Towards therapeutic paths with mindfulness meditation–based and psychedelics assisted psychotherapies in PTSD: Randomized controlled trials systematic review and meta-analysis
Cortica December 15, 2025 Solène Maeder, Cherine Fahim, Chantal Martin-Söelch
Both mindfulness meditation-based interventions and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapies reduce PTSD symptoms in adults with moderate effect sizes. Mindfulness interventions showed a standardized mean difference of 0.45, while psychedelic therapies showed 0.54. MDMA-assisted therapy produced slightly stronger outcomes than ketamine. Psychedelic studies had tighter confidence intervals and lower risk of bias than mindfulness trials. Psychedelic therapies may yield a marginally larger effect, but mindfulness interventions are easier to disseminate. Future research should examine long-term efficacy, adverse events, and diverse populations, and investigate altered states of consciousness as a shared therapeutic mechanism.