Psychedelic Medicine
May 16, 2025
Roland R. Griffiths, William A. Richards, Robert L. Jesse et al.
14 citations
Background: Although historical writings, anthropological accounts, and experimental studies document associations between psilocybin use and religion, no prospective experimental study has investigated how the effects of psilocybin are experienced and interpreted by religious clergy. This exploratory study evaluated the overall safety and the acute and enduring effects of psilocybin in clergy....
Oxford University Press eBooks
December 1, 2022
Stephen Ross, Anthony P. Bossis
Abstract Following a decades-long hiatus and building on an innovative research model first developed from the 1960s to 1970s utilizing psychedelic therapeutics to alleviate the marked psychic distress in end-of-life cancer patients, major academic centers are resuming contemporary clinical research into the safety and efficacy of psilocybin and other serotonergic psychedelics delivered in...
Journal of Palliative Medicine
August 1, 2022
William E Rosa, Zachary Sager, Megan Miller et al.
49 citations
Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) is a burgeoning treatment with growing interest across a variety of settings and disciplines. Empirical evidence supports PAT as a novel therapeutic approach that provides safe and effective treatment for people suffering from a variety of diagnoses, including treatment-resistant depression, substance use disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Within...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
February 18, 2022
Sam Parnia, Stephen G. Post, Matthew T. Lee et al.
68 citations
An inadvertent consequence of advances in stem cell research, neuroscience, and resuscitation science has been to enable scientific insights regarding what happens to the human brain in relation to death. The scientific exploration of death is in large part possible due to the recognition that brain cells are more resilient to the effects of anoxia than assumed. Hence, brain cells become...
J Palliat Med
April 13, 2021
Yvan Beaussant, James A. Tulsky, Benjamin Guérin et al.
34 citations
Background: With support from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, we convened researchers representing palliative care, psychosocial oncology, spiritual care, oncology, and psychedelic-assisted therapies. We aimed to define priorities and envision an agenda for future research on psychedelic-assisted therapies in patients with serious illness. Over two days in...
ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science
March 18, 2021
Stephen Ross, Gabrielle Agin-Liebes, Sharon L. Lo et al.
133 citations
People with advanced cancer are at heightened risk of desire for hastened death (DHD), suicidal ideation (SI), and completed suicide. Loss of Meaning (LoM), a component of demoralization, can be elevated by a cancer diagnosis and predicts DHD and SI in this population. We completed a randomized controlled trial in which psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) produced rapid and sustained...
Journal of Palliative Medicine
April 1, 2020
Yvan Beaussant, Justin J. Sanders, Zachary Sager et al.
39 citations
Background: Recent and preprohibition studies show that patients with serious illness might benefit from psychedelic-assisted therapies for a range of symptoms, physical, psychosocial, and existential. Objective: To explore the potential roles and research priorities of these therapies in patients with serious illness. Design, Setting, and Participants: Qualitative study based on semistructured...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
January 9, 2020
Gabrielle Agin-Liebes, Tara C. Malone, Matthew M. Yalch et al.
353 citations
Background: A recently published randomized controlled trial compared single-dose psilocybin with single-dose niacin in conjunction with psychotherapy in participants with cancer-related psychiatric distress. Results suggested that psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy facilitated improvements in psychiatric and existential distress, quality of life, and spiritual well-being up to seven weeks prior...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
April 3, 2018
Tara C. Malone, Sarah E. Mennenga, Jeffrey Guss et al.
128 citations
A growing body of evidence shows that existential and spiritual well-being in cancer patients is associated with better medical outcomes, improved quality of life, and serves as a buffer against depression, hopelessness, and desire for hastened death. Historical and recent research suggests a role for psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy in treating cancer-related anxiety and depression. A...
Journal of Humanistic Psychology
June 14, 2017
Thomas Cody Swift, Alexander Belser, Gabrielle Agin-Liebes et al.
187 citations
Recent randomized controlled trials of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for patients with cancer suggest that this treatment results in large-magnitude reductions in anxiety and depression as well as improvements in attitudes toward disease progression and death, quality of life, and spirituality. To better understand these findings, we sought to identify psychological mechanisms of action...
Journal of Humanistic Psychology
April 28, 2017
Alexander Belser, Gabrielle Agin-Liebes, Thomas Cody Swift et al.
305 citations
The psychological mechanisms of action involved in psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy are not yet well understood. Despite a resurgence of quantitative research regarding psilocybin, the current study is the first qualitative study of participant experiences in psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy. Semistructured interviews were carried out with 13 adult participants aged 22 to 69 years ( M = 50...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
November 30, 2016
Stephen Ross, Anthony P. Bossis, Jeffrey Guss et al.
1,699 citations
Background: Clinically significant anxiety and depression are common in patients with cancer, and are associated with poor psychiatric and medical outcomes. Historical and recent research suggests a role for psilocybin to treat cancer-related anxiety and depression. Methods: In this double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial, 29 patients with cancer-related anxiety and depression were...