Participant Reports of Mindfulness, Posttraumatic Growth, and Social Connectedness in Psilocybin-Assisted Group Therapy: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis
Journal of Humanistic Psychology June 12, 2021 Gabrielle Agin-Liebes, Eve Ekman, B. Anderson et al. 47 citations
In a qualitative study of nine gay cisgender men diagnosed with HIV before 1996 and experiencing significant trauma symptoms, psilocybin-assisted group therapy helped participants shift from habitual, evaluative thinking to mindful, experiential awareness. During psilocybin sessions, individuals processed and released previously avoided feelings such as grief and shame, and accessed positive emotions including joy, gratitude, love, care, and compassion. The treatment also supported meaning-making and posttraumatic growth across psychological, relational, and spiritual dimensions, as participants integrated past traumas into their life narratives. These findings suggest that combining group therapy with psilocybin may enhance trauma processing by reinforcing social cohesion, safety, trust, and belonging.