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 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.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on psilocybin, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic psychedelics: An integrative review of epidemiology, therapeutics, mystical experience, and brain network function. General population | 2019 | Integrative review | |
| The pharmacology of psilocybin | 2002 | Review | |
| Serotonin research: contributions to understanding psychoses | 2008 | Review | |
| Psychedelics, Meditation, and Self-Consciousness | 2018 | Review | |
| The abuse potential of medical psilocybin according to the 8 factors of the Controlled Substances Act | 2018 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cites 62
- Neural correlates of the psychedelic state as determined by fMRI studies with psilocybin Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 23, 2012
- REBUS and the Anarchic Brain: Toward a Unified Model of the Brain Action of Psychedelics Pharmacological Reviews June 20, 2019
- Mystical experiences occasioned by the hallucinogen psilocybin lead to increases in the personality domain of openness Journal of Psychopharmacology September 28, 2011
- Quality of Acute Psychedelic Experience Predicts Therapeutic Efficacy of Psilocybin for Treatment-Resistant Depression Frontiers in Pharmacology January 17, 2018
- Long-term follow-up of psilocybin-facilitated smoking cessation The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse July 21, 2016
and 57 more in the library