Henry A. Macconnel

Columbia University

2 papers in the library · publishing 2024-2025

Papers

Questions and Concerns About MDMA-Assisted Therapy (MDMA-AT) in Veterans with PTSD Symptoms

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.

DOI: 10.1080/02791072.2025.2570938 Anxiety Psychoeducation Curiosity Narrative +13

Rapid and sustained reduction of treatment-resistant PTSD symptoms after intravenous ketamine in a real-world, psychedelic paradigm

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.

DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/78m96 Ketamine Treatment-resistant depression Major depressive disorder Reduction mathematics +6