LSD and psychedelic-assisted therapy

Studies whose primary subject is both LSD and Psychedelic-assisted therapy, with an evidence synthesis read across the most-cited and most recent of them.

State of the evidence

Synthesized October 22, 2026

Synthesized from 25 studies in the library · AI-generated, grounded in the abstracts below

Found by searching the library for LSD, lysergic acid diethylamide, lysergide, Psychedelic-assisted therapy, psychedelic therapy, assisted psychotherapy, then ranked by relevance.

The research on LSD and psychedelic-assisted therapy points in a broadly positive direction: LSD-assisted psychotherapy has been reported to reduce anxiety and depressive symptoms, with benefits sustained for up to 12 months in several small trials, and pooled analyses of psychedelics (including LSD) show short-term symptom reduction and low rates of serious adverse events in controlled settings. However, the evidence base is limited by very small sample sizes, mostly single-site or open-label designs, and inconsistent results at longer follow-up (e.g., one LSD depression trial did not reach significance after baseline adjustment). Safety data are encouraging but come largely from carefully screened patients in supervised settings, so generalizability and durability remain uncertain.

Evidence by study

Direction is which way each study's own result points, not our rating of the study.

What the directions mean

Supports:: the study found the intervention worked, or its hypothesis held.
Opposes:: it found the opposite, no benefit or a harm.
No effect:: no significant difference either way.
Mixed:: effects in both directions within the same study.
Unclear:: the abstract does not report a direction.

