Frontiers in Psychiatry
August 12, 2026
Anthony L. Back, Robert Bosnak
Psilocybin therapy in patients with cancer commonly produces vivid embodied and imaginal experiences that resist verbal description, yet most current integration approaches rely primarily on cognitive and verbal processing. We hypothesize that an approach to integration that directly engages this embodied register, without requiring translation into a verbal narrative, will enable patients to...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
August 6, 2026
Maria Laura Mele, Stefano Federici
IntroductionPsychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) is an emerging complex intervention for psychiatric and existential conditions (i.e., forms of distress related to meaning, mortality, and identity, such as that arising in life-threatening illness); however, a systematic characterization of the evaluation methods used across the entire clinical intervention remains incomplete. This scoping review...
Frontiers in Veterinary Science
July 28, 2026
Yanira Suárez-Fernández, Elisa Hernández-Álvarez, Lucas F Borkel et al.
IntroductionThe adoption of emerging therapeutic approaches in veterinary medicine is likely to depend not only on scientific evidence but also on how such interventions are cognitively and attitudinally appraised by future professionals. This study aimed to assess knowledge, attitudes, and perceived risk regarding psychedelic use among veterinary students, and to examine their association with...
July 16, 2026
Devon Seelig
Interest in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) is expanding rapidly within research, policy reform, and clinical application. Despite this rapid growth, formal training in PAP within accredited doctoral psychology programs is limited to nonexistent. This doctoral project aimed to assess interest in and attitudes toward PAP-related education among current students and alumni of the...
The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science
July 14, 2026
Ruslan Zinchenko
In this editorial, I examine the parallels between conventional and assisted suicide. Psychedelic therapy has been shown to alleviate end-of-life distress and reduce suicidality. I advocate for rescheduling psychedelics to enable research into their effectiveness as an adjunct to palliative care, prior to institutionalising assisted suicide in the UK.
Scientific Reports
July 11, 2026
Monnica T. Williams, Sonya C. Faber, Jordan Sloshower et al.
This preliminary study explored the effects of MDMA-assisted therapy on trauma symptoms related to discrimination, as measured by the Trauma Symptoms of Discrimination Scale (TSDS). A total of five diverse participants, who experienced multiple types of discrimination (e.g., gender, racial/ethnic, social class, age, sexual orientation), were assessed before and after treatment. A paired-samples...
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
July 3, 2026
Miguel Joaquim Soares Teles Couceiro, Victor José da Conceição Teixeira Amorim Rodrigues, Nuno Manuel Correia Torres
This case study explores the potential role of mystical-type experiences in ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP). A patient with generalized anxiety disorder and migraines underwent four intramuscular KAP sessions (0.5-0.9 mg/kg). Outcomes were assessed using the Outcome Questionnaire-45 (OQ-45), the Hood Mysticism Scale (HMS), and interviews. Greater therapeutic gains followed sessions with...
Psychedelics
July 1, 2026
Aragorn Eloff, Alessandro Gonçalves Campolina
In this paper, which is in part intended as a speculative provocation and which combines philosophy of science, clinical practice and psychedelic therapy in a novel manner, we examine ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) through the lens of an expanded model of enactive cognition. While much work within both KAP and psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) in general has relied upon broadly...
Current opinion in oncology
July 1, 2026
Fatima Zohra Moujahid, Olivier Taymans
Psychological and existential distress are common across the cancer trajectory and can impair quality of life, treatment adherence, and family functioning. Although psychosocial and pharmacological interventions provide meaningful support, their overall effects are often modest. This review examines the emerging role of psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) as a potential approach to better...
Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology
July 1, 2026
Karthika Kasiviswanathan, Dinuli Nilaweera, M Morando et al.
Background: 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted psychotherapy (MDMA-AP) has demonstrated considerable efficacy in treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD and complex PTSD (CPTSD) frequently co-occur with borderline personality disorder (BPD), a complex disorder marked by emotional dysregulation, interpersonal difficulties and abandonment fears - often accompanied by...
JAMA Psychiatry
August 24, 2022
Michael P. Bogenschutz, Stephen Ross, Snehal Bhatt et al.
668 citations
Importance Although classic psychedelic medications have shown promise in the treatment of alcohol use disorder (AUD), the efficacy of psilocybin remains unknown. Objective To evaluate whether 2 administrations of high-dose psilocybin improve the percentage of heavy drinking days in patients with AUD undergoing psychotherapy relative to outcomes observed with active placebo medication and...
Nat Med
April 11, 2022
Richard E. Daws, Christopher Timmermann, Bruna Giribaldi et al.
432 citations
Psilocybin therapy shows antidepressant potential, but its therapeutic actions are not well understood. We assessed the subacute impact of psilocybin on brain function in two clinical trials of depression. The first was an open-label trial of orally administered psilocybin (10 mg and 25 mg, 7 d apart) in patients with treatment-resistant depression. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)...
