Understanding subjective experience in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy: The need for phenomenology

Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is being studied as a treatment for various psychiatric illnesses. Current evidence indicates that the subjective experiences caused by psychedelics are important for therapeutic outcomes. Most knowledge of these experiences comes from psychometric scales like the Mystical Experience Questionnaire. The authors argue that more detailed descriptions of how psychedelics change subjective experience are needed. They propose using qualitative methods from phenomenological psychopathology to systematically investigate these changes. This approach aims to characterize therapeutic psychedelic experiences using concepts from philosophical phenomenology, which should help clarify the mechanisms of psychedelic therapy, the role of integration therapy, and related philosophical debates.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is being investigated as a treatment for a range of psychiatric illnesses. Current research suggests that the kinds of subjective experiences induced by psychedelic compounds play key roles in producing therapeutic outcomes. To date, most knowledge of therapeutic psychedelic experiences are derived from psychometric assessments with scales such as the Mystical Experience Questionnaire. While these approaches are insightful, more nuanced and detailed descriptions of psychedelic-induced changes to subjective experience are required. Drawing on recent advancements in qualitative methods arising from the interdisciplinary field of phenomenological psychopathology, we propose a systematic and comprehensive investigation into how psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy alters subjective experience. This research programme aims to characterise the nature of therapeutic psychedelic experiences by drawing on concepts from philosophical phenomenology. Such characterisations should, moreover, contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms of psychedelic therapy, the role of integration therapy, and related philosophical debates.