TY - JOUR
T1 - The psychedelic debriefing in alcohol dependence treatment
T2 - Illustrating key change phenomena through qualitative content analysis of clinical sessions
AU - Nielson, Elizabeth M.
AU - May, Darrick G.
AU - Forcehimes, Alyssa A.
AU - Bogenschutz, Michael P.
N1 - Funding Information:
Support for EN was provided by National Institute on Drug Abuse Grant T32DA007233-33S1 while the author was a postdoctoral fellow at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing. Support for DM was provided by National Institute on Drug Abuse Grant T32DA07209 while the author was a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University. Opinions are those of the authors and do not represent the official views of National Institutes of Health, National Institutes on Drug Abuse, NYU, Johns Hopkins University, or Train for Change. The authors would like to thank Ryan Mals, Alexander Guy, and Alex Pogzeba for volunteering their time as transcribers. The authors are also grateful to the study participants for their contribution to the field
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Nielson, May, Forcehimes and Bogenschutz.
PY - 2018/2/21
Y1 - 2018/2/21
N2 - Research on the clinical applications of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy has demonstrated promising early results for treatment of alcohol dependence. Detailed description of the content and methods of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, as it is conducted in clinical settings, is scarce. Methods: An open-label pilot (proof-of-concept) study of psilocybin-assisted treatment of alcohol dependence (NCT01534494) was conducted to generate data for a phase 2 RCT (NCT02061293) of a similar treatment in a larger population. The present paper presents a qualitative content analysis of the 17 debriefing sessions conducted in the pilot study, which occurred the day after corresponding psilocybin medication sessions. Results: Participants articulated a series of key phenomena related to change in drinking outcomes and acute subjective effects of psilocybin. Discussion: The data illuminate change processes in patients' own words during clinical sessions, shedding light on potential therapeutic mechanisms of change and how participants express effects of psilocybin. This study is unique in analyzing actual clinical sessions, as opposed to interviews of patients conducted separately from treatment.
AB - Research on the clinical applications of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy has demonstrated promising early results for treatment of alcohol dependence. Detailed description of the content and methods of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, as it is conducted in clinical settings, is scarce. Methods: An open-label pilot (proof-of-concept) study of psilocybin-assisted treatment of alcohol dependence (NCT01534494) was conducted to generate data for a phase 2 RCT (NCT02061293) of a similar treatment in a larger population. The present paper presents a qualitative content analysis of the 17 debriefing sessions conducted in the pilot study, which occurred the day after corresponding psilocybin medication sessions. Results: Participants articulated a series of key phenomena related to change in drinking outcomes and acute subjective effects of psilocybin. Discussion: The data illuminate change processes in patients' own words during clinical sessions, shedding light on potential therapeutic mechanisms of change and how participants express effects of psilocybin. This study is unique in analyzing actual clinical sessions, as opposed to interviews of patients conducted separately from treatment.
KW - Addiction treatment
KW - Alcoholism
KW - Ego-dissolution
KW - Hallucinogens
KW - Motivational interviewing
KW - Psilocybin
KW - Psychedelic assisted therapy
KW - Psychotherapy
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U2 - 10.3389/fphar.2018.00132
DO - 10.3389/fphar.2018.00132
M3 - Article
C2 - 29515449
AN - SCOPUS:85042395863
SN - 1663-9812
VL - 9
JO - Frontiers in Pharmacology
JF - Frontiers in Pharmacology
IS - FEB
M1 - 132
ER -