Investigating Safety Concerns and Harm Reduction in Entheogenic Churches: The Case for Community-Based Participatory Research.
Current topics in behavioral neurosciences – November 22, 2025
Source: PubMed
Summary
Communities using psychedelics like Ayahuasca or Santo Daime have unique safety frameworks. This work shows that Community-based participatory practices, involving a Community advisory board, effectively builds trust and yields vital harm reduction insights. Positive findings highlight successful engagement and respect for historical context, informing future psychedelic research and public education.
Abstract
Alongside the important contributions of the harm reduction movement to improving public health in secular settings, communities that use psychedelics as religious sacraments (i.e., entheogens) have developed their own frameworks for supporting safety within their spiritual practices and hold their own conceptualizations of risk and harm. In order to understand better the lived realities of substance use, safety practices, and potential harms among entheogenic communities, researchers can collaborate closely with these communities in the formulation and conduct of their studies in this shared pursuit. The integration of community-based participatory research (CBPR) practices can not only help center these communities in the co-creation of research but also improve engagement, generate trust, and illuminate local priorities for knowledge production. The current work presents preliminary findings from a CBPR study with entheogenic communities. We share "lessons learned" from forming the study's community advisory board (CAB) and initial pilot data gathering in order to encourage biomedical investigators to consider CBPR approaches for their own research with psychedelic communities. Lessons include consultation with community engagement experts; considerations for compensation and confidentiality; utilizing multimodal strategies for recruiting study participants and CAB members; and the importance of considering the unique historical context of these communities. These lessons support the development of best practices for current and future psychedelic research as well as subsequent policies and public education efforts focused on psychedelic harm reduction and the community-based uses of psychedelics more broadly.