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Olivia Marcus

12 papers in the library · 138 citations · publishing 2020-2026

Papers

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Intercultural pathways to indigenous mental health: the integration of ayahuasca in community care in the Yaqui intercultural medicine clinic in Sonora, Mexico

Frontiers in Public Health October 9, 2026 Cecile Giovannetti, Anja Loizaga-Velder, Brian Rush et al.

Background Indigenous peoples experience substantial mental health and substance use disparities while remaining underserved by conventional healthcare systems. Despite growing evidence for psychedelic-assisted therapies, Indigenous knowledge systems and Indigenous-led models of psychedelic care remain underrepresented. This paper describes the establishment and implementation of the Yaqui...

Psychedelics for the Treatment of Substance Use Disorders: A Narrative Review of the Literature.

Substance use & addiction journal 2026 Olivia Marcus, Brian Rush

There is an increasing interest in the use of psychedelics for the treatment of substance use disorders (SUDs) and to improve overall health and wellbeing. We aimed to update and complement research syntheses that have focused only on results from clinical trials by synthesizing the research across diverse methods to discuss implications from a broad and multi-faceted literature. We conducted a...

An international Delphi consensus for reporting of setting in psychedelic clinical trials.

Nature Medicine June 3, 2025 Chloé Pronovost-Morgan, Kyle T. Greenway, Leor Roseman et al. 26 citations

Psychedelic substances exhibit complex interactions with the 'set and setting' of use, that is, the mental state of the user and the environment in which a psychedelic experience takes place. Despite these contextual variables' known importance, psychedelic research has lacked methodological rigor in reporting extra-pharmacological factors. This study aimed to generate consensus-based...

DOI: 10.1038/s41591-025-03685-9 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab) Psychedelic therapy Therapeutic protocols Clinical guidelines Mental health treatment +1

Preliminary results from a community-based ayahuasca-assisted mental health program among a Yaqui Indigenous population in Sonora, Mexico

Journal of Psychedelic Studies January 24, 2025 Cecile Giovannetti, Anja Loizaga-Velder, Ricardo Campoy Gomez et al. 5 citations

Abstract Background The Yaqui Intercultural Medicine Clinic was established in 2020 to provide accessible, culturally-attuned treatment for substance use and mental health disorders among an Indigenous Yaqui community in Mexico. The treatment program integrates ayahuasca ceremonies and psychotherapeutic support within a community-based outpatient treatment service. This observational pilot...

DOI: 10.1556/2054.2024.00401 (opens in new tab) Ayahuasca Indigenous Mental health Population +2

Ayahuasca Treatment Outcome Project (ATOP): One-Year Results from Takiwasi Center and Implications for Psychedelic Science.

Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs September 1, 2024 Brian Rush, Olivia Marcus, Sara García et al. 12 citations

This article focuses on the outcomes at 1 year post-treatment of a naturalistic evaluation of services provided through the Takiwasi Centre, an accredited Peruvian therapeutic community offering an ayahuasca-assisted, integrative treatment program for addiction rehabilitation. Participants (n = 52) completed structured interviews and a battery of validated instruments. Outcome measures included...

DOI: 10.15288/jsad.23-00005 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab) Addiction-treatment Psychedelic-therapy Ayahuasca-healing Alternative-medicine +1

'Everybody's creating it along the way': ethical tensions among globalized ayahuasca shamanisms and therapeutic integration practices.

Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 2023 Olivia Marcus 29 citations

Ayahuasca has a variety of traditional uses, yet there is a growing global interest in its potential therapeutic benefits for mental health conditions. Novel approaches to psychotherapy are emerging to address the needs of ayahuasca users to prepare as well as to guide them in 'integrating' their powerful psychedelic experiences, yet there is little discussion on the ethical frameworks that may...

DOI: 10.1080/03080188.2022.2075201 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab) Ayahuasca Psychedelic-therapy Indigenous-medicine Cross-cultural-healing +7

Therapeutic Effects of Ceremonial Ayahuasca Use for Methamphetamine Use Disorders and Other Mental Health Challenges: Case Studies in an Indigenous Community in Sonora, Mexico.

Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 2023 Anja Loizaga-Velder, Cecile Giovannetti, Ricardo Campoy Gomez et al. 9 citations

This paper describes three case studies from an outpatient intercultural therapeutic program founded and run by Yaqui health professionals and traditional healers to serve members of the Yaqui tribe residing in Sonora, Mexico. This pilot therapeutic program has been designed specifically for Indigenous individuals, incorporating the ceremonial use of naturally derived psychedelics in addressing...

Consume and Transform: Perfumes and healing in vegetalista healing practices of the Peruvian Amazon

Anthropology of Consciousness September 1, 2022 Olivia Marcus

AbstractThe use of perfumes, incense, colognes, and plant and flower essences in Amazonian healing practices is a hallmark feature of vegetalismo, a form of healing in Peru’s Amazonian regions. Sprayed, smoked, rubbed on bodies, and poured in medicinal baths, these odorous tools are vital allies to the curandero for cleansing bodies and spaces, for protection, or to add potency to medicinal...

Protocol for Outcome Evaluation of Ayahuasca-Assisted Addiction Treatment: The Case of Takiwasi Center

Frontiers in Pharmacology May 19, 2021 Brian Rush, Olivia Marcus, Sara Mallén García et al. 26 citations

The present study describes the protocol for the Ayahuasca Treatment Outcome Project (ATOP) with a special focus on the evaluation of addiction treatment services provided through Takiwasi Center, the first ATOP study site. The goal of the project is to assess treatment outcomes and understand the therapeutic mechanisms of an Ayahuasca-assisted, integrative treatment model for addiction...

DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2021.659644 (opens in new tab) Ayahuasca Context archaeology Protocol science Focus group +8

EXPERIENCIAS DE DIETA TERAPÉUTICA A BASE DE PLANTAS MEDICINALES AMAZÓNICAS EN EL CENTRO TAKIWASI EN PERÚ

Mendelova univerzita v Brně eBooks 2021 Tereza Rumlerová, Olivia Marcus, Jesús M. González Mariscal et al. 2 citations

Sanz-Biset & Cañigueral, 2011), son aún escasas las publicaciones al respecto.El dispositivo de la dieta está compuesto por una serie de estrictas normas, que implican el aislamiento, pautas rigurosas de alimentación y cuidados de la actividad sexual.No se puede tomar alcohol ni tener relaciones sexuales (incluida la masturbación), además de numerosas restricciones alimenticias entre las que se...

Evaluating herbal medicine preparation from a traditional perspective: insights from an ethnopharmaceutical survey in the Peruvian Amazon.

Anthropology & medicine September 2020 Giorgia Tresca, Olivia Marcus, Matteo Politi

The field of medical ethnobotany has historically contributed to the advancement of modern pharmaceutical and biomedical science through bringing discoveries from the field into the laboratory. In ethnopharmacology, a sub-field of ethnobotany, there is a concerning lack of ethnographic methods reported in the literature. The ethnographic approach is essential for detailing traditional methods...

DOI: 10.1080/13648470.2019.1669939 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab) Ethnopharmacology Peruvian shamanism Anthropology Human plant interactions +1