World Psychiatry
January 12, 2024
Marc J. Weintraub, David J. Miklowitz
6 citations
Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) combines preparation, drug administration, and integration, but its methods have remained largely unchanged since the 1950s. Preparation typically lasts two to eight hours over one to three sessions, while drug sessions involve 6-8 hours of monitored introspection with eyeshades and classical music. Integration varies widely, from a single phone call to nine psychotherapy sessions, often using non-directive approaches from psychoanalysis or person-centered therapy. The text argues that these psychosocial components have not been rigorously tested for their relative benefits and recommends updating them with evidence-based treatments like cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), which targets shared mechanisms of emotional regulation, cognitive flexibility, and prosocial engagement. Combining psychedelics with structured psychotherapy may produce synergistic, longer-lasting improvements.
Psychedelic Medicine
September 6, 2023
Marc J. Weintraub, Jessica Jeffrey, Charles S. Grob et al.
4 citations
A trial is planned to gather initial evidence on whether combining psilocybin with cognitive behavioral therapy is feasible, safe, acceptable, and has psychosocial benefits for people with major depressive disorder. The results will guide larger randomized trials to test this combined treatment's effects and explore how it might work through changes in thinking and emotion. The trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov with ID NCT05227612.
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry
December 19, 2024
Jessica K. Jeffrey, Marc J. Weintraub, Charles S. Grob
The authors respond to two letters about their earlier commentary on psychedelic-assisted therapy trials for 16- to 17-year-olds. They reaffirm that ethical and methodologically rigorous research is essential across psychedelic medicine and that conducting such research in adolescents is sensible and worthwhile. They also acknowledge risks from extrapolating adult efficacy data and from off-label prescribing practices common in child and adolescent psychiatry, inviting further dialogue on the subject.