Medicine Sessions

This chapter describes the medicine sessions of psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT), where the psychedelic medicine is administered. It outlines the therapist's role, emphasizing support, responsiveness, and skillful following, ensuring physical well-being, maintaining boundaries, and providing mindful, compassionate attention. It details working within the six EMBARK psychedelic therapy domains during sessions, offering specific interventions and explanatory language for clinical phenomena. The chapter also discusses responding to common and challenging events, stressing the therapist's presence and quality of attention. It concludes with advice on challenging experiences and what to do if a participant believes they received a placebo.

Study at a glance

Abstract

AbstractChapter 6 focuses on the medicine sessions of psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT), where the psychedelic medicine is administered. The chapter outlines the therapist’s role in these sessions, emphasizing the importance of support, responsiveness, and skillful following, ensuring the participant’s physical well-being, maintaining appropriate boundaries, and providing mindful, compassionate attention. The chapter also details how to work within the six EMBARK psychedelic therapy domains during the medicine sessions, providing specific suggestions for interventions and explanatory language for a variety of clinical phenomena that may emerge in the session. The chapter further discusses how to respond to common and challenging events that may arise during the psychedelic medicine session, emphasizing the importance of the therapist’s presence and the quality of their attention. The chapter concludes with a note on challenging experiences and advice for researchers on what to do if a participant believes they received a placebo.