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Kevin F. Boehnke

27 papers in the library · 187 citations · publishing 2022-2026

Papers

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Classic Psychedelics for Chronic Pain: A Critical Review of the Literature and Practical Advice for Clinicians.

Drugs June 4, 2026 Kevin F. Boehnke, Niloufar Pouyan, Jacob S. Aday

Chronic pain is common, costly, and for many, remains inadequately treated by existing pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic approaches. In parallel with growing dissatisfaction with conventional therapies, classic serotonergic psychedelics, such as psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), ayahuasca, N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), and mescaline, administered alone or within...

Priorities for psychedelic research among people who use psychedelics.

Journal of Psychiatric Research June 2, 2026 Daniel J. Kruger, Audrey Czerew, Leigh Farquhar et al.

Most academic psychedelic research is clinically oriented, with industry research primarily focusing on the medicalization of these substances. Given the rapid policy changes and the surge in interest among researchers and the public, it is imperative to assess and document the research priorities of the broader psychedelic community. This study aimed to identify these priorities through an...

Major life changes following psychedelic use: A retrospective survey among people using psychedelics naturalistically

Scientific Reports April 15, 2026 Jacob S. Aday, Nicolas G. Glynos, Anne Baker et al.

Psychedelic drugs show promise in facilitating a variety of long-term psychological changes, but they may also lead to unexpected major life changes that have not been captured by measures typically used in clinical trials. The Psychedelic-related Major Life Changes Questionnaire ( P-MLCQ ) was created to assess psychedelic-related major life changes across 10 different domains and evaluated in...

Extended difficulties after psychedelic experiences: Prevalence and associations in a global, multilingual sample.

Research Square April 8, 2026 Oliver Robinson, David Luke, Jules Evans et al. 1 citation

As psychedelic use increases and integrates with mainstream medicine, understanding the prevalence and nature of postpsychedelic adverse outcomes is critical. We investigated extended difficulties after psychedelic use via the Global Psychedelic Survey (GPS) 2025, which is a multilingual online survey of people who have used psychedelics. Data on the prevalence, characteristics, and...

Preliminary effects of ayahuasca on mental and physical health: A systematic review of prospective studies

Progress in Neuro-psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry February 8, 2026 Michael J. Haupt, Savannah Pointe, Kevin F. Boehnke et al.

Ayahuasca is a psychedelic plant brew that has been used in Central and South America for centuries. Recently, there has been an increase in "drug tourism" to places where ayahuasca is legally available as well as increased scientific interest in its potential mental and physical health benefits. Despite a growing body of research over the last decade, no studies to date have systematically...

Disengaged: A systematic review of community engagement in psychedelic-assisted therapy research.

Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews February 1, 2026 Mallet R Reid, Jonathan Song, Kevin F. Boehnke et al.

People of color have been significantly underincluded in psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) research, despite facing challenges commonly addressed in PAT and often more severe symptoms. It may be the case that people of color are underincluded because PAT researchers have not used approaches designed to promote sample diversity. Community-engaged research (CEnR) is a research paradigm that has...

Blunted Psychedelic Drug Effects in Older Adults

American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 2026 Jacob S. Aday, Robin Carhart-Harris, Kevin F. Boehnke 2 citations

Classic psychedelic drugs, including psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide, and ayahuasca/N,N-dimethyltryptamine, are increasingly being studied as therapeutics for myriad health conditions; however, predicting individual responses is notoriously difficult. An arguably underappreciated variable potentially moderating responses to psychedelics is age. Older adults exhibit unique pathogenesis of...

Best practices for first psychedelic experiences: harm reduction advice from the psychedelic community.

Harm Reduct J November 25, 2025 Daniel J. Kruger, Gina Mersereau, Ashley Sullivan et al. 1 citation

BACKGROUND: The use of psychedelics is currently increasing in the United States. Awareness of clinical trials investigating the therapeutic applications of psychedelics may result in a record number of people who use psychedelics for the first-time. This study aimed to develop a harm-reduction resource to facilitate safe and successful psychedelic experiences outside of regulated clinical and...

Pictorial representation of illness and self measure (PRISM): A putative transdiagnostic tool for evaluating therapeutic effects of psychedelic treatments.

Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) May 1, 2025 Niloufar Pouyan, Jacob S. Aday, Steven E. Harte et al. 1 citation

Patients with refractory conditions often identify themselves with their illness, which affects multiple aspects of their lives. The pictorial representation of illness and self measure (PRISM) is a tool used to assess the enmeshment of individuals' perception of self with a particular medical condition, broadly termed self-condition enmeshment. This study aimed to evaluate changes in PRISM...

Pictorial representation of illness and self measure (PRISM): A putative transdiagnostic tool for evaluating therapeutic effects of psychedelic treatments

Universität Zürich, ZORA May 1, 2025 Niloufar Pouyan, Jacob S. Aday, Steven E. Harte et al.

Background: Patients with refractory conditions often identify themselves with their illness, which affects multiple aspects of their lives. The pictorial representation of illness and self measure (PRISM) is a tool used to assess the enmeshment of individuals' perception of self with a particular medical condition, broadly termed self-condition enmeshment. Aims: This study aimed to evaluate...

Racial Differences in Naturalistic Psychedelic Use - Motivations for Use, Communication with Health Care Providers, and Outcomes.

Journal of Psychoactive Drugs April 22, 2025 Nicolas G. Glynos, Mallet R Reid, Jacob S. Aday et al. 4 citations

People of Color have been under-included in psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) research. Researchers have argued that systemic issues resulting in harms to communities of color like the War on Drugs and recurrent exposure to discrimination in healthcare settings may reduce their willingness to engage in PAT research. However, there are no empirical data regarding People of Color's trust or...

Perceived Impact of Psychedelics on Sexual, Gender, and Intimate Relationship Dynamics: A Mixed-Methods Investigation

The Journal of Sex Research March 28, 2025 Daniel J. Kruger, Eirini K. Argyri, Justin K. Mogilski et al. 7 citations

= 581). Most participants (70.2%) reported perceived impacts of psychedelic experiences on their sexuality and/or sexual experiences, with 65.4% noting short-term effects during psychedelic experiences and 52.8% reporting long-term effects, although no individual effect was endorsed by most participants. A higher proportion of participants indicated that psychedelic experiences enhanced, rather...

Preliminary safety and effectiveness of psilocybin-assisted therapy in adults with fibromyalgia: an open-label pilot clinical trial

Frontiers in Pain Research March 18, 2025 Jenna McAfee, Avinash Hosanagar, Vijay Tarnal et al. 18 citations

Introduction Fibromyalgia (FM) is the prototypical nociplastic pain condition, characterized by widespread pain and issues with cognition, mood, and sleep. Currently, there are limited treatment options available that effectively treat FM symptoms. Psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT) is an emerging combined drug-therapy intervention, but no studies to-date have investigated PAT for FM. Methods...

Psychedelic Therapist Sexual Misconduct and Other Adverse Experiences Among a Sample of Naturalistic Psychedelic Users.

Psychedelic medicine (New Rochelle, N.Y.) March 1, 2025 Daniel J. Kruger, Jacob S. Aday, Christopher W Fields et al. 19 citations

Psychedelic substances have been used for centuries in various cultural and religious contexts, and more recently, in clinical research and therapy. There is a surge of interest in psychedelics, and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is becoming increasingly accessible. However, most individuals using psychedelics do so outside of therapeutic contexts. It is important to understand the adverse...

Psychedelics and chronic pain: self-reported outcomes on changed substance use patterns and health following naturalistic psychedelic use

British Journal of Pain February 11, 2025 Anne Baker, Stephanie Lake, Philippe Lucas et al. 7 citations

Psychedelic substances have shown preliminary efficacy for several neuropsychiatric disorders and are currently being investigated for chronic pain conditions. However, few studies have investigated outcomes of naturalistic psychedelic use among individuals with chronic pain, and none have assessed psychedelic-related changes in substance use patterns in this population. In a cross-sectional...

Tripping into Treatment: Comparing Initial and Current Motivations for Psychedelic Use

Journal of Psychoactive Drugs February 5, 2025 Daniel J. Kruger, Jeff Albrecht, Jacob S. Aday et al. 3 citations

Psychedelic drugs are currently being explored for their therapeutic potential for a variety of health conditions. The recent increased public interest in psychedelics necessitates empirical investigation into motivations for use among users as well as how motivations may change over time. We asked a large sample of participants reporting naturalistic psychedelic use (N = 1221) about their...

Best practices for first psychedelic experiences: harm reduction advice from the psychedelic community

Figshare 2025 Daniel J. Kruger, Gina Mersereau, Ashley Sullivan et al.