Study	Design	Sample size	Direction	Finding
Safety and Efficacy of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide-Assisted Psychotherapy for Anxiety Associated With Life-threatening Diseases 2014	RCT	12	Supports	LSD-assisted psychotherapy reduced state and trait anxiety at 2 months with large effect sizes, and reductions were sustained for 12 months with no serious adverse events.
LSD-assisted psychotherapy for anxiety associated with a life-threatening disease: A qualitative study of acute and sustained subjective effects 2014	prospective follow-up with qualitative analysis	10	Supports	At 12 months, anxiety benefits were sustained, most participants reported reduced anxiety and improved quality of life, and no lasting adverse reactions were reported.
LSD-Assisted Psychotherapy in Patients with Terminal Cancer 1973	experimental study	60	Supports	Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy with LSD or DPT was rated as significantly improving depression, anxiety, fear of death, and pain for most patients, with a non-significant reduction in narcotic use.
Psychedelic therapy for depressive symptoms: A systematic review and meta-analysis. 2023	systematic review and meta-analysis	14	Supports	Psychedelic therapy with psilocybin, ayahuasca, or LSD was associated with significant depressive symptom reduction at 1 day, 1 week, and 3-5 weeks, though the 6-8 week follow-up was less conclusive.
Psychedelics and Psychotherapy: Cognitive-Behavioral Approaches as Default 2022	theoretical paper		Unclear	Argues that cognitive-behavioral approaches, especially acceptance and commitment therapy, have the strongest rationale for informing psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.
Flashback: psychiatric experimentation with LSD in historical perspective. 2005	historical analysis		Unclear	Argues that early Saskatchewan LSD trials were mainstream psychiatric research that ultimately failed due to shifting scientific standards for clinical trials and cultural factors leading to criminalization.
Acute subjective effects in LSD- and MDMA-assisted psychotherapy 2020	observational study	18	Supports	LSD and MDMA produced pronounced alterations of consciousness and mystical-type experiences in patients that were largely comparable to those in research subjects.
United States National Institutes of Health grant funding for psychedelic-assisted therapy clinical trials from 2006-2020. 2022	systematic review		Opposes	Found zero NIH grants directly funding psychedelic-assisted therapy clinical trials from 2006 to 2020.
Psychedelic Therapy Utilizing LSD in the Treatment of the Alcoholic Patient: A Preliminary Report 1967	pilot study	69	Supports	Reported that LSD psychedelic therapy adds significantly to available alcoholic rehabilitation resources, while emphasizing the need for specialized training.
Experience of Music Used With Psychedelic Therapy: A Rapid Review and Implications 2020	rapid review	180	Supports	Music was widely considered integral to meaningful emotional and imagery experiences during psychedelic therapy, and participant openness to music and participant-centered music selection were associated with optimal outcomes.
Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know About Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy in the Context of Serious Illness. 2022	review		Supports	Reports that empirical evidence supports psychedelic-assisted therapy as safe and effective for reducing anxiety, depression, and demoralization in seriously ill and end-of-life patients, while noting limited practical guidance.
Safety and risk assessment of psychedelic psychotherapy: A meta-analysis and systematic review. 2024	systematic review and meta-analysis	30	Supports	Psychedelics were well tolerated with only nine serious adverse events across over 1000 administrations, though acute increases in heart rate, blood pressure, and nausea were observed.
Psychedelic Therapy (Utilizing LSD) with Cancer Patients 1970	clinical description and case report		Supports	Describes LSD-assisted psychedelic therapy as helping cancer patients reduce existential distress and improve psychological well-being.
LSD-assisted therapy in patients with anxiety: open-label prospective 12-month follow-up. 2024	RCT long-term follow-up	39	Supports	At 1-year follow-up, LSD-assisted therapy produced sustained reductions in anxiety and depression with large effect sizes, plus decreased neuroticism and increased extraversion.
LSD therapy in Dutch psychiatry: changing socio-political settings and medical sets. 2002	theoretical paper		Unclear	Argues that the term psychodysleptics is more clinically precise than hallucinogens for classifying LSD and similar drugs.
Real-world effectiveness and safety of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy: Outcomes from a large-scale compassionate use cohort in Switzerland. 2026	retrospective observational cohort	115	Supports	A single fully-active dose session of LSD- or psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy was associated with significant reductions in depressive and anxiety symptoms, with mostly mild transient adverse events.
Psychedelic-assisted therapy: a survey on the clinical methods of Swiss physicians. 2026	survey	41	Unclear	Describes Swiss psychedelic-assisted therapy practice, with psilocybin used most often, substance choice matched to diagnosis, and most physicians practicing in private settings.
A Promise Without Panacea: Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies in Modern Psychiatry. 2026	editorial		Mixed	Argues that psychedelic-assisted therapies show therapeutic potential but require responsible integration addressing regulatory, methodological, ethical, and access challenges.
Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy (Pat): A New Frontier in Mental Health Treatment 2025	review		Supports	Reports that psychedelic-assisted therapy shows promise for depression, PTSD, and substance use disorders, while identifying evidence gaps especially for older adults.
Provider perspectives on challenges in treatment during psychedelic therapy. 2025	cross-sectional survey	40	Mixed	Providers reported common challenges including intense dysphoria during sessions, disappointment with the intervention, and re-engaging with traumatic experience, with 70% endorsing extra support for those with PTSD or prior trauma.
An overview of psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, and ketamine in revitalizing psychedelic-assisted therapy: Insights, limitations and future directions. 2025	narrative review		Supports	Reports that psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy with psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, or ketamine offers therapeutic potential for depression, PTSD, and addiction, while noting methodological, regulatory, and ethical challenges.
LSD Restores Synaptic Plasticity in VTA of Morphine-Treated Mice and Disrupts Morphine-Conditioned Place Preference. 2025	experimental study (animal)		Supports	A single high dose or four microdoses of LSD accelerated extinction of morphine-induced conditioned place preference and restored excitatory synaptic plasticity in VTA GABA neurons.
Efficacy and safety of low- versus high-dose-LSD-assisted therapy in patients with major depression: A randomized trial. 2025	RCT	61	Mixed	High-dose LSD-assisted therapy produced greater depression score reductions than low-dose at 2 weeks, but the difference was not statistically significant after adjusting for baseline severity.
Set and setting of psychedelics for therapeutic use in psychiatry: A systematic review 2025	systematic review	763	Mixed	Participant selection and safe environment creation were consistently reported, but other set-and-setting elements such as monitor training, visual distractors, and pleasant environment were not standardized, limiting comparability.
Exploring the potential of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy for moral injury: A scoping review. 2025	scoping review		Supports	Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy showed promise for symptoms associated with moral injury such as low self-compassion and demoralization, though no included study focused on moral injury directly.

Points of agreement

Multiple small trials and reviews report that LSD-assisted psychotherapy reduces anxiety and depressive symptoms, with benefits often sustained for months.
Pooled safety data indicate psychedelics are generally well tolerated in controlled settings, with mostly transient cardiovascular and nausea effects and few serious adverse events.
Reviews and clinical commentaries agree that structured psychotherapy, set and setting, and trained providers are central to the intervention.
Real-world and compassionate-use data are consistent with controlled-trial findings of symptom reduction.

Conflicts

One LSD depression trial found the high-versus-low-dose difference lost significance after baseline adjustment, while other trials report clear anxiety and depression benefits.
Meta-analytic symptom reduction was significant at early timepoints but less conclusive at 6-8 weeks, contrasting with follow-ups reporting 12-month durability.
Provider surveys document frequent acute dysphoria and disappointment, which sits alongside generally positive efficacy and safety reports.

Gaps

Very small sample sizes in most LSD trials limit statistical power and generalizability.
Long-term durability beyond 12 months is largely unstudied, and cross-over designs complicate long-term meta-analysis.
Blinding is difficult with psychedelics, and active placebo or low-dose controls vary across studies.
Set and setting, therapist training, and music protocols are not standardized across trials.
Populations studied are narrow (anxiety with life-threatening illness, depression, alcohol use), with older adults and other groups underexplored.
Optimal dose is unresolved, as shown by mixed high- versus low-dose findings.

