelihood of challenging experiences with psychedelics, which may be linked to poorer outcomes from psychedelic use. Studies have highlighted the importance of therapeutic support, but questions...
Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) has typically been evaluated using conventional randomised controlled trials (RCTs), which assess treatment efficacy under highly controlled conditions. However, PAT constitutes a complex intervention, integrating pharmacological, psychotherapeutic and contextual elements that interact dynamically with patient experiences and healthcare settings. Conventional...
Current regulation frameworks for medicines struggle to address the combination of pharmacological and psychotherapeutic elements in psychedelic therapy. We propose a more appropriate and advantageous approach may be to regulate psychedelic drugs as therapeutic tools or adjuncts to psychotherapy, rather than as treatments for specific mental disorders. Drawing parallels with anesthetics, which...
Clinical studies with psilocybin in combination with psychotherapy show promising results for the treatment of various mental disorders; however, there still exists a lack of knowledge, rejection and prejudice towards this new form of therapy among doctors, psychotherapists and patients. The aim of this study was to gain a representative impression, as far as possible, of the level of...
Hintergrund: Klinische Studien mit Psilocybin in Kombination mit Psychotherapie zeigen vielversprechende Ergebnisse bei der Behandlung verschiedener psychischer Störungen. In der Ärzte- und Psychotherapeutenschaft sowie unter Patient:innen bestehen auch Unwissen, Ablehnung und Vorurteile gegenüber dieser neuen Therapieform. Ziel dieser Studie war es, einen möglichst repräsentativen Eindruck vom...
Introduction: Serotonergic psychedelics, serotonin 2A receptor agonists such as psilocybin that can result in substantially altered states of consciousness, are used in recreational and research settings. The safety of psychedelic experiences in research settings is supported by controlled physical environments, presence of clinical and medical staff to address emergent issues, screening for...
Psychedelic treatments are extending beyond research units and into hospitals, outpatient clinics, and community practices. Contrasting the constrained procedures of clinical trials with the realities of routine practice, this article outlines the competencies needed for safe, effective, and ethically sound psychedelic therapy in everyday mental health care. To accommodate mainstream adoption...
The renewed interest in psychedelics as treatments for mental health disorders is often referred to as the "Psychedelic Renaissance." This article assesses whether this resurgence truly constitutes a paradigm shift in psychiatry, as some proponents claim, or if it should be viewed as an integration of existing therapeutic approaches. We explore historical contexts, noting that psychedelics were...
Background: Therapeutic and salutogenic effects of psychedelic drugs have been attributed to psychotherapeutic or psychotherapy-like processes that can unfold during the acute psychedelic experience and beyond. Currently, there are no psychometric instruments available to comprehensively assess psychotherapeutic processes (as conceptualized by empirical psychotherapy research) in the context of...
Treatment of psychiatric disorders with psychedelic substances represents one of the most promising current treatment approaches in psychiatry. Since its inception in the 1950s, therapy with psychedelics has been conceptualised as psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy-ie, a form of psychotherapy that uses the profound biological effects of this class of substances as a catalyst for changing...
Zusammenfassung Ziel der Studie In den letzten Jahren konnten Studien, in denen die Verwendung von Psilocybin zur Behandlung psychischer Störungen untersucht wurde, vielversprechende Ergebnisse zeigen. Vor diesem Hintergrund wurden Einstellungen von ausgebildeten Psychiater*innen und Psychotherapeut*innen zu Psilocybin und Psilocybin-unterstützten Therapien untersucht. Methodik Eine...
Background: Many benefits and some harms associated with psychedelic use could be attributable to these drugs’ acceptance/avoidance-promoting effects and corresponding changes in psychological flexibility. Underlying psychological mechanisms are insufficiently understood. Aim: The purpose of this study was the validation of a psychological model of acceptance/avoidance-promoting psychedelic...
Psychedelics such as psilocybin have recently gained remarkable interest in both the specialist literature and the lay press because studies suggest that these substances may have great therapeutic potential in various psychiatric disorders, including major depression. However, clinical trials with psychedelic drugs pose particular methodological challenges to researchers, some of which differ...
The efficacy of psychedelic-assisted therapies for mental disorders has been attributed to the lasting change from experiential avoidance to acceptance that these treatments appear to facilitate. This article presents a conceptual model that specifies potential psychological mechanisms underlying such change, and that shows substantial parallels between psychedelic therapy and cognitive...