Evolving Guidelines for the Use of Touch During a Clinical Trial of Group Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy

A research team developing a group retreat-based psilocybin-assisted therapy trial created initial practice guidelines for ethical and supportive facilitator use of touch. After two unexpected touch-related experiences during the first three retreats, the guidelines were iterated. The revised guidelines specify acceptable practices to ensure participant safety and a supportive therapeutic experience. The primary goal is to create a haptic experience that reinforces participants' sense of safety and supports their own experience during the psilocybin session. A secondary goal is to help facilitators maintain therapeutic boundaries while responding to participant experiences with empathy and openness.

Study at a glance

Abstract

For a new clinical trial testing a group retreat-based format of psilocybin-assisted therapy, our research team created an initial set of practice guidelines that aimed to describe facilitator use of touch in a way that is ethical, supportive, and minimizes harm. In our first three retreats, however, we had two unexpected experiences with touch that led us to iterate our initial guidelines into a new version of guidelines. In this Technical Report, we describe our evolving guidelines specifying acceptable practices for facilitator use of touch to ensure a safe, supportive, and therapeutic participant experience. Our primary goal with these guidelines is to create a haptic experience during the psilocybin session that reinforces the participants' sense of safety and supports their own experience during the psilocybin session. Our secondary goal is to allow the facilitator team to notice and maintain therapeutic boundaries and to respond to participant experiences with empathy and openness in the context of those boundaries (Clinical Trials No: NCT05847686).