Browse these studies in the library

Common questions

What does the research agree on about LSD and psychedelic-assisted therapy?

Multiple small trials and reviews report that LSD-assisted psychotherapy reduces anxiety and depressive symptoms, with benefits often sustained for months.
Pooled safety data indicate psychedelics are generally well tolerated in controlled settings, with mostly transient cardiovascular and nausea effects and few serious adverse events.
Reviews and clinical commentaries agree that structured psychotherapy, set and setting, and trained providers are central to the intervention.
Real-world and compassionate-use data are consistent with controlled-trial findings of symptom reduction.

Where do studies on LSD and psychedelic-assisted therapy conflict?

One LSD depression trial found the high-versus-low-dose difference lost significance after baseline adjustment, while other trials report clear anxiety and depression benefits.
Meta-analytic symptom reduction was significant at early timepoints but less conclusive at 6-8 weeks, contrasting with follow-ups reporting 12-month durability.
Provider surveys document frequent acute dysphoria and disappointment, which sits alongside generally positive efficacy and safety reports.

What is still unknown about LSD and psychedelic-assisted therapy?

Very small sample sizes in most LSD trials limit statistical power and generalizability.
Long-term durability beyond 12 months is largely unstudied, and cross-over designs complicate long-term meta-analysis.
Blinding is difficult with psychedelics, and active placebo or low-dose controls vary across studies.
Set and setting, therapist training, and music protocols are not standardized across trials.
Populations studied are narrow (anxiety with life-threatening illness, depression, alcohol use), with older adults and other groups underexplored.
Optimal dose is unresolved, as shown by mixed high- versus low-dose findings.

How we analyze this

This synthesis reads the 15 most-cited and 10 most recent studies whose primary subject is LSD and psychedelic-assisted therapy, up to 25 in all. The most-cited set anchors the established evidence, and the recent set surfaces work that is too new to have gathered citations yet.

A study qualifies only when LSD and psychedelic-assisted therapy or a known alias appears in its title or keywords, so broad reviews that mention it only in passing are left out. Each study is read from its abstract, strongest evidence first, and the summary reports the direction of the results along with any conflicts and gaps.

The full method, including what a person does and does not review, is on the methods page.

Ask your own question in the Research Synthesis Tool

55 articles · 15 from the last two years · 1,549 participants across 17 studies reporting sample size

Common study designs

review 13 historical analysis 9 randomized controlled trial 3 theoretical or philosophical paper 5 systematic review and meta-analysis 2

Research volume by year

Compare topics →

50 studies whose primary subject is LSD and psychedelic-assisted therapy since 2002

2026 is partial

Show the numbers

Studies about LSD and psychedelic-assisted therapy per year, 2002 to 2026, peaking at 12 in 2025
Year	Studies
2002	1
2003	0
2004	0
2005	1
2006	0
2007	0
2008	0
2009	0
2010	0
2011	0
2012	0
2013	0
2014	2
2015	0
2016	0
2017	0
2018	1
2019	5
2020	5
2021	0
2022	6
2023	6
2024	8
2025	12
2026	3

Research

Synthesize the evidence →

Real-world effectiveness and safety of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy: Outcomes from a large-scale compassionate use cohort in Switzerland.

Psychiatry Research February 2, 2026 Tatiana Aboulafia Brakha, Albert Buchard, Cédric Mabilais et al. 1 citation

Classic serotonergic psychedelics such as LSD and psilocybin show promising antidepressant effects in controlled trials, but real-world data from routine clinical care remain limited. This study retrospectively analysed routine data from adults with treatment-resistant depressive and/or anxiety disorders who received a first standardized Psychedelic-assisted Psychotherapy (PAP) cycle with 100...

DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2026.116992 Full text Anxiety Depression LSD Mystical experience +2

A Promise Without Panacea: Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies in Modern Psychiatry.

Cureus 2026 Mohsin Raza, Jasleen Kaur

Psychedelic-assisted therapies have re-emerged as a subject of increasing scientific and clinical interest in psychiatry, particularly in the context of persistent treatment gaps for conditions such as treatment-resistant depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance use disorders. Compounds, including psilocybin and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, are being evaluated in...

DOI: 10.7759/cureus.102421 Full text Lysergic acid diethylamide Psilocybin Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy 4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine MDMA +3

Psychedelic-assisted therapy: a survey on the clinical methods of Swiss physicians.

Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology 2026 Kristian Beichmann, Polina Catzeflis, Helena Aicher et al.

