Psilocybin Treatment as an Adjunct to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Eating Disorders: Therapeutic Rationale & Considerations for Protocol Development.
Elena Koning, Susan Gamberg, Aaron Keshen
Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) March 6, 2026 DOI: 10.3390/bs16030376 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Narrative review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Psilocybin |
| Keywords | Eating disorders Psychedelic treatment Psychotherapy |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key findings | Psilocybin treatment is hypothesized to enhance CBT-ED by increasing psychotherapeutic engagement, reducing dropout, and improving clinical outcomes through neurobiological, psychological, and experiential effects. |
Abstract
Eating disorders (EDs) remain challenging to treat, with high dropout and low remission rates in cognitive-behavioral therapy for EDs (CBT-ED). Psilocybin treatment (PT) demonstrates therapeutic potential to enhance CBT-ED by exerting several neurobiological, psychological, and experiential effects (e.g., antidepressant, neuroplasticity, emotional openness) that are hypothesized to increase psychotherapeutic engagement, reduce dropout, and improve clinical outcomes. This narrative review provides the first consolidation of theoretical evidence for PT/CBT-ED, proposes considerations for a concurrent intervention protocol, and presents clinical and research considerations to empirically test its feasibility, safety, and efficacy. This line of inquiry is expected to advance the development of approaches that improve ED treatment outcomes and, more broadly, advance the study of psychedelics as tools to enhance evidence-based psychotherapy models.