Abstract Background The use of psychedelics is currently increasing in the United States. Awareness of clinical trials investigating the therapeutic applications of psychedelics may result in a record number of people who use psychedelics for the first-time. This study aimed to develop a harm-reduction resource to facilitate safe and successful psychedelic experiences outside of regulated...

Going Underground: Demographics, Services, and Best Practices Endorsed by Practitioners Providing Support for Naturalistic Psychedelic Use

Journal of Psychoactive Drugs September 19, 2024 Anne Baker, Niloufar Pouyan, Julie Barron et al. 9 citations

Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) has shown preliminary efficacy for psychiatric and physical health conditions. Although some people report naturalistic psychedelic use with so-called "underground" practitioners, little is known about PAT that occurs outside of controlled clinical settings or perspectives of these practitioners. We conducted an anonymous online survey of individuals who...

Attitudes of psychedelic users regarding cost of treatment and non-hallucinogenic alternatives

Journal of Psychedelic Studies May 30, 2024 Jacob S. Aday, Kevin F. Boehnke, Moss Herberholz et al. 3 citations

Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) is currently being studied as a possible treatment option for multiple disorders. Despite promising safety and efficacy findings, the high costs of the current PAP model makes it questionable if the treatment will be scalable. Non-hallucinogenic psychedelic analogs have been developed as a potential cost-effective alternative, but it is unclear what...

Psychedelic substitution: altered substance use patterns following psychedelic use in a global survey.

Frontiers in Psychiatry 2024 Nicolas G. Glynos, Jacob S. Aday, Daniel J. Kruger et al. 15 citations

Recent research suggests that psychedelics may have potential for the treatment of various substance use disorders. However, most studies to date have been limited by small sample sizes and neglecting to include non-North American and European populations. We conducted a global, cross-sectional online survey of adults (n = 5,268, 47.2% women) self-reporting past or current psychedelic use and...

Slouching towards engagement: interactions between people using psychedelics naturalistically and their healthcare providers

Frontiers in Psychiatry August 4, 2023 Kasey Cox, Cody Weston, Moss Herberholz et al.

Introduction There is substantial public interest in psychedelics as potential treatments for psychiatric conditions. However, most psychedelics are criminalized under federal law in the USA, so it is unclear whether use occurs with clinical support. Our objective was to assess whether naturalistic psychedelic use occurs with clinical support, interactions between those using psychedelics and...

The Relationship Between Naturalistic Psychedelic Use and Clinical Care in Canada

Journal of Psychoactive Drugs July 29, 2023 Nicolas G. Glynos, Daniel J. Kruger, Nicholas Kolbman et al.

ABSTRACT Naturalistic psychedelic use among Canadians is common. However, interactions about psychedelic use between patients and clinicians in Canada remain unclear. Via an anonymous survey, we assessed health outcomes and integration of psychedelic use with health care providers (HCP) among Canadian adults reporting past use of a psychedelic. The survey included 2,384 participants, and most...

"How Do I Learn More About this?": Utilization and Trust of Psychedelic Information Sources Among People Naturalistically Using Psychedelics.

Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 2023 Daniel J. Kruger, Oskar Enghoff, Moss Herberholz et al. 24 citations

There is a surge of interest in psychedelics, including new stakeholders and greater media attention. There is a need to examine the information-seeking behavior of people using psychedelics naturalistically, given the importance of preparation and harm-reduction. We examined sources of information for people using psychedelics naturalistically, and the degree to which they are trusted in a...

An Assessment of Psychedelic Knowledge Among People Using Psychedelics Naturalistically.

Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 2023 Daniel J. Kruger, Nicolas G. Glynos, Christopher W Fields et al. 10 citations

Identifying gaps and strengths in psychedelic-related knowledge is key to developing effective, evidence-based education to inform appropriate use of and harm reduction practices for psychedelics in the naturalistic use landscape. The current study piloted an assessment instrument with questions on legal status, therapeutic potential, and side effects of psychedelics among people reporting...

Preferences and Support for Psychedelic Policies and Practices Among Those Using Psychedelics.

Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 2023 Daniel J. Kruger, Julie Barron, Moss Herberholz et al. 4 citations

Legal, scientific, and social landscapes for psychedelics are changing rapidly. Differences of opinion exist among key stakeholders regarding regulatory control, models of provisioning psychedelic therapy, and medicalization, decriminalization, and/or legalization policies. We assessed the policy preferences of people using psychedelics naturalistically (N = 1221) to understand how they aligned...