The PsyCreativity Protocol: A Transdisciplinary Framework for Psychedelic-Enhanced Creative Practice

A structured framework called the PsyCreativity Protocol (PCP) is proposed for intentionally and ethically using psychedelic experiences to facilitate creativity in applied fields like design, innovation, and futures work. The protocol has three phases: Priming, Immersion, and Integration, supported by evidence from cognitive neuroscience, expressive arts therapy, and creativity research. Two complementary models are also presented: the Psychedelic Design Fiction Lab for speculative worldbuilding and Creative Reworlding Circles, an Indigenous-led framework centered on ceremonial practice and decolonial creativity. The paper argues that psychedelics enable expanded relationality and visionary sense-making essential for addressing complex systemic challenges.

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Abstract

This paper proposes the PsyCreativity Protocol (PCP) — a structured, transdisciplinary framework for facilitating creativity through intentional, ethically guided psychedelic experiences. The PCP responds to a specific and persistent gap in that literature: the absence of practitioner-oriented frameworks addressing how, when, and under what conditions psychedelics may be most productively integrated into applied creative practice — particularly in design, innovation, and speculative futures work. The protocol is structured across three temporal phases — Priming, Immersion, and Integration — and is supported by converging evidence from cognitive neuroscience, expressive arts therapy, and creativity research. Two alternative and complementary models are also proposed: the Psychedelic Design Fiction Lab (PDF-Lab), oriented toward speculative worldbuilding and critical futures design, and Creative Reworlding Circles (CRC), an Indigenous-led framework centring ceremonial practice, ecological reciprocity, and decolonial creativity. The paper critically evaluates the strengths and limitations of each model and concludes with three priority research directions. It argues that psychedelics offer not merely cognitive enhancement but access to expanded relationality, visionary sense-making, and forms of creativity essential for addressing the complex systemic challenges of the twenty-first century.