While some studies suggest that psychedelic use may be linked to positive environmental attitudes and health behaviors, the relationship between these factors remains underexplored. This study investigates the associations between lifetime use of psilocybin and LSD, environmental attitudes, and dietary behaviors using data from two UK birth cohort studies: the 1958 National Child Development...
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...
The rapid expansion of psychedelic research has opened significant pathways of opportunity in treating mental health disorders. Participants in recent clinical trials consistently report mystical-type experiences during dosing sessions, and some scholars posit that such experiences themselves help mediate clinical improvements in depression, PTSD, anxiety, and substance use disorders. These...
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...
This fiction article is about trauma and grief, resilience and the celebration of life. It also addresses the role psychedelics can play in bringing about change in our traumatized society by inspiring us and showing us how to use the present as a possibility for fundamental transformation. It is written in the form of a short story to exemplify how these substances work and underline the...
Abstract In this chapter, the authors synthesize the relational developmental perspective of attachment theory with a neuroscientific model: the RElaxed Beliefs Under pSychedelics (REBUS). This synthesis, the authors argue, can serve as an organizing framework for psychedelic science. Attachment theory posits that people develop internal working models (IWMs) of relational experiences with...
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...
Abstract Background and aims Emerging research indicates that psychedelics may have therapeutic potential by fostering meaningful experiences that act as “inflection points” in people's narratives of personal development. However, psychedelic research has largely failed to address pertinent developmental considerations. We investigated whether attachment-related variables were associated with...
In this paper, we set an agenda for a psychedelic science of spirituality and religion, based on a synthesis of attachment theory with the Relaxed Beliefs Under pSychedelics (REBUS) model. Attachment theory proposes that people develop internal working models (IWMs) of interactions with others from their relational experiences with caregivers. Such IWMs then function as high-level priors...
Abstract: Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) is increasingly used for trauma-related disorders, raising ethical questions beyond client safety. We argue that PAT clients have epistemic needs and clinicians have corresponding obligations that call for epistemic humility and discipline, which are essential for regulating foreseeable epistemic risks and for PAT's ethical structure. Drawing on...