Ayahuasca may help to improve self-compassion and self-criticism capacities
A pre–post study of 45 volunteers found that participation in an ayahuasca ceremony was associated with significant medium-to-large improvements in self‑compassion, reductions in self‑criticism and increases in self‑reassurance within 24 hours. These exploratory results suggest ayahuasca may enhance well‑being and have therapeutic potential for negative affect, but larger controlled trials are required to confirm the effect.
Authors
- Matilde Elices
- Joaquim Soler
- Juan Carlos Pascual
Published
Abstract
Objective
Ayahuasca is a psychedelic brew that originated in the Amazon basin. The psychological effects of this drug are becoming better understood due to the growing research interest in identifying new potential therapeutic agents for the treatment of emotion dysregulation and other disorders. Previous studies suggest that ayahuasca enhances mindfulness‐related capacities (decentering, non‐judging, non‐reacting and acceptance) and emotion regulation. The aim of the present exploratory study was to determine the effects of ayahuasca on self‐compassion in a community sample.
Methods
We administered validated questionnaires (the Self‐Compassion Scale‐Short Form and Forms of Self‐Criticism and Self‐Reassurance) to evaluate pre‐post changes in self‐compassion and self‐criticism/self‐reassurance in 45 volunteers (27 women; 60%) before and after (≤24 h) an ayahuasca ceremony. Most participants (n = 29; 67.4%) had previously used ayahuasca.
Results
Ayahuasca resulted in significant improvements, with medium to large effect sizes (η2 = 0.184–0.276), in measures of self‐compassion (p < 0.05), self‐criticism (p < 0.01) and self‐reassurance (p < 0.01).
Conclusions
The findings of this study suggest that ayahuasca promotes well‐being and self‐compassion, which could have a therapeutic effect on individuals with negative affect and other psychopathological conditions. Large, controlled studies are needed to confirm these findings.
Research Summary of 'Ayahuasca may help to improve self-compassion and self-criticism capacities'
Introduction
Ayahuasca is a traditional psychedelic brew from the upper Amazon that contains N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a classical 5-HT2A agonist, and has become increasingly used in Western contexts. Earlier research—comprising case reports, animal studies, observational work and preliminary clinical trials—has suggested anxiolytic, antidepressant and anti-addictive effects of ayahuasca. Several studies have also reported increases in mindfulness-related capacities (for example acceptance, non-reactivity and decentering) and improved emotion regulation following ayahuasca, capacities that overlap with mechanisms targeted by mindfulness-based interventions. Domínguez-Clavé and colleagues framed their study around the relatively sparse attention given to self-compassion (SC) in psychedelic research. Because mindfulness training tends to increase SC and some prior psychedelic studies and preliminary open-label work hinted that ayahuasca could enhance compassion-related constructs, they hypothesised that ayahuasca intake would improve self-compassion and reduce self-criticism. The present exploratory study therefore tested pre–post changes in validated measures of self-compassion and self-criticism/self-reassurance in a community sample attending ayahuasca ceremonies.
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Study Details
- Study Typeindividual
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- APA Citation
Domínguez‐Clavé, E., Soler, J., Elices, M., Franquesa, A., Álvarez, E., & Pascual, J. C. (2022). Ayahuasca may help to improve self-compassion and self-criticism capacities. Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental, 37(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/hup.2807
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Mathai, D. S., Roberts, D. E., Nayak, S. M. et al. · Journal of Psychedelic Drugs (2025)
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Agin-Liebes, G. I., Nielson, E. M., Zingman, M. et al. · Psychology of Addictive Behaviors (2024)
Bouso, J. C., Révész, D., Ona, G. et al. · Scientific Reports (2023)
Perkins, D., Pagni, B. A., Sarris, J. et al. · Frontiers in Pharmacology (2022)
Rodriguez, L., Lopez, A., Moyna, G. et al. · ACS Omega (2022)
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