Frontiers in Psychiatry
September 19, 2023
Nicolas Garel, Jessica Drury, Julien Thibault Lévesque et al.
32 citations
A biopsychosocial approach to ketamine for treatment-resistant depression, called the Montreal model, pairs ketamine infusions with structured psychiatric care and psychotherapy. Developed over six years in public healthcare settings, the model conceptualizes ketamine as a brief intervention that creates windows of opportunity for enhanced care and psychological growth. It combines six ketamine infusions with psychedelic-inspired nonpharmacological adjuncts, including preparative and integrative psychological support. The model aims to bridge biomedical and psychedelic perspectives, offering a standardized yet flexible approach for severe, real-world patients. Further research is needed to assess its effectiveness and hypothesized psychological mechanisms.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
July 18, 2023
Nicolas Garel, Julien Thibault Lévesque, Dasha A. Sandra et al.
29 citations
Past environmental exposures can significantly shape psychedelic drug experiences and their therapeutic outcomes, a concept the authors call 'imprinting.' In a clinical trial of ketamine for treatment-resistant depression, two patients' subjective experiences were altered by the type and amount of digital media they consumed in the days before treatment: higher media exposure reduced mystical and emotional qualities of the ketamine experience, overriding standard intention-setting practices and changing therapeutic results. Eight additional patients spontaneously reported past environmental exposures manifesting as visual hallucinations during ketamine sessions. Similar imprinting effects appear in historical reports of other psychedelic drugs and in dreaming. The authors propose expanding the contextual model of psychedelic action to include imprinting, which may help clinicians and researchers better understand these drug effects.
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
May 15, 2025
Sara G. Gloeckler, Julien Thibault Lévesque, Alexandre Lehmann et al.
3 citations
Music is a standard part of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy, but the role of silence is not well understood. In a compassionate-access program in Canada, two breast cancer patients undergoing psilocybin therapy experienced a 30-minute silent period that included mindfulness exercises and therapist discussion. One patient initially found the absence of music difficult but later found the mindfulness exercises highly meaningful. The other patient reported that music had evoked challenging memories early in the session, which were then productively explored during the silent period. The findings suggest that integrating silent intervals may enhance mindfulness and therapist-patient interactions, offering distinct therapeutic benefits. The authors call for more detailed reporting on session components in psychedelic research.