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Peacock C, Mascaro JS, Brauer E, Zarrabi AJ, Dunlop BW, Maples-Keller JL, Grant GH, Raison CL, Rab F, Palitsky R. Spiritual health practitioners' contributions to psychedelic assisted therapy: A qualitative analysis. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0296071. [PMID: 38166057 PMCID: PMC10760908 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0296071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2023] [Accepted: 11/29/2023] [Indexed: 01/04/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Psychedelic-assisted therapies hold early promise for treating multiple psychiatric conditions. However, absent standards for the care, teams providing psychedelic-assisted therapy pose a major roadblock to safe administration. Psychedelics often produce spiritually and existentially meaningful experiences, and spiritual health practitioners have been involved in administering psychedelic-assisted therapies in multiple settings, suggesting important qualifications for delivering these therapies. However, the roles and competencies of spiritual health practitioners in psychedelic-assisted therapies have not been described in research. METHOD This study examined interviews with 15 spiritual health practitioners who have facilitated psychedelic-assisted therapy. Thematic analyses focused on their contributions, application of expertise and professional background, and roles in administering these therapies. RESULTS Seven themes emerged, comprising two domains: unique and general contributions. Unique contributions included: competency to work with spiritual material, awareness of power dynamics, familiarity with non-ordinary states of consciousness, holding space, and offer a counterbalance to biomedical perspectives. General contributions included use of generalizable therapeutic repertoire when conducting PAT, and contributing to interdisciplinary collaboration. IMPLICATIONS Spiritual health practitioners bring unique and specific expertise to psychedelic-assisted therapy based on their training and professional experience. They are skilled at interprofessional collaboration in a way that complements other clinical team members. Psychedelic-assisted therapy teams may benefit from including spiritual health practitioners. In order to ensure rigorous standards and quality care, further efforts to delineate the roles and necessary qualifications and training of spiritual health clinicians for psychedelic-assisted therapy are needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline Peacock
- Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- Department of Spiritual Health, Emory University Woodruff Health Sciences Center, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- Emory Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Jennifer S. Mascaro
- Department of Spiritual Health, Emory University Woodruff Health Sciences Center, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- Emory Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Erin Brauer
- Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Ali John Zarrabi
- Emory Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- Division of Palliative Medicine, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Boadie W. Dunlop
- Emory Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Jessica L. Maples-Keller
- Emory Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - George H. Grant
- Department of Spiritual Health, Emory University Woodruff Health Sciences Center, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- Emory Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Charles L. Raison
- Department of Spiritual Health, Emory University Woodruff Health Sciences Center, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- Emory Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Fayzan Rab
- Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Roman Palitsky
- Department of Spiritual Health, Emory University Woodruff Health Sciences Center, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- Emory Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
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Hipólito I, Mago J, Rosas FE, Carhart-Harris R. Pattern breaking: a complex systems approach to psychedelic medicine. Neurosci Conscious 2023; 2023:niad017. [PMID: 37424966 PMCID: PMC10325487 DOI: 10.1093/nc/niad017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2022] [Revised: 05/19/2023] [Accepted: 06/08/2023] [Indexed: 07/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent research has demonstrated the potential of psychedelic therapy for mental health care. However, the psychological experience underlying its therapeutic effects remains poorly understood. This paper proposes a framework that suggests psychedelics act as destabilizers, both psychologically and neurophysiologically. Drawing on the 'entropic brain' hypothesis and the 'RElaxed Beliefs Under pSychedelics' model, this paper focuses on the richness of psychological experience. Through a complex systems theory perspective, we suggest that psychedelics destabilize fixed points or attractors, breaking reinforced patterns of thinking and behaving. Our approach explains how psychedelic-induced increases in brain entropy destabilize neurophysiological set points and lead to new conceptualizations of psychedelic psychotherapy. These insights have important implications for risk mitigation and treatment optimization in psychedelic medicine, both during the peak psychedelic experience and during the subacute period of potential recovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Inês Hipólito
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 10117, Germany
- Department of Philosophy, Macquarie University, New South Wales 2109, Australia
| | - Jonas Mago
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, United Kingdom
- Integrative Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec QC H3A, Canada
| | - Fernando E Rosas
- Department of Brain Sciences, Centre for Psychedelic Research, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BX, United Kingdom
- Centre for Complexity Science, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BX, United Kingdom
- Data Science Institute, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BX, United Kingdom
- Department of Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9RH, United Kingdom
- Centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9BX, United Kingdom
| | - Robin Carhart-Harris
- Department of Brain Sciences, Centre for Psychedelic Research, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BX, United Kingdom
- Psychedelics Division, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 92521, United States
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Lewis CR, McMurray M, Mennenga SE, Helms Tillery S. Editorial: What is up with psychedelics anyway? Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1161868. [PMID: 36992856 PMCID: PMC10040821 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1161868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2023] [Accepted: 02/09/2023] [Indexed: 03/14/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Candace R. Lewis
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
- Department of Psychology, Behavioral Neuroscience, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
- *Correspondence: Candace R. Lewis
| | - Matthew McMurray
- Department of Psychology, Miami University, Oxford, CT, United States
| | - Sarah E. Mennenga
- Grossman School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Steve Helms Tillery
- School for the Future of Innovation in Society, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
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