I write about the science and implementation of psychedelics as medicines. Join to learn alongside me and make the future happen sooner!
The Bloom 43 - Group psychedelic-assisted therapy
Just one more week to go, and then we can look back at another amazing year of psychedelic research findings. But before we do that, here is the latest from this week (also see my longer recap on the latest research). Happy Holidays! Floris - Founder of Blossom ps Psychedelics Today has extended the deadline for applying for their third cohort of Vital: a 12-month professional certificate training in the elements of psychedelic-informed practice, harm reduction, and integration. Admissions are open now to anyone with any level of licensure — you don’t have to be a practising clinician to apply! Applications are open until December 20th. Visit Vital and download the course curriculum for more information or to apply. Latest Psychedelic Research1 Psilocybin-assisted group therapy in patients with cancer diagnosed with a major depressive disorderThis Phase II, open-label trial (n=30) assessed psilocybin-assisted therapy (25mg) for patients with cancer and depression (MDD) with individual and group therapeutic support. The study reported no serious adverse events and suggested efficacy with a significant reduction in depression severity by week 8. Notably, 80% of participants had a sustained response, and 50% achieved full remission of depressive symptoms at week 1, maintained for eight weeks. The study highlights the safety and feasibility of psilocybin-assisted therapy in a group cohort. Related: Group psychedelic therapy: empirical estimates of cost-savings and improved access (from last week)
2 Treatment with psychedelics is psychotherapy: beyond reductionismThis opinion piece (2023) challenges the traditional conceptualization of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP/PAT), emphasizing that the therapeutic effects of psychedelics should not be solely attributed to the substance itself but also to the importance of psychotherapy. The authors argue against reducing the role of psychotherapy to mere psychological support for safety, advocating for a more integrated approach to understanding and studying the therapeutic potential of psychedelics in treating psychiatric disorders. Related: The Ethical Compass of Minding to Psychotherapy: How Much Support is Necessary? (article) 3 The relation between naturalistic use of psychedelics and perception of emotional stimuliThis cross-sectional study (n=111) investigated neural markers associated with emotional reactivity in individuals with extensive naturalistic psychedelic use (15 or more lifetime experiences) compared to non-users. Experienced psychedelic users (n=56) exhibited significantly lower N200 amplitudes in response to fearful faces, suggesting reduced reactivity to emotionally negative stimuli at early processing stages. More new research
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New on Blossom1 Blossom Pro: Research Briefing #2 – More Group Therapy, No Therapy? and Personality ChangesExploring psychedelic therapy: Beyond drugs, integrating psychotherapy and context for personality changes and mental health benefits. 2 The Ethical Compass of Minding to Psychotherapy: How Much Support is Necessary?A battle of Compass Pathways (Guy Goodwin) vs the MIND Foundation (Max Wolff). The need for psychotherapy or just psychological support. 3 Psychedelic Research Links December 2023All the other papers that have come out this month we didn't add to the database.
Spotlight1 Groundhog Day: DOI/DOC-->Schedule I? (article)In 2022, the DEA's attempt to classify five tryptamine substances and DOI/DOC under Schedule I faced unprecedented challenges. Objections from groups like Mindstate/Tactogen and Panacea Plant Sciences led to a rare withdrawal of the proposal, largely due to outdated data and weak evidence of high abuse potential. Recently, the DEA reintroduced the DOI/DOC scheduling with a new procedure requiring a written statement for hearing requests, raising legal concerns about its consistency with the Controlled Substances Act. The article, from the always-awesome On Drugs, advises interested parties to demonstrate their impact by the rule to establish administrative standing for a hearing. It also questions the claimed high abuse potential of DOI, arguing that its scheduling under Schedule I is poor policy given its limited abuse profile. |
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Floris from Blossom
I write about the science and implementation of psychedelics as medicines. Join to learn alongside me and make the future happen sooner!
The Bloom #148 Free Edition rolling Over the last week, it seems that psychedelic research is coming at us faster than ever before. Researchers re-analysed data from a single-blind study of psilocybin-assisted therapy for depression and found that psychological flexibility, mindfulness, and living according to one’s values improved, even four months after the study's conclusion. Next to academic research, I'm seeing an uptick in publications from the psychedelic drug developers, including a...
The Bloom #147 Free Edition the EMA workshop Editor note: My apologies for not getting this email to you last week, I see that it accidentally was stuck in draft - so you are getting this email and the one for this week just a few minutes apart How do psychedelics work? Some may say we have all the answers already, and that all the research currently happening is just an exercise in writing down wisdom that's already present in the wider world outside of academia. Others, notably the...
The Bloom #146 Free Edition open design The psychedelic conference season is just around the corner. I've just updated our Events page, which should now give a good overview of a variety of conferences that are happening in the coming 1.5 years. In-person conferences include ICPR, which has just added a policy-focused day (Pathways of Access Summit) at the start of the conference; with the code BLOSSOM50, you can get a €50 discount. Online you can also bump into me at the Psychedelics and...