As psychiatry weighs a move from a categorical to a dimensionally-based classification system, clinical research and treatment paradigms may shift towards identifying which dimensions of mental health can improve treatment outcomes across a broad range of diagnostic categories. Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, which is currently in clinical trials for a wide range of conditions from PTSD to...
One of the most complex and important conversations about ethics in psychedelic-assisted therapy centers on the process of client consent. In this chapter, Emma Knighton draws together the elaborate and well-established guidelines around consent developed within queer and kink communities and applies them to psychedelic therapy. She provides a model for working with power dynamics, establishing...
In this chapter, Eric Sienknecht offers the reader an in-depth exploration of music in psychedelic therapy. His chapter points to music as an essential component of psychedelic therapy that can potentiate transformative therapeutic outcomes. Sienknecht offers practical guidance for helping clients “listen into music,” which can provide significant support for accessing NOSC and peak...
Assess changes in symptoms of anxiety, depression, and psychosocial or spiritual distress before and after ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) in individuals with problematic substance use (PSU). A retrospective chart review was performed on participant data from two five-year prospective outcomes studies: the AIMS Medical Outcomes Study (AMOS) and the AIMS Cancer Outcomes Study (ACOS). The...
To make psychedelic therapy accessible, equitable, and culturally informed, practitioners need to be well grounded in the historical conditions that surround and inform our conscious and unconscious relationships to psychedelic medicines and the mental health system in general. The history and underlying intent of the War on Drugs are essential context for anyone interested in psychedelic...
Since their introduction to mainstream culture and medicine in the middle of the 20th century, psychedelic substances have been investigated for their therapeutic potential. Research on psychedelic therapy, or the use of moderate-to-large doses of psychedelics in the context of therapy, indicates that psychedelics have great potential to treat disorders such as depression, addiction, and...
For centuries, colonialist powers, like the U.S.A., have been using drug policy as a tactic of oppression. In this chapter, Danielle M. Herrera responds directly to the damage wrought by the ongoing impact of colonization and the structural oppression embedded in many psychotherapy models. Weaving together a dialogue between post-colonial studies, liberation psychology, and psychedelic-assisted...
Background PTSD in adolescence causes much suffering and has substantial health-care costs. Many patients with severe PTSD do not respond to psychotherapy or continue to have symptoms despite trauma-focused psychotherapies and psychopharmacological treatment. A recent alternative in the search for cost-effective treatments for PTSD in adults is 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine-assisted...
As the medical legalization of psychedelic-assisted therapy quickly approaches in Western society, more stories of abuse by psychedelic therapists against clients are emerging, tracing a disturbing pattern and history of exploitation and abuses of power in the field.Utilizing the survivor-centered approach as a theoretical framework, this research study examines the existing literature about...
AMA Nowak M, Górczyńska J, Gebuza M. MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in the treatment of PTSD in adults – literature review. Pharmacotherapy in Psychiatry and Neurology/Farmakoterapia w Psychiatrii i Neurologii. 2023;39(2):131-142. doi:10.5114/fpn.2023.133519. APA Nowak, M., Górczyńska, J., & Gebuza, M. (2023). MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in the treatment of PTSD in adults – literature review....
Background. As a result of the military attack in Ukraine, both the military and civilian population are facing mental health disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and panic attacks. Classical psychotherapy and psychiatry are often ineffective in treating these conditions. In the United States and Europe, a significant amount of research is being...
Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy is a promising new treatment for a variety of mental disorders of adolescence. There is currently an adolescent mental health crisis, with a high prevalence of disorders, diagnostic complexity, and many adolescents failing to respond to conventional treatments. While there is strong evidence for the use of ketamine in adults for a variety of treatment-refractory...
Chronic pain and depression diagnoses are skyrocketing. There is an urgent need for more effective treatments. Ketamine was recently established to alleviate pain and depression, but many gaps remain in the scientific literature. This paper reports the findings of an observational preliminary study that explored the efficacy of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAPT) for chronic pain/major...
In 1991 the U.S. Congress mandated that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) form the Office of Alternative Medicine to study alternative medical therapies, especially in oncology care. Shortly after, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) created its own division of complementary and alternative medicine (Office of Complementary and Alternative Medicine). At the genesis of the field 30 years...
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent psychiatric condition that significantly impacts daily functioning in patients but lacks adequate treatment options. 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) as an adjunct to psychotherapy for the treatment of PTSD has been studied increasingly for the last two decades and has shown promising results through quantitative data. However, few...
Subjective responses to psychoactive drugs have served as intriguing windows into consciousness as well as useful predictors. Subjective reactions to psychedelic molecules are particularly interesting given how they covary with subsequent improvements associated with psychedelic-assisted treatments. Although links between subjective reactions and decreases in treatment-resistant clinical...
Given the mortality, chronicity, and treatment drop-out rates observed among individuals with eating disorders (EDs), innovative approaches are needed. Ayahuasca, a psychedelic plant medicine from the Amazon, is currently being investigated. This study expands on prior exploratory research by describing the perspectives of ayahuasca ceremony leaders regarding their conceptualizations of EDs and...
About 40% of the people with the obsessive-compulsive-disorder do not experience the desired outcome after the existing treatment, and its several side effects were reported. This systematic review was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of alternative drugs and assess the possibility of their use as treatment options for obsessive-compulsive-disorder. The Scientific databases...
In psychedelic therapy, mystical as well as challenging experience may influence therapeutic outcome. However, predictors of such experience have not been sufficiently established. Determining predictors of their intensity is, therefore, potentially beneficial in targeting psilocybin therapy for depression. In a post hoc data analysis of a Phase 1, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled,...