Psychotherapists' openness to engage their patients in Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy for mental health treatment.

Most psychologists are willing to inform eligible patients about psilocybin-assisted therapy if it becomes FDA-approved, but over 90% would still recommend non-psilocybin psychotherapies first. Among 119 surveyed psychologists, 77.4% agreed they would inform patients about PAT, yet 91.6% would prioritize other therapies. Three-quarters endorsed that more knowledge about psilocybin would increase their likelihood of informing patients. Greater openness to engaging patients with PAT was associated with more positive attitudes and beliefs about psilocybin, greater self-reported knowledge, personal psychedelic use, and positive attitudes toward medical cannabis. Attitudes toward medical cannabis and beliefs about psilocybin were the only significant predictors of openness in regression analysis.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Despite psychedelic research initially ceasing in the 1970-80s, the findings documented encouraged researchers to re-examine the safety and efficacy of treating mental health with psychedelics. Of particular focus, psilocybin has shown to have therapeutic potential for a variety of mental health problems and was granted breakthrough therapy status by the FDA. Should psilocybin eventually become legally licensed, the success of Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy (PAT) may largely rely on clinicians' openness to engage their eligible patients with PAT. We therefore assessed 119 psychologists' openness to recommend PAT, perceived barriers/facilitators to informing patients about PAT, and factors affecting their openness to involve patients with PAT if FDA approved. While 77.4 % of psychologists agreed they would inform eligible patients about PAT, 91.6 % stated they would still recommend psychotherapies that do not involve psilocybin first. 76.5 % endorsed that knowledge on psilocybin would increase their likelihood to inform patients about PAT. More positive attitudes and beliefs about psilocybin, greater self-reported knowledge of psilocybin, personal history of psychedelic usage, and more positive attitudes towards medical cannabis (MC) was associated with greater openness to engage patients with PAT. Our regression analysis revealed that attitudes towards MC and beliefs about psilocybin were the only significant predictors of psychotherapists' openness towards PAT. These findings provide relevant information to institutions planning educational programs for mental health professionals about psilocybin and Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies.