Psychopharmacology
November 1, 2018
Alicia L Danforth, Charles S Grob, Christopher Struble et al.
284 citations
Autistic adults with severe social anxiety who received MDMA-assisted psychotherapy showed significantly greater improvement in social anxiety symptoms compared to those given an inactive placebo. The improvement was rapid and durable, with effects still present at a six-month follow-up. The study used two eight-hour psychotherapy sessions with either MDMA (75–125 mg) or placebo, plus three non-drug sessions after each. The effect size was very large at the primary endpoint and remained large at follow-up. Social anxiety stayed the same or continued to improve for most in the MDMA group after treatment ended. Initial safety and efficacy support larger studies.
Lancet Psychiatry
April 5, 2016
Michael C Mithoefer, Charles S Grob, Timothy D Brewerton
237 citations
Psilocybin and MDMA are emerging as novel psychopharmacological therapies for psychiatric disorders, offering potential alternatives to conventional treatments. These substances are being investigated for their ability to facilitate therapeutic breakthroughs in conditions such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. The text outlines their mechanisms, clinical applications, and the growing interest in their use within mental healthcare. It highlights the need for further research to establish safety and efficacy, while acknowledging the promise these therapies hold for addressing treatment-resistant psychiatric conditions.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
June 1, 2005
Evelyn Doering-Silveira, Charles S Grob, Marlene Dobkin De Rios et al.
122 citations
Adolescents who use ayahuasca in a religious setting show similar lifetime drug use compared to those who never use it, but they consume significantly less alcohol. In the previous year, 46.31% of ayahuasca-using adolescents drank alcohol versus 74.4% of the comparison group; recent alcohol use was 32.5% versus 65.1%. The findings suggest religious affiliation may protect against alcohol use, and that early exposure to ayahuasca in a controlled ritual context does not lead to broader drug misuse.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
June 1, 2005
Dartiu Xavier Da Silveira, Charles S Grob, Marlene Dobkin De Rios et al.
111 citations
Adolescents who consume ayahuasca in a religious setting show lower rates of anxiety, body dysmorphic concerns, and attentional problems compared to matched controls, despite similar overall psychiatric profiles. The study compared 40 adolescents from a Brazilian ayahuasca sect with 40 controls matched on sex, age, and education. Screening scales for depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse, attentional problems, and body dysmorphic disorders found considerably lower positive scores for anxiety, body dysmorphism, and attentional problems among ayahuasca-using adolescents. These low frequencies may reflect a protective effect of religious affiliation, though further research on other variables is needed.
Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry
January 4, 2016
Alicia L Danforth, Christopher M Struble, Berra Yazar-Klosinski et al.
110 citations
A clinical trial of MDMA-assisted therapy for social anxiety in autistic adults began in spring 2014. MDMA has been administered to over 1133 individuals in research without unexpected serious adverse events requiring expedited FDA reporting. The authors argue that established safety parameters justify developing MDMA-assisted interventions to help autistic adults improve social adaptability. MDMA, like classic psychedelics, can catalyze lasting openness and introspection without ongoing administration, reducing adverse event frequency and improving the risk/benefit ratio compared to daily medications. Clinicians could employ new treatment models using one to several MDMA sessions within supportive psychotherapy for social anxiety or similar distress.
Lancet Psychiatry
October 1, 2020
Brian T Anderson, Alicia L Danforth, Charles S Grob
99 citations
The text discusses safety and ethical concerns surrounding psychedelic medicine, emphasizing the need for stringent oversight, comprehensive patient screening, robust therapeutic support, and informed consent to mitigate risks such as psychological distress and misuse. It highlights the ethical imperative for equitable access and responsible medical use as these powerful medicines are integrated into clinical practice.
Forensic science international
March 1, 2018
David E Nichols, Charles S Grob
86 citations
LSD is physiologically non-toxic and medically safe at standard doses (50-200 μg). Five sudden deaths previously attributed to LSD toxicity were actually caused by other factors: two from massive overdoses, two from fatal cardiovascular collapse after agitated individuals were placed in maximal physical restraint positions (hog-tying) by police, and one from extreme hyperthermia likely due to a substituted drug (e.g., 25i-NBOMe) that affects central nervous system temperature regulation. Accurate understanding of these fatalities is important given renewed therapeutic interest in LSD and other psychedelics.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
June 1, 2005
Evelyn Doering-Silveira, Enrique Lopez, Charles S Grob et al.
70 citations
Adolescents who use ayahuasca in a religious context show no significant differences in neuropsychological performance compared to matched controls. A battery of tests measuring speeded attention, visual search, sequencing, psychomotor speed, verbal and visual abilities, memory, and mental flexibility found no impairment among ayahuasca users. The groups were matched for sex, age, and education. Statistical comparisons using independent t-tests indicated no significant differences on any measure. The authors suggest further studies are needed to confirm these findings.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
January 1, 2002
Marlene Dobkin De Rios, Charles S Grob, John R Baker
58 citations
Drug substitution using hallucinogens such as ayahuasca, ibogaine, peyote, and LSD can help people recover from addiction to substances like alcohol and opiates. A redemptive model, drawing on data from the U.S., Brazil, Peru, and West Africa, proposes that using one psychoactive substance in a spiritual or clinical setting frees individuals from addiction and restores them as functioning community members. Two mechanisms are proposed: psychological suggestibility aids in achieving abstinence, and neurophysiological and neurochemical changes support substitution efficacy. Research with the Uñaio do Vegetal Church in Brazil illustrates this model.
