Psychedelics
June 28, 2026
Joost J. Breeksema, Ulf Bremberg, Jens H van Dalfsen et al.
The research, understanding, and implementation of psychedelic therapies is characterised by a layered complexity that arises from the dynamic interactions between pharmacological and extra-pharmacological factors, and the embeddedness of psychedelics within broader societal, legal, and regulatory systems ill-equipped to accommodate them. This complexity is compounded by an epistemic...
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
March 14, 2026
Aaron D. Cherniak, Pehr Granqvist, Mario Mikulincer et al.
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...
October 27, 2025
Aaron D. Cherniak, Pehr Granqvist, Mario Mikulincer et al.
preprint
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...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
May 30, 2025
Esenia K. Cassidy, David Dupuis, Christopher Timmermann et al.
4 citations
Abstract Background & aims This conceptual paper explores the intersection of attachment theory, psychedelic research, and enculturation dynamics. We aim to understand how both attachment patterns and psychedelic use may jointly influence worldview transformations and enculturation processes. Methods We synthesize theoretical perspectives and empirical findings from multiple fields, including...
The Oxford Handbook of Psychedelic, Religious, Spiritual, and Mystical Experiences
December 18, 2024
Aaron D. Cherniak, Robin Carhart-Harris, Joel Gruneau Brulin et al.
2 citations
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...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
March 5, 2024
Aaron D. Cherniak, Mario Mikulincer, Joel Gruneau Brulin et al.
7 citations
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...
Religions
April 27, 2023
Anja L. Winter, Pehr Granqvist
In this conceptual paper, we suggest that attachment theory is a viable framework for understanding key aspects of embodied religious and spiritual cognition, as seen in religious and spiritual metaphors, rituals, anthropomorphisms, and more. We also discuss embodied cognition as part of mystical experiences and other altered states of consciousness that may occur both within and outside of...
December 25, 2021
Aaron D. Cherniak, Joel Gruneau Brulin, Mario Mikulincer et al.
4 citations
preprint
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...
March 6, 2012
P. Granqvist, B. Hagekull, T. Ivarsson
Abstract In this article, the authors argue that mystical experiences are linked to disorganized attachment via a proposed mediator—the propensity to enter altered states of consciousness (absorption). Using a sample of predominantly religious/spiritual participants (N = 62), they report that disorganized attachment, as identified with the Adult Attachment Interview, predicted lifetime...
Attachment & human development
July 2009
Pehr Granqvist, Mari Fransson, Berit Hagekull
In this paper, we present a theoretical model and an empirical review linking disorganized attachment with New Age spiritual beliefs and activities via a proposed mediator; the propensity to enter altered states of consciousness (absorption/dissociation). Utilizing a prospective longitudinal design (N = 62), an empirical test of the mediational model is also provided for illustrational...
The Journal of Psychology
July 1, 2006
Pehr Granqvist, Marcus Larsson
31 citations
M. A. Persinger (2002) claimed that transcranial magnetic stimulation with weak, complex magnetic fields evokes mystical experiences. However, in a double-blind experiment, P. Granqvist, M. Fredrikson, P. Unge, A. Hagenfeldt, S. Valind., et al. (2005) found no effects of field exposure on mystical experiences (N = 89), though a minority of participants reported spontaneous mystical experiences....
Neuroscience Letters
December 10, 2004
Pehr Granqvist, Mats Fredrikson, Patrik Unge et al.
189 citations
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with weak (micro Tesla) complex waveform fields have been claimed to evoke the sensed presence of a sentient being in up to 80% in the general population. These findings have had a questionable neurophysiological foundation as the fields are approximately six orders of magnitude weaker than ordinary TMS fields. Also, no independent replication has been...