ACS Pharmacol Transl Sci
December 10, 2020
David B. Yaden, Roland R. Griffiths
534 citations
Classic psychedelics produce altered states of consciousness that individuals often interpret as meaningful experiences. Across a number of human studies, when the participant-rated intensity of the overall drug effects are statistically controlled for, certain subjective effects predict therapeutic and other desirable outcomes. Underlying neurobiological mechanisms are likely necessary but not...
Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science
2020
Alan K. Davis, Frederick S. Barrett, Roland R. Griffiths
369 citations
Prior research has shown that acute subjective psychedelic effects are associated with both spontaneous and intended changes in depression and anxiety. Psychedelics are also theorized to produce increases in psychological flexibility, which could explain decreases in depression and anxiety following a psychedelic experience. Therefore, the present cross-sectional survey study sought to examine...
Lancet Psychiatry
May 1, 2018
Michael C Mithoefer, Ann T Mithoefer, Allison A. Feduccia et al.
443 citations
3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted psychotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder in military veterans, firefighters, and police officers: a randomised, double-blind, dose-response, phase 2 clinical trial.
Psychopharmacology (Berl)
November 8, 2017
R. L. Carhart-Harris, Mark Bolstridge, C. M. J. Day et al.
978 citations
RATIONALE: Recent clinical trials are reporting marked improvements in mental health outcomes with psychedelic drug-assisted psychotherapy. OBJECTIVES: Here, we report on safety and efficacy outcomes for up to 6 months in an open-label trial of psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression. METHODS: Twenty patients (six females) with (mostly) severe, unipolar, treatment-resistant major...
Journal of Humanistic Psychology
June 19, 2017
Rosalind Watts, Camilla Day, Jacob Krzanowski et al.
582 citations
Objective: To identify patients’ perceptions of the value of psilocybin as a treatment for depression. Method: Twenty patients enrolled in an open-label trial of psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression participated in a semistructured interview at 6-month follow-up. Thematic analysis was used to identify patients’ experiences of the treatment and how it compared with previous treatments....
Neuropsychopharmacology
April 26, 2017
Robin Carhart-Harris, Guy M. Goodwin
680 citations
Plant-based psychedelics, such as psilocybin, have an ancient history of medicinal use. After the first English language report on LSD in 1950, psychedelics enjoyed a short-lived relationship with psychology and psychiatry. Used most notably as aids to psychotherapy for the treatment of mood disorders and alcohol dependence, drugs such as LSD showed initial therapeutic promise before...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
November 11, 2014
Peter Gasser, Katharina Kirchner, Torsten Passie
458 citations
Objective: A recently published study showed the safety and efficacy of LSD-assisted psychotherapy in patients with anxiety associated with life-threatening diseases. Participants of this study were included in a prospective follow-up. Method: 12 months after finishing LSD psychotherapy, 10 participants were tested for anxiety (STAI) and participated in a semi-structured interview. A...
The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
March 4, 2014
Peter Gasser, Dominique Holstein, Yvonne Michel et al.
752 citations
A double-blind, randomized, active placebo-controlled pilot study was conducted to examine safety and efficacy of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)-assisted psychotherapy in 12 patients with anxiety associated with life-threatening diseases. Treatment included drug-free psychotherapy sessions supplemented by two LSD-assisted psychotherapy sessions 2 to 3 weeks apart. The participants received...
Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)
2013
Michael C Mithoefer, Mark T Wagner, Ann T Mithoefer et al.
377 citations
We report follow-up data evaluating the long-term outcomes for the first completed trial of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted psychotherapy for chronic, treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Mithoefer et al., 2011). All of the 19 subjects who received MDMA-assisted treatment in the original trial participated in the long-term follow-up (LTFU), with 16 out of...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
October 31, 2012
Peter Oehen, Rafael Traber, Verena Widmer et al.
407 citations
Psychiatrists and psychotherapists in the US (1970s to 1985) and Switzerland (1988–1993) used MDMA legally as a prescription drug, to enhance the effectiveness of psychotherapy. Early reports suggest that it is useful in treating trauma-related disorders. Recently, the first completed pilot study of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD yielded encouraging results. Designed to test the safety...
Psychopharmacology
December 1, 2011
Roland R. Griffiths, Matthew W Johnson, William A Richards et al.
938 citations
This dose-effect study extends previous observations showing that psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having persisting positive effects on attitudes, mood, and behavior. This double-blind study evaluated psilocybin (0, 5, 10, 20, 30 mg/70 kg, p.o.) administered under supportive conditions. Participants were 18 adults (17 hallucinogen-naïve). Five 8-h sessions were conducted...
J Psychopharmacol
July 19, 2010
Michael C Mithoefer, Mark T Wagner, Ann T Mithoefer et al.
672 citations
The safety and efficacy of {+/-}3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine-assisted psychotherapy in subjects with chronic, treatment-resistant posttraumatic stress disorder: the first randomized controlled pilot study.