Can Drugs Be Used to Enhance the Psychotherapeutic Process?
Lester Grinspoon, James B. Bakalar
American Journal of Psychotherapy July 1, 1986 DOI: 10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.1986.40.3.393 via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractMany preindustrial cultures used psychedelic plants to enhance practices resembling psychotherapy, an idea tested in Western psychiatry during the 1950s and 1960s. LSD and similar drugs were employed to facilitate memories, fantasies, and insights and to strengthen the therapeutic alliance, but results were inconclusive, and research largely ended when the drugs became hard to obtain. Revival of such research may now be possible with newer drugs that avoid some drawbacks of older ones. MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is currently of most interest; it is relatively mild and short-acting, reportedly enhancing introspection and intimacy without the perceptual changes, emotional unpredictability, or adverse reactions linked to LSD.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | MDMA |
| Keywords | Alliance Introspection Psychology Psychotherapist |
| Citations | 189 |
| Key finding | MDMA may enhance the therapeutic alliance by promoting self-disclosure and trust, but research on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy should not be abandoned due to concerns about abuse. |
Abstract
Many preindustrial cultures traditionally use certain psychedelic plants to enhance a procedure that resembles psychotherapy--an idea that was also tested in Western psychiatry in the 1950s and 1960s. LSD and related drugs were used to facilitate the production of memories, fantasies and insights and to enhance the therapeutic alliance. The results were inconclusive, and research was largely abandoned after the drugs became difficult to obtain. It may now be possible to revive this research, using new drugs that do not have some of the disadvantages of the old ones. The drug now of most interest is MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) a relatively mild and short-acting substance that is said to give a heightened capacity for introspection and intimacy without the perceptual changes, emotional unpredictability, and occasional adverse reactions associated with LSD. Therapists who have used the drug claim that it can enhance the therapeutic alliance by inviting self-disclosure and promoting trust. Whether MDMA fulfills this promise or not, other drugs may eventually prove useful in psychotherapy. Research on their potential should not be curtailed because of fear that they will be subject to illicit abuse.