The Swiss Federal Office of Public Health provides case-by-case exemptions allowing physicians to provide psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) using psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), or 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methamphetamine (MDMA). The study provided an overview of PAT as currently provided in Switzerland under the regulatory framework of the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH)....

DOI: 10.1177/20451253261448745 Full text LSD MDMA Psilocybin Psychedelic therapy +5

Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy (Pat): A New Frontier in Mental Health Treatment

The journal of desk research review and analysis. December 16, 2025 M. H. M. Wickramasekara, G. D. M. C. Gonapaladeniya

Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) has emerged as a promising and innovative approach to treating a range of mental health disorders, including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and substance use disorders. Once sidelined due to regulatory bans and social stigma, psychedelics such as psilocybin, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and...

DOI: 10.4038/jdrra.v3i2.87 Lysergic acid diethylamide Mental health Frontier Clinical trial +5

Provider perspectives on challenges in treatment during psychedelic therapy.

Psychopharmacology October 27, 2025 David A Bender, Sandeep M. Nayak, Joshua S. Siegel et al.

Psychedelic treatments are considered to involve unique treatment challenges relative to other psychiatric interventions, though these are typically not explored in detail within clinical trial reports. To determine the types of challenges that providers encounter while administering psychedelic drugs in research settings and to assess provider opinions on safeguards that may be pursued to...

DOI: 10.1007/s00213-025-06907-7 Full text LSD Psilocybin Adverse events Challenging experience +2

An overview of psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, and ketamine in revitalizing psychedelic-assisted therapy: Insights, limitations and future directions.

Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry July 25, 2025 Kiana Askariyan, Mohammad Taghi Joghataei, Samaneh Dehghan et al. 9 citations

The resurgence of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy marks a pivotal evolution in mental health treatment, challenging traditional paradigms by integrating compounds such as psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, and ketamine into clinical practice. Historically marginalized due to regulatory and societal concerns, these agents are now gaining recognition for their unique neurobiological mechanisms and...

DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2025.111461 Full text Ketamine LSD MDMA PTSD +4

LSD Restores Synaptic Plasticity in VTA of Morphine-Treated Mice and Disrupts Morphine-Conditioned Place Preference.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology June 15, 2025 Michael Von Gunten, Tenna Russell, Isaac Stirland et al. preprint

Psychedelics are emerging as a promising treatment option for a range of neuropsychiatric disorders, including substance use disorders. One potential mechanism underlying their therapeutic benefits may involve a reversal of maladaptive plasticity induced by drug exposure. Here, we identify physiological, behavioral, and epigenetic impacts of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) on morphine-treated...

DOI: 10.1101/2025.06.12.658958 Full text Psychedelic therapy Addiction treatment Opioid addiction

Efficacy and safety of low- versus high-dose-LSD-assisted therapy in patients with major depression: A randomized trial.

Med June 4, 2025 Felix Müller, Hannes Zaczek, Anna M Becker et al. 21 citations

This trial aimed to assess the efficacy of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)-assisted therapy in patients with moderate-to-severe major depressive disorder. This was a randomized, parallel, double-blind, low-dose controlled trial (Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT03866252). Patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive supportive psychotherapy and either 100 μg + 200 μg LSD or 25 μg + 25 μg...

DOI: 10.1016/j.medj.2025.100725 Full text Depression Psychedelic-assisted therapy Depressive disorder Translation to patients +8

Set and setting of psychedelics for therapeutic use in psychiatry: A systematic review

Journal of Psychopharmacology May 12, 2025 Clémentine Estric, Thomas Duron, Sarah Kabani et al. 10 citations

Psychedelics offer promising outcomes in psychiatry. However, the preparation of participants (set) and the environmental conditions of taking a psychedelic (setting) are not standardized. We describe the set and setting for therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs in people with psychiatric disorders. In this systematic review, articles were identified in the PubMed and Web of Science databases...

DOI: 10.1177/02698811251338214 Ayahuasca LSD Dimethyltryptamine Psilocybin +9

Exploring the potential of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy for moral injury: A scoping review.

Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry April 2, 2025 Viktoriia Kurkova, Olga Winkler, Andrew J. Greenshaw et al.

This scoping review addresses the need to comprehensively explore the potential of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) to facilitate recovery from moral injury. Moral injury (MI), characterized by profound psychological distress arising from morally challenging experiences, has garnered increased attention as a complex mental health concern with significant functional sequelae, especially...

DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2025.111333 Full text LSD MDMA Psilocybin Psychedelic therapy +7

Clinical trials

Salivary Oxytocin as a Biomarker in Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy (opens in new tab)

Completed 10 participants Tatiana Aboulafia Brakha
Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD)-Assisted Psychotherapy in People With Illness-related Anxiety (opens in new tab)

Completed Phase 2 12 participants Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies

All lsd and psychedelic-assisted therapy trials →