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Psilocybin-Assisted Compassion Focused Therapy for Depression

Wendy T. M. Pots, Farid Chakhssi

Frontiers in Psychology March 25, 2022 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.812930 (opens in new tab)

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AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed
Interventions Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy Compassion Focused Therapy
Topics Meditation Psilocybin Depression
Keywords Psychotherapist Compassion Hallucinogen Clinical psychology
Citations 31
Key points Proposes that Compassion Focused Therapy can provide the theoretical model and compassion practices to reinforce experiences during psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for depression.

Abstract

Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy, i.e., psilocybin treatment with psychological support, has demonstrated the efficacy of psilocybin to reduce depressive symptoms. However, in clinical trials, the structure of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy is primarily based on preparation, navigation (support during dosing sessions), and integration. For psychotherapeutic guidance, the application of this structure is favored over the usage of theoretical models. The applied psychotherapeutic models may be of critical importance if the effects are augmented due to the psychologically insightful experiences during the navigation and integration sessions. One of the important next steps is to provide therapists with guidance on how to provide psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy. We present an integrated protocol for psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for depression based on the theoretical model and psychotherapeutic framework of Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT). We hypothesize that CFT can provide the theoretical model and compassion practices that will reinforce the experiences during the navigation and follow-up therapy sessions. In this paper, we describe the rationale for selecting CFT, the compatibility of CFT and psilocybin-therapy, an overview of the psilocybin-assisted CFT protocol, the study protocol, and limitations to this approach.

Comparable studies

Other theoretical and historical papers on psilocybin and meditation, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Virtual Reality as a Moderator of Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy 2022 Theoretical or philosophical paper
Psilocybin: The most effective moral bio‐enhancer? 2023 Theoretical or philosophical paper
Preparing the body for psilocybin therapy: receptive and generative interoception in cancer patients 2026 Theoretical or philosophical paper

Citations in the library

Cited by 24

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Cites 31

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