Annual Review of Psychology
August 2, 2024
Keith Humphreys, Daniel Stjepanović, Wayne Hall et al.
18 citations
Many psychedelic drugs lack rigorous evaluation, but the science is improving. Ketamine shows promise for treatment-resistant depression despite risks like addiction and cystitis. MDMA for PTSD and psilocybin for depression, end-of-life dysphoria, and alcohol use disorder merit further replication. The mechanisms of benefit and harm remain unclear. Rigorous research is needed to assess therapeutic potential, and policies should prioritize public health over profit.
Frontiers in Psychiatry
March 14, 2023
Jonathan Brett, Elizabeth Knock, Paul Liknaitzky et al.
16 citations
Methamphetamine use disorder is a chronic condition with high relapse rates and limited effective treatments. Contingency management and psychotherapy show modest efficacy, while pharmacological options have little to no benefit. Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy is emerging as a promising approach for substance use disorders, though no studies have yet examined it for methamphetamine use disorder. This review presents the rationale for using psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy to treat methamphetamine use disorder and describes practical considerations from early experience designing and implementing four clinical trials on this approach.
Journal of Psychopharmacology
June 18, 2024
Kim Hoffman, Alissa Bazinet, Kellie Pertl et al.
14 citations
Experts with extensive experience facilitating psilocybin experiences, including in ceremonial settings, indigenous practices, and clinical trials, developed a set of core measures to monitor the safety, quality, and outcomes of supervised psilocybin services. Through a three-phase e-Delphi process with 36 experts, 55 candidate measures were identified and then prioritized to a core set of 11 process measures (e.g., preparatory hours with client, documentation of touch/sexual boundaries), 11 outcome measures (e.g., adverse events, well-being), and 17 structure measures (e.g., facilitator training in trauma informed care). The findings suggest that service providers and policy makers should consider standardizing these measures for community-based psilocybin services.
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
September 13, 2024
Ar Wilson-Poe, Ka Hoffman, Jb Luoma et al.
9 citations
Experts with a mean of 15.2 years of experience facilitating psilocybin experiences overwhelmingly view first-hand experience with psychedelics as important for facilitators in emerging state-legal frameworks. Personal experience may indirectly improve care quality by enhancing facilitators' wellbeing and helping them understand clients' experiences. One participant questioned this necessity. The current legal frameworks in Oregon and Colorado do not address facilitators' personal psychedelic experience, creating an opportunity to study its association with service safety and outcomes.
Addiction
June 17, 2024
P. Todd Korthuis, Adrianne R. Wilson‐poe, Joshua C. Black et al.
1 citation
As psychedelic use expands, adverse effects will increase proportionally. Darke et al. characterized 33 LSD and 10 psilocybin-related deaths in Australia between 2000 and 2023, finding that traumatic accidents and physical self-harm in private settings accounted for most deaths. The 43 deaths over 24 years are rare compared to the more than 325,000 Australians who reported using hallucinogens in 2019 alone. Co-use of other substances was common: 75% of LSD cases and 80% of psilocybin cases involved other substances. The findings suggest regulated services must consider harm reduction, including skilled supervision, screening for comorbidities, and counseling against other drug use. Better population-level monitoring frameworks are urgently needed as legal frameworks for psychedelic services expand.
Neuroethics
May 13, 2026
Christina Chwyl, Alissa Bazinet, Adrianne R. Wilson-Poe et al.
Informed consent in psychedelic-assisted services is ethically complex and lacks standardization. Expert recommendations from 36 participants (71% white, 53% female, average 15.2 years of experience in clinical trial, underground, or ceremonial settings) emphasized that consent should be an ongoing process built on a strong therapeutic relationship and client empowerment. Comprehensive disclosure of risks and benefits is needed, including long-term psychological and social changes and the possibility of disappointing experiences. Detailed consent around touch and boundaries is crucial, with explicit boundary-setting before administration and attention to non-verbal cues. Provider training should cultivate deep respect for client agency and experiential learning of relational and boundary skills.