Scientific Reports
November 24, 2020
Julane Andries, Lisa Jerome, Evan Sola et al.
170 citations
A randomized controlled trial tested MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for anxiety in people with life-threatening illnesses. Participants received either MDMA (125 mg) or placebo during two 8-hour psychotherapy sessions. At one month after the second session, the MDMA group showed a greater average reduction in anxiety scores (23.5 points) compared to the placebo group (8.8 points), but the difference did not reach statistical significance. The treatment was well tolerated. After the trial, all participants received open-label MDMA sessions. These preliminary results suggest MDMA-assisted psychotherapy may be a promising approach, but larger trials are needed to confirm its effectiveness.
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
July 1, 2014
Philip E. Wolfson
20 citations
Richard Yensen, a research fellow at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center from 1972 to 1976, studied psychedelic psychotherapy with Stanislav Grof and treated patients with substance abuse disorders, cancer, neurosis, and health professionals seeking training. His Ph.D. dissertation examined MDA use in psychotherapy with neurotic outpatients. After years of government-sanctioned psychedelic research, he developed a non-drug shamanistic psychotherapy called Perceptual Affective Therapy. He held an FDA investigational new drug permit for LSD and psychotherapy until 2006. Yensen is now a licensed psychologist, director of the Orenda Institute, and president of the Salvador Roquet Psychosynthesis Association.
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
July 1, 2014
Philip E. Wolfson
4 citations
Transformation is examined in relation to psychedelic experiences, especially those induced by ketamine. A schema categorizes types of states and transformations that may arise from psychedelic use. A longitudinal historical method is proposed for portraying personal transformation, along with an instrument called The Transformational Codex for cataloging that history and its constituent elements.
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
July 1, 2014
Philip E. Wolfson
2 citations
In a mixed-methods study emulating the protocol of prior research on ketamine for treatment-resistant depression, eight experienced ketamine users received an IV dose of 0.5 mg/kg over 40 minutes. Quantitative measures were generally insignificant, as participants were not a depressed population; blood pressure increased by 20–30 mm systolic and 6–20 mm diastolic, then fell rapidly within 20 minutes after infusion. Qualitative reports described relaxation, pleasant sensation, decreased cognitive function, and some disabling of ordinary capacities.
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
July 1, 2014
Kenneth Ring, Ralph Metzner, Philip E. Wolfson
1 citation
The off-label use of ketamine as a mind-altering substance originated not in laboratories but within the psychedelic culture emerging from the 1960s counterculture movement. Without such experimentation, the drug's therapeutic effects might have gone unnoticed and unresearched. Personal accounts, both inspiring and cautionary, reveal cultural contexts where ketamine was found to be much more than a reliable anesthetic.