Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
January 22, 2023
Fiona Low, Mitch Earleywine
3 citations
Brief written educational materials of about 300 words significantly increased how credible people found both cognitive behavioral therapy and psilocybin-assisted therapy for depression, with a large effect size. Asking participants to imagine open-mindedness before reading further boosted credibility ratings for psilocybin-assisted therapy, with a medium effect. These simple, low-cost strategies could help improve how patients view treatments. The findings suggest that even short informational texts can shape treatment perceptions, and that priming open-mindedness may be especially useful for newer or less familiar therapies.
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
April 19, 2021
Cody Gilbert, Mitch Earleywine, Maha N. Mian et al.
3 citations
Ayahuasca affects some depressive symptoms more than others. In a retrospective survey of over 120 participants who used ayahuasca, affective symptoms such as hope, depressed mood, and happiness improved more than cognitive, interpersonal, and somatic symptoms like restless sleep, loneliness, and difficulty focusing. This pattern of symptom specificity resembles that of serotonergic antidepressant medications. People seeking relief from affective symptoms may find ayahuasca more helpful, while those targeting sleep, loneliness, or concentration problems may benefit less. The rapid onset of relief could also be useful for jumpstarting psychotherapy.
Psychopharmacology (Berl)
June 13, 2026
Mitch Earleywine, Quinn Allen
The text examines how blinding and expectancy effects complicate placebo-controlled trials of MDMA, introducing the concept of an 'active placebo paradox.' It argues that the strong subjective effects of MDMA make true blinding nearly impossible, which can inflate treatment effects and undermine causal inference. The authors suggest that expectancy and unblinding may account for a substantial portion of the therapeutic outcomes reported in MDMA research, raising questions about the validity of findings from such trials.
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
January 1, 2026
Philip Kamilar-Britt, Alyssa B. Oliva, Mitch Earleywine
Familiarity with treatment options predicts how credible nicotine users find both standard cessation methods and psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy. In a survey of 534 daily nicotine users, those more familiar with a treatment rated it as more credible. Credibility, in turn, predicted interest in trying that treatment. Younger age, lower education, and prior psychedelic use were associated with greater interest in psilocybin-assisted therapy. Tailoring educational materials to increase familiarity may improve treatment engagement and outcomes.
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
October 10, 2025
Mitch Earleywine, Caitlin Holley, Henry A. Macconnel et al.
Veterans receiving care from the Veterans Affairs system hold a mix of hope, curiosity, and concerns about MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD. In a story completion task, at least one third of 30 participants mentioned shortcomings of existing treatments, curiosity about the treatment's rationale, hope, and concerns about side effects, subjective effects, and addictive potential. Clear misunderstandings about the molecule, treatment, or its implications appeared in at least 10% of narratives. Allusions to therapist abuse, microdosing, and the role of sitters were rare. These findings can guide development of surveys and psychoeducation materials to address attitudes in larger veteran samples.
Psychoactives
June 25, 2025
Mitch Earleywine, Alyssa B. Oliva
Supervision in psychedelic-assisted therapy currently accounts for very little variance in treatment outcome, despite enthusiasm from trainees and supervisors. A proposed model, Motivational-Interviewing-Enhanced Integration Supervision (MIE-IS), aims to improve outcomes by having supervisors model Motivational Interviewing (MI) principles with trainees. Trainees then apply those same MI technical and relational skills to support clients in integrating psychedelic-induced insights into behavioral change. This approach is expected to enhance therapeutic alliances, improve self-care for clients, trainees, and supervisors, reduce burnout, and foster a culture of continuous learning and reflective practice, ultimately benefiting clients through more effective integration of psychedelic experiences.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
October 15, 2024
Jamie E Parnes, Mitch Earleywine
People who inhale DMT often start because of curiosity, general interest in psychedelics, and hope for spiritual benefits. Those who have used other psychoactive substances, especially ayahuasca, and who extract DMT themselves tend to use it more frequently. Most users obtain DMT from a friend and find it slightly difficult to get. They typically inhale it from a glass pipe in private homes, alone or in small groups. Positive experiences include psychological cleansing or catharsis, while challenges involve difficult integration, aversive experiences, or bad trips. Users generally rate DMT as very or slightly safe. The findings highlight the need for education and harm reduction as media coverage of DMT's potential benefits grows.
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
July 11, 2024
Alyssa B. Oliva, Mitch Earleywine, Fiona Low et al.
In a survey of 635 adults in the United States, the importance people place on having a therapist of the same gender or same race differs by the type of therapy and by the participant's own race and gender. For both cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT), racial and ethnic minority participants and female participants rated a same-gender practitioner as more important than did White or male participants. A same-gender CBT therapist was rated as more important than a same-gender PAT guide.
April 2, 2024
Henry A. Macconnel, Mitch Earleywine, Steven Radowitz
preprint
Intravenous ketamine given in a supportive environment with preparation, intention-setting, and integration sessions—similar to psychedelic therapy—led to large reductions in PTSD symptoms. In 117 outpatients with elevated PTSD Checklist scores, the mean score dropped from 52.54 to 28.78, a large effect size of 1.64. No serious adverse events occurred. Concomitant psychotherapy also contributed to improvement. Of the patients, 75% showed clinically meaningful improvement and 62% showed remission of symptoms. The results suggest that environmental factors may account for variation in previous ketamine studies.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
May 22, 2026
Fiona Low, Mitch Earleywine
A taxonomy of intentions set by psychedelic users in naturalistic settings is established through a retrospective, mixed-methods, cross-sectional survey. The most common intentions focus on self-discovery, personal growth, healing, and mental health. Intentions related to mental health, self-expansion, and physical health are associated with greater subjective effects—including mystical experiences, emotional breakthroughs, and challenging experiences—as well as improved well-being and reductions in dysfunctional attitudes. Recreational intentions are unrelated to reductions in dysfunctional attitudes and correlate negatively with changes in well-being. Intentions that are specific, relevant, and integrated after the experience correlate with improvements in well-being, while flexible intentions unexpectedly covary with worse outcomes. Specific, relevant, integrated intentions focused on self-discovery and mental health may offer the most benefits.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
October 8, 2025
Samantha G Gomez, Fiona Low, Mitch Earleywine
People who have used psychedelics are more willing to volunteer for psychedelic research studies, which may bias findings and limit generalizability. In a survey of 702 MTurk participants, psychedelic use predicted willingness to join unpaid surveys, longitudinal surveys, and an unpaid administration study. No demographic characteristics consistently predicted volunteering. Offering payment might help recruit a more diverse sample. Reaching individuals with less psychedelic experience is important for understanding clinical implications.
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
January 16, 2023
Mitch Earleywine, Philip Kamilar-Britt
Trials of psychedelic-assisted therapy that emphasize statistical significance will likely include failures to replicate, especially if sample sizes do not increase dramatically. The field and the public should expect some failed replication attempts based on sampling variability alone. Continued emphasis on statistical significance will require markedly larger samples than those used in clinical trials to date, necessitating substantially greater resources. An alternative approach focused on prediction intervals has distinct advantages, and based on prediction intervals, reasonable replications are well within reach. A lack of attention to these statistical issues could unnecessarily prompt widespread dismissal of these therapies before adequate investigation.