Journal of Psychedelic Studies
July 30, 2019
Monnica T. Williams, Sara Reed, Ritika Aggarwal
87 citations
Psychedelic drugs combined with psychotherapy can help people change, and MDMA-assisted psychotherapy is being studied for posttraumatic stress disorder by reducing fear of traumatic memories and increasing trust and compassion without blocking access to difficult emotions. However, research has largely excluded people of color, leaving important questions unaddressed. At the University of Connecticut, a study site in a MAPS-sponsored, FDA-reviewed Phase 2 open-label multisite trial focused on providing culturally informed care to ethnic minority participants.
Journal of Evolutionary Psychology
September 21, 2020
Monnica T. Williams, Sara Reed, Jamilah R. George
62 citations
African American women have been largely absent from psychedelic research as both participants and researchers, and little attention has been paid to how psychedelics might address traumas caused by racialization. In an FDA-approved clinical trial and training exercise, three African American female therapists each used MDMA once. The primary themes that emerged from their varied experiences were strength, safety, connection, and managing oppression/racialization. These experiences were personally meaningful and instructive for how Western models of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy could be more effective and accessible to the Black community. The paper discusses the importance of facilitator training that incorporates cultural, racial, and spiritual themes, and considers Functional Analytic Psychotherapy as an adjunct to current psychedelic-therapy approaches.
Comprehensive psychiatry
July 1, 2025
Luca Pellegrini, Naomi A Fineberg, Sorcha O'Connor et al.
17 citations
A 10 mg dose of psilocybin produced a rapid, moderate-to-large reduction in compulsive symptoms in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), lasting up to one week after dosing. In a blinded pharmacological challenge study, 18 adults with at least moderate OCD received a 1 mg and then a 10 mg dose of oral psilocybin, separated by four weeks. One week after the 10 mg dose, scores on the compulsion subscale of the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale showed a significant improvement compared to the 1 mg dose (Cohen's d = 0.74). No effect on depression was detected. The drug was well tolerated with no serious adverse events.
Cureus
January 29, 2025
Sorcha O'Connor, Kate Godfrey, Sara Reed et al.
2 citations
The study aims to uncover the neural mechanisms by which psilocybin-assisted therapy affects obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and whether those brain changes align with improvements in cognitive symptoms. A secondary goal is to test whether a low, tolerable dose is both practical and effective as a clinical treatment. The results will provide essential data for designing a future randomized controlled trial.
Cureus
January 1, 2025
Sorcha O'Connor, Kate Godfrey, Sara Reed et al.
correction
A protocol describes a planned study testing whether a low-moderate dose of psilocybin (10 mg), combined with non-interventional therapy, can improve cognitive flexibility and neuroplasticity in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Twenty blinded participants will receive an active placebo (1 mg psilocybin) in a first session and 10 mg in a second session four weeks later. Cognitive flexibility will be measured with the intradimensional-extradimensional shift task two days after each session, and neuroplasticity will be assessed via electroencephalography immediately after each session. Secondary outcomes include OCD symptom severity and patient-reported measures. The results are expected to clarify neural mechanisms and guide a future randomized controlled trial.