Increasing the Evaluation and Reporting Rigor of Psychotherapy Interventions in Treatments Involving Psychedelics

Summary

Psychedelic treatments show promise for mental health conditions, but there is a lack of standardization in how these interventions are delivered across studies and healthcare centers. A review of clinical trials involving psilocybin for depression reveals that descriptions of psychotherapeutic interventions are often poorly defined in scientific literature. This lack of clarity hampers the development of optimized methods and evidence-based protocols for psychedelic-assisted therapies.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Psychedelic treatments are emerging as promising interventions for many mental health conditions. These interventions are not offered in a standardized fashion across studies and between different healthcare centers. Beyond differences in substances and doses, there is also a great heterogeneity in the interventions provided by therapists. The current review offers a summary of important elements that should be reported when describing psychedelic-assisted therapies. Clinical trials involving psilocybin for depression are systematically reviewed to synthesize available descriptions of their interventions. This review demonstrates that the exact nature of these psychotherapeutic interventions tends to be poorly defined in most scientific papers on psychedelic treatments. This problem and its implications are examined. The field stands to gain from optimized psychotherapeutic methods; however, insufficient documentation in scientific papers currently hinders the dissemination and improvement of evidence-based protocols. This article offers ideas to encourage the progress of research on psychedelic-assisted therapies.

Tags