A team at Geneva University Hospitals developed an interdisciplinary model for psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) that combines the altered state of consciousness induced by LSD or psilocybin with traditional dialogue-based psychotherapy. Since 2014, Swiss law has allowed exceptional medical authorizations for these substances. From September 2020 to February 2024, the team received 224 personal authorizations (114 for LSD, 110 for psilocybin) and conducted 396 individual sessions. The protocol includes patient selection, preparatory psychoeducation, controlled substance administration, and integration sessions. The authors argue that psychedelic-induced consciousness alteration can act as a catalyst to revive stalled psychotherapeutic processes and call for continued research and broader clinical integration of PAP.
A patient with generalized anxiety disorder and claustrophobia who had not improved with conventional therapy underwent three sessions of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy that included both imaginary and real exposure to an elevator. After treatment, anxiety and fear of closed spaces, elevators, and planes decreased. Scores on the Beck Depression Inventory-II, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and Fear Questionnaire showed significant improvement. The patient reported feeling more relaxed, more willing to face fearful situations, and a shift in perception of fearful stimuli, possibly reflecting new memory representations and a disconfirmatory experience.