Autistic individuals are more susceptible to trauma due to higher baseline anxiety and overwhelm; poorer episodic memory; and the frequent lack of a sense of community, safety, and belonging that are both protective and needed to heal from trauma. Furthermore, many autistic adults have adopted a false self to get by in a neurotypical world and are often cut off from their affective, embodied...
PurposeDespite most psychedelic substances remaining Schedule I, clinical research exploring psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) in oncology is expanding. We sought to assess oncology providers' attitudes toward and understanding of PAT.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional survey of healthcare professionals involved in oncology across five academic institutions in California, South Carolina,...
RATIONALE: Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) has been reported to evoke psychedelic-like experiences at high doses in some individuals. However, the doses of Δ9-THC that occasion such effects and the phenomenology of these experiences are poorly understood. OBJECTIVES: This brief report presents preliminary findings from a pilot human laboratory study that directly compared the acute...
Psychedelic-assisted therapy has emerged as a promising therapeutic approach across several psychiatric disorders, yet the mechanisms linking acute brain-state changes and subjective experience to sustained clinical improvement remain incompletely understood. Here, we extend a previously proposed excitation/inhibition (E/I)-centred dual-phase model of psychedelic action to the therapeutic...
Background: Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) shows promise for substance use disorders (SUDs), yet the respective contributions of pharmacological, experiential, psychotherapeutic, and contextual factors remain insufficiently understood. Objective: To synthesize contemporary clinical evidence on PAP for SUDs, with particular attention to therapeutic frameworks, dosing strategies,...
Recent interdisciplinary scholarship has demonstrated how systemic racism, racialized mental health disparities, and histories of colonial and biomedical violence shape psychedelic experiences, therapeutic outcomes, and processes of integration. Emerging literature has foregrounded concerns including racial underrepresentation in research, the violent legacy of the War on Drugs, systemic racism...
PsychedelicsAugust 14, 2026Robert McGrath, Everett B. Sackett
Artificial intelligence is entering psychedelic-assisted therapy (PaT) through at least two channels, pre-licensure facilitator training simulators and in-session administrative tools. This arrival is occurring in a context where relational factors, those interpersonal considerations between patients and providers, are not incidental but highly impactful. A 2025 international Delphi consensus...
Current evidence highlights the importance of caregiver involvement in oncology and palliative care, emphasizing communication and decision-making. No direct evidence exists for psychedelic-assisted therapy in oncology, highlighting a need for research exploring caregiver roles in this context.
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...
Depression affects over 280 million people worldwide and remains one of the leading causes of disability and suicide. Existing treatments such as SSRIs and traditional psychotherapy often fail to provide relief, especially for individuals with treatment‑resistant depression. Recent clinical trials suggest that psychedelic‑assisted therapy using psilocybin or MDMA may offer rapid and durable...
BACKGROUND: Ketamine is an effective rapid-acting treatment for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), producing antidepressant effects within hours of administration. Because it induces states of heightened neuroplasticity and psychological openness, psychotherapy may enhance its therapeutic effects. METHODS: This exploratory, nonrandomized, open-label clinical trial evaluated the adjunctive...
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 PsychiatryJuly 29, 2026Caitlyn Hanna Sams, Jasmine Davis, Anuradha Ramdas et al.
We report two case studies that examine the therapeutic potential of structured psilocybin-containing mushroom biomass regimens administered within a clinical framework, evaluating their impact on mental health outcomes as well as associated somatic symptoms. Two patients underwent the De La Haye Psilocybin Treatment Protocol (DPTP), which integrates micro- and high-doses (combined psilocybin...
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...
Music is often treated as an atmospheric accessory in psychedelic and ketamine therapy: useful, pleasant, optional, or merely calming. That framing is too weak. Across a curated evidence base of 41 studies, reviews, mechanistic papers, clinical reports, playlist-design papers, ketamine-specific studies, ceremonial-music papers, and counterarguments, music repeatedly appears as an active...
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...
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.
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 DrugsJuly 3, 2026Miguel 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...