Music as a collaborating actor: new insights into the nature and role of music in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.
Justin Dwyer, Robert B. Johnston, Clare O'Callaghan, Voula Kallianis, Margaret Ross
Frontiers in Psychiatry 2025 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1541528 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Phenomenological analysis nested in a randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Participants in a randomized controlled trial of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy at end of life |
| Intervention | psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy |
| Dose | two doses |
| Topics | Psilocybin Psychedelic-assisted therapy |
| Keywords | End-of-life Music therapy Palliative care Psychedelic assisted psychotherapy Psychedelic-assisted treatment Therapeutic music Hospice care Terminal care Sound therapy |
| Citations | 5 |
| Key findings | Music in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy transforms from everyday recorded music into internally generated, multisensory, personal experiences that can act as collaborators in psychotherapy, contrasting with the placebo group's experience. |
Abstract
Music has been identified as a central feature of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) and has hitherto been understood to amplify the psychedelic experience in a predictable way that has been codified into music recommendations and playlists. To re-evaluate the nature and role of music within the participant's world during psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. Phenomenological analysis of participants' descriptions of music during a randomised control trial of PAP at end of life involving two doses and a semi-structured interview following each dose. Music undergoes a profound change during PAP that radically transforms it from everyday recorded music into a series of internally generated multisensory and deeply personal experiences that arrive fully formed and are instantly known by the participant. Some of these are constituted into actors that collaborate with the participant and the psychotherapist in their ongoing psychotherapy endeavours. This stands in stark contrast with the everyday properties of music described by those in the placebo group. An alternate understanding of music in PAP is suggested that radically departs from the view that music is "administered" as part of PAP. There are profound implications for the practise of PAP and further research. Australian New Zealand Clinician Trials Registry identifier, ACTRN12619001225101.
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on psilocybin and psychedelic-assisted therapy, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psilocybin occasioned mystical-type experiences: immediate and persisting dose-related effects. Healthy adults, mostly hallucinogen-naïve | 2011 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 18 |
| Percentage of Heavy Drinking Days Following Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy vs Placebo in the Treatment of Adult Patients With Alcohol Use Disorder Adults aged 25–65 with DSM-IV alcohol dependence and at least 4 heavy drinking days in... | 2022 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 95 |
| Increased global integration in the brain after psilocybin therapy for depression. Patients with treatment-resistant depression and patients with major depressive disorder | 2022 | Open-label trial and double-blind phase II randomized controlled trial | |
| Single-dose psilocybin-assisted therapy in major depressive disorder: A placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomised clinical trial. Adults diagnosed with major depressive disorder and no unstable somatic conditions | 2023 | Double-blind, randomised clinical trial | n = 52 |
| Implications for psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy: functional magnetic resonance imaging study with psilocybin Healthy participants | 2012 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 10 |