Exploring the potential of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy for moral injury: A scoping review.
Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry April 2, 2025 Viktoriia Kurkova, Olga Winkler, Andrew Greenshaw et al.
A scoping review of 10 studies out of 11,734 publications examined whether psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) can help people recover from moral injury—deep distress from morally challenging experiences. None of the studies focused specifically on moral injury; they involved psilocybin, MDMA, or LSD for conditions such as PTSD, alcohol use disorder, depression, and anxiety. Across these studies, PAP was associated with rapid, sustained increases in self-compassion, self-forgiveness, and self-acceptance, along with reduced demoralization and lower drinking scores. The authors suggest PAP holds promise for treating moral injury, especially when it co-occurs with PTSD, but conclude that direct research is needed.