Spiritual health practitioners’ contributions to psychedelic assisted therapy: A qualitative analysis
Interviews with 15 spiritual health practitioners identified seven themes—five unique contributions (competence with spiritual material, awareness of power dynamics, familiarity with non‑ordinary states, holding space, and a counterbalance to biomedical perspectives) and two general contributions (therapeutic repertoire and interdisciplinary collaboration)—showing they offer distinctive expertise to psychedelic‑assisted therapy. The authors conclude that teams may benefit from including spiritual health practitioners, but standardised role definitions, qualifications and training are needed to ensure quality and safety.
Authors
- Charles Raison
- Katharine Dunlop
- Boadie Dunlop
Published
Abstract
Background
Psychedelic-assisted therapies hold early promise for treating multiple psychiatric conditions. However, absent standards for the care, teams providing psychedelic-assisted therapy pose a major roadblock to safe administration. Psychedelics often produce spiritually and existentially meaningful experiences, and spiritual health practitioners have been involved in administering psychedelic-assisted therapies in multiple settings, suggesting important qualifications for delivering these therapies. However, the roles and competencies of spiritual health practitioners in psychedelic-assisted therapies have not been described in research.
Method
This study examined interviews with 15 spiritual health practitioners who have facilitated psychedelic-assisted therapy. Thematic analyses focused on their contributions, application of expertise and professional background, and roles in administering these therapies.
Results
Seven themes emerged, comprising two domains: unique and general contributions. Unique contributions included: competency to work with spiritual material, awareness of power dynamics, familiarity with non-ordinary states of consciousness, holding space, and offer a counterbalance to biomedical perspectives. General contributions included use of generalizable therapeutic repertoire when conducting PAT, and contributing to interdisciplinary collaboration.
Implications
Spiritual health practitioners bring unique and specific expertise to psychedelic-assisted therapy based on their training and professional experience. They are skilled at interprofessional collaboration in a way that complements other clinical team members. Psychedelic-assisted therapy teams may benefit from including spiritual health practitioners. In order to ensure rigorous standards and quality care, further efforts to delineate the roles and necessary qualifications and training of spiritual health clinicians for psychedelic-assisted therapy are needed.
Research Summary of 'Spiritual health practitioners’ contributions to psychedelic assisted therapy: A qualitative analysis'
Introduction
Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) is an emerging treatment approach showing early promise for conditions such as treatment-resistant depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use disorders. PAT pairs administration of a psychedelic compound (for example psilocybin or MDMA) with psychotherapeutic support, and dosing often produces spiritually and existentially meaningful experiences. Despite the frequency of spiritual material in PAT and a history of spiritual practitioners participating in ceremonial and clinical contexts, there is little consensus about who should facilitate PAT or what competencies spiritual health practitioners (SHPs) bring to such teams. The absence of clearly specified roles for SHPs complicates development of practice guidelines and may leave important aspects of care unaddressed. Peacock and colleagues set out to characterise how SHPs who have facilitated PAT conceptualise their roles, the competencies they apply, and the activities they perform across preparation, dosing and integration phases. The study used interviews with SHPs practising in legal contexts to identify thematic domains of contribution that could inform team composition, training, and future guidelines for PAT delivery and research.
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Study Details
- Study Typeindividual
- Journal
- Topics
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- APA Citation
Peacock, C., Mascaro, J. S., Brauer, E., Zarrabi, A. J., Dunlop, B. W., Maples-Keller, J. L., Grant, G. H., Raison, C. L., Rab, F., & Palitsky, R. (2024). Spiritual health practitioners’ contributions to psychedelic assisted therapy: A qualitative analysis. PLOS ONE, 19(1), e0296071. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0296071
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Cited By (2)
Papers in Blossom that reference this study
Griffiths, R. R., Jesse, R., Richards, W. A. et al. · Psychedelic Medicine (2026)
Beaussant, Y., Tarbi, E., Nigam, K. B. et al. · General Hospital Psychiatry (2025)
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