BACKGROUND: Since Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration down-scheduled two psychedelic medicines from July 2023, psychotherapeutic treatment using these medicines has become available in the private sector, making it possible for general practitioners (GPs) to refer their patients with treatment-resistant depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Several other psychedelic...
The development of novel, rapid-acting treatments and the resurgence of interest in the therapeutic potential of psychedelic-like compounds has stimulated excitement and enthusiasm within the pharmaceutical industry, and provided new hope for millions of individuals suffering with mental illness such as major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. This review summarizes the...
Indigenous Peoples have cultivated and protected natural psychoactive medicines through ceremony, kinship, and spiritual responsibility across generations, yet their long-standing contributions have often been marginalized through extractive research, commercialization, and policy exclusion. It is Indigenous communities that have stewarded and gained expertise working with psychoactive...
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This manuscript comprehensively reviews psilocybin-assisted therapy for major depressive disorder and treatment-resistant depression. It aims to synthesize current understanding regarding its mechanisms, efficacy, safety, costs, and accessibility, comparing it with conventional antidepressant and ketamine treatments. The methodology involved a narrative synthesis of academic literature, drawing...
Abstract A recurring finding in psychedelic-assisted therapy is that the subjective intensity and quality of the psychedelic experience contribute more to therapeutic outcomes than the administered dose. To explain why such experiences are therapeutic, many have appealed to what these may reveal or enable, such as the types of mental representations that can be acquired, the expansion of what...
Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is gaining recognition as a novel approach in mental health care, with the potential to support emotional processing, self-understanding, and personal growth. Early evidence suggests that psychedelic-assisted therapies can catalyze transformative experiences that traditional interventions may not access. This article explores the ethical considerations of...
The postpartum period is notorious for rapid and profound changes for birthing individuals and their families. Significant shifts to hormonal and physical health, routines and family roles, and the salience of personal and community risk factors all contribute to potential psychiatric and psychological distress for parents, sometimes diagnosed as a postpartum mood or anxiety disorder (PMAD)....
Treatment-resistant depression (TRD), a clinical subtype of major depressive disorder (MDD), is associated with greater severity and functional impairment, representing a significant challenge in psychiatric care. Recent studies suggest that the use of psychedelics can provide rapid and substantial improvement in the severity of depressive symptoms. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review...
The original MAPS manual for MDMA-assisted therapy (MDMA-AT) opened a therapeutic frontier for PTSD. However, it drew critique for concepts—such as “inner healing intelligence” – that originated in transpersonal traditions rather than academic or empirically grounded clinical models. While many patients found the therapies helpful, these constructs were difficult to interpret and standardize....
JAMA Network OpenJanuary 2, 2026Gianluca Andri Florineth, Isabell Klima, Anna Laura Boeker et al.5 citations
Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) is a novel intervention for depressive symptoms, typically delivered with additional psychological therapy sessions. Quantitative evidence on how this concomitant therapy contributes to treatment outcomes is limited, highlighting the need for a systematic synthesis. To evaluate whether the quantity of psychological therapy is associated with symptom reduction...
This project documents the early days of establishing safe and ethical psychedelic-assisted therapy services in the Yukon, Canada, in the absence of a territorial, regulatory framework. Grounded in an Indigenous relational epistemology and a Celtic pagan animist worldview, the author draws on ethnobiographical narrative to account for the educational, relational, and advocacy work undertaken in...
Introduction Psychedelic assisted therapy has gained increasing clinical and research attention in the last decade due to its demonstrated therapeutic potential across a variety of complex and treatment-resistant psychiatric and psychosocial conditions. As interest grows, so has the development of facilitator education and training programs. Despite this proliferation, concerns remain regarding...
2026Marija Pranjić, Lia Pikus, Eliza Banbury
preprint
The rapid expansion of psychedelic research over the past decade reflects a convergence of regulatory easing, replicated evidence for clinical efficacy, and advances in modern neuroscience methods. Within this context, music—long treated as a contextual element of “set and setting”—has increasingly been reframed as an active modulator of emotional, cognitive, and neural processes during...
This dissertation presents three interlocking empirical studies united by a single dynamical systems framework: that behavioral flexibility depends on the moment-to-moment timing of frontal cortical state transitions by a reciprocally coupled subcortical circuit, and that this timing mechanism can be pathologically disrupted or pharmacologically restored.
Recent research into psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy has largely emphasised pharmacological mechanism such as neuroplasticity and symptom reduction, with less attention to the relational processes through which therapeutic change is supported and integrated. Given that such experiences are central to therapeutic change, this introduces a significant limitation: variability in therapist...
Open Mind2026Amin Nazmuddin Mohammadi, Christine Wekerle
preprint
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a prevalent and chronic psychiatric condition characterized by impaired control over alcohol use, compulsive consumption, and high rates of relapse (Grant et al., 2015; Kurihara, 2023). Despite the availability of pharmacological and psychosocial interventions, treatment outcomes remain suboptimal, with substantial rates of non-response and relapse (Lohoff, 2022;...
The clinical use of psychedelic substances and Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy (PAT) is an area of growing interest that also raises significant social concerns and controversy. Despite existing legal restrictions, empirical research on substances such as psilocybin, mescaline, MDMA, LSD, DMT, and ibogaine has been developing, particularly in the treatment of conditions such as treatment-resistant...
Limited evidence supports treatment for distress in life-threatening illness. Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) may help. Despite music's presence in PAP, sparse accounts of music-related experiences exist. Such research is needed to optimize music's presence within PAP. This qualitative analysis aimed to understand participants' music-related accounts of their PAP experiences within a...
Clinical research in psychedelic-assisted therapies is flourishing following the resumption of human trials exploring classic psychedelics and their therapeutic application to a range of mental health conditions. Translation from research to the clinic is underway in Australia and appears imminent in several other countries. Classic psychedelics function primarily as agonists of a subgroup of...