The Clinical neuropsychologist
November 1, 2003
Carla Back-Madruga, Kyle B Boone, Linda Chang et al.
57 citations
Recreational MDMA (ecstasy) users show no overall cognitive deficits compared to non-users, but heavy users perform worse on tests of nonverbal (visual) memory. In a study comparing 22 recreational MDMA users with 28 matched controls, no significant differences in general cognitive functioning emerged. However, greater lifetime MDMA use correlated with poorer scores on several nonverbal memory measures. Users who had taken MDMA 50 or more times scored significantly lower on two of three nonverbal memory tests than less frequent users. Other cognitive areas appeared unaffected. The findings suggest that only heavy, frequent MDMA use is associated with specific declines in visual memory.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
June 1, 2005
Marlene Dobkin De Rios, Charles S Grob, Enrique Lopez et al.
34 citations
In Brazil, adolescents who consume ayahuasca as part of the União do Vegetal religion appear to be healthy, thoughtful, considerate, and strongly bonded to their families and religious peers, based on qualitative comparisons with non-using peers. The study examined 28 ayahuasca-consuming teens and 28 non-users, using vignettes to measure moral and ethical concerns. The findings suggest that, within a legal, structured religious context with elder facilitation, ayahuasca-using youth do not differ from their non-using counterparts in these qualitative measures. This work helps clarify the effects of hallucinogenic plant use in a socially sanctioned setting.
The journal of pain
October 1, 2022
Robert H Dworkin, Brian T Anderson, Nick Andrews et al.
22 citations
Psychedelic substances have been used historically for spiritual and mystical experiences, and recent interest focuses on their potential to treat chronic pain. Clinical trials support psychedelics' effectiveness for psychiatric conditions, but studies on chronic pain—such as cancer pain, phantom limb pain, migraine, and cluster headache—are few and mostly uncontrolled. Risks are relatively rare with careful patient screening and supervision. Key challenges include identifying mechanisms of action, selecting appropriate pain conditions, designing rigorous trials with proper control groups, minimizing unblinding bias, and accounting for patient mindset and setting. Evidence-based recommendations are needed for future research to yield informative results.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
January 1, 2023
Julian Urrutia, Brian T Anderson, Sean J Belouin et al.
21 citations
Combining psychedelic science, contemplative practices, and Indigenous and other traditional knowledge systems in integrative, community-based models of care could transform global health. Both contemplative practices and certain psychedelic substances reliably induce self-transcendent experiences that positively affect health, well-being, and prosocial behavior, and combining them appears synergistic. Traditional knowledge systems offer ethnobotanical expertise and time-tested practices. A decolonized agenda for psychedelic research requires collaborative engagement with traditional knowledge stewards to co-develop evidence-based integrative care accessible to their communities. Health systems could include Indigenous and traditional healers as stakeholders in designing, implementing, and evaluating community-based approaches for safely scaling psychedelic treatments.
Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
December 1, 2024
Jessica K Jeffrey, Marc J Weintraub, Charles S Grob
12 citations
A significant proportion of adolescents continue to experience impairing psychiatric symptoms even after receiving existing mental health services. The authors propose that the benefit-to-risk calculation supports trialing classic serotonergic psychedelics (e.g., psilocybin) and empathogenic compounds (e.g., MDMA) in combination with psychotherapy among select adolescents aged 16 to 17 years. They specifically recommend testing these treatments in adolescents with treatment-resistant psychiatric disorders or disorders that align with the current adult evidence base, such as those with FDA breakthrough designation for psilocybin in major depressive disorder or MDMA in posttraumatic stress disorder.
Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)
June 10, 2025
Torsten Passie, Anja Loizaga-Velder, Alicia Danforth et al.
4 citations
A consensus-based model curriculum for education and training in substance-assisted psychotherapy (SAP) covers theoretical topics and practical components including apprenticeship observation, ongoing clinical supervision, and self-experience for trainees. The model, developed by authors with extensive SAP experience, also addresses peer and conventional supervision, respect for intercultural differences, and teachings about indigenous use of related substances. It is largely adapted to western industrialized countries with established graduate-level psychotherapy training. The curriculum may be valuable for psychedelic researchers, those training therapists for research studies, and those preparing for clinical work outside research settings.
Journal of affective disorders
June 15, 2026
Marc J Weintraub, Jessica K Jeffrey, Megan C Ichinose et al.
Pairing psilocybin with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is acceptable, feasible, and associated with substantial improvements in major depressive disorder. In a small open-label trial, 16 adults with at least moderately severe depression received two psilocybin doses (10 mg and 25 mg) and 12 CBT sessions over four months. All participants completed the 7-month study with no serious adverse events. By treatment end, 13 of 16 showed at least 25% improvement in depressive symptoms, and 9 had fully remitted. Gains in depressive symptoms and psychosocial functioning were sustained three months later, with large effect sizes (Hedges' g = 1.9–2.7). Improvements correlated with better emotion regulation and more positive cognitive schemas.