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Evolving Guidelines for the Use of Touch During a Clinical Trial of Group Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy.

Psychedelic medicine (New Rochelle, N.Y.)
December 1, 2024
Anthony Back et al. (6 authors)
Journal ArticleHuman Study
Study Details

Study Goal

The researchers aimed to develop and refine guidelines for ethical and supportive facilitator use of touch during psilocybin-assisted therapy retreats to enhance participant safety and therapeutic experience.

Results Summary

The study iterated initial touch guidelines based on unexpected experiences, focusing on maintaining safety, therapeutic boundaries, and empathetic responses during psilocybin sessions. The revised guidelines aimed to reinforce participant safety and support their subjective experience.

Population

Participants in group retreat-based psilocybin-assisted therapy (specific demographics not detailed).

Effective Dosage

Not specified

Duration

Not specified

Interactions

None mentioned

Extracted Claims (5)
InterventionDirectionEndpointPopulationDosageImpactClaim #
psilocybin-assisted therapy
no change
facilitator use of touch
participants
-
aimed to describe facilitator use of touch in a way that is ethical, supportive, and minimizes harm
#1
psilocybin-assisted therapy
increase
participants' sense of safety
participants
-
create a haptic experience during the psilocybin session that reinforces the participants' sense of safety
#2
psilocybin-assisted therapy
increase
participant experience
participants
-
create a haptic experience during the psilocybin session that supports their own experience during the psilocybin session
#3
psilocybin-assisted therapy
no change
therapeutic boundaries
facilitator team
-
allow the facilitator team to notice and maintain therapeutic boundaries
#4
psilocybin-assisted therapy
increase
response to participant experiences
facilitator team
-
allow the facilitator team to respond to participant experiences with empathy and openness in the context of those boundaries
#5
Abstract

For a new clinical trial testing a group retreat-based format of psilocybin-assisted therapy, our research team created an initial set of practice guidelines that aimed to describe facilitator use of touch in a way that is ethical, supportive, and minimizes harm. In our first three retreats, however, we had two unexpected experiences with touch that led us to iterate our initial guidelines into a new version of guidelines. In this Technical Report, we describe our evolving guidelines specifying acceptable practices for facilitator use of touch to ensure a safe, supportive, and therapeutic participant experience. Our primary goal with these guidelines is to create a haptic experience during the psilocybin session that reinforces the participants' sense of safety and supports their own experience during the psilocybin session. Our secondary goal is to allow the facilitator team to notice and maintain therapeutic boundaries and to respond to participant experiences with empathy and openness in the context of those boundaries (Clinical Trials No: NCT05847686).

Study Links
Quality Scores
SafetyNot Assessed
Efficacy65/10
Quality70/10
Research Impact Scores
APT Score0.05
Weight Score1.12
Normalized Score0.60
Related Supplements
Evolving Guidelines for the Use of Touch During a Clinical T... | Panacea Index