Journal of Psychedelic Studies
May 30, 2025
Esenia K. Cassidy, David Dupuis, Christopher Timmermann et al.
4 citations
Attachment patterns and psychedelic use jointly influence worldview transformations and enculturation processes. Both may operate through common mechanisms: heightened epistemic trust at the psychological level and heightened serotonin 2a receptor-binding with associated hyper-plastic states at the neural level. The synthesis draws on attachment-religion research, anthropological studies of Ayahuasca use in shamanic tourism, and preliminary attachment-psychedelics research. Future research directions and ethical considerations for psychedelic-assisted therapies and cross-cultural research are outlined.
Psychedelics
December 23, 2025
Esenia K. Cassidy, Alan K. Davis, Smitha Rao
Attachment theory holds that early caregiver interactions shape lifelong mental health, substance use, and well-being. This critical literature review synthesizes 21 peer-reviewed studies on attachment and psychedelics published by November 30, 2024. Identified themes include attachment as a predictor and outcome of psychedelic effects, relationality and romantic relationships, traumatic attachment and grief, clinical implications, calls to expand research into religion and spirituality, and passionate attachment to substances. Common limitations are demographic homogeneity, reliance on self-report, inconsistent study conditions, uncritical positivist approaches, and lack of discussion of limitations or positionalities. More diverse and rigorous research is needed, with greater epistemological awareness and reflexivity.