Expressive resource in a clinical psychedelic study: Art as an integration tool.

Psychedelic experiences, particularly those from DMT, are often intense and hard to put into words, which complicates therapeutic integration. In a Phase I clinical trial, participants created mandalas as a nonverbal expressive tool. The mandalas helped them symbolically express subjective content that was difficult to verbalize, thereby supporting integration. Despite this promise, expressive tools remain underused in psychedelic clinical protocols. Including art may enhance therapeutic benefits by deepening understanding and meaning of the experience.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Psychedelic experiences, especially those induced by substances such as N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), are often characterized by high subjective intensity, complex visual content, and notable ineffability-that is, the difficulty of being fully expressed in words. This expressive limitation poses a significant challenge to the integration of the experience, which is essential for the therapeutic processing of these experiences. In this context, clinical studies with psychedelics are increasingly demanding innovative approaches to facilitate the assimilation of such experiences into daily life. Art, as a form of nonverbal expression, has been proposed as a promising tool in this regard. Accordingly, this article discusses the use of the mandala as a complementary expressive resource in the process of psychedelic integration, based on a Phase I clinical trial with DMT. The analysis draws on the mandalas and narratives produced by participants. The findings suggest that the creation of mandalas facilitated the symbolic expression of subjective content that was difficult to verbalize, supporting the integration process. Despite its potential, the use of expressive tools remains underexplored and unsystematized in current psychedelic clinical protocols. We concluded that the inclusion of art may represent a valuable advancement in optimizing the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics, expanding the understanding and meaning of experience.