The psychedelic debriefing in alcohol dependence treatment: illustrating key change phenomena through qualitative content analysis of clinical sessions
This open-label pilot study (n=10) of psilocybin-assisted treatment of alcohol dependence (21mg/70kg) presents a qualitative content analysis of the 17 debriefing sessions conducted in the pilot study, which occurred the day after corresponding psilocybin medication sessions. Participants articulated a series of key phenomena related to change in drinking outcomes and acute subjective effects of psilocybin.
Authors
- Michael Bogenschutz
- Elizabeth Nielson
Published
Abstract
Background
Research on the clinical applications of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy has demonstrated promising early results for treatment of alcohol dependence. Detailed description of the content and methods of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, as it is conducted in clinical settings, is scarce.
Methods
An open-label pilot (proof-of-concept) study of psilocybin-assisted treatment of alcohol dependence (NCT01534494) was conducted to generate data for a phase 2 RCT (NCT02061293) of a similar treatment in a larger population. The present paper presents a qualitative content analysis of the 17 debriefing sessions conducted in the pilot study, which occurred the day after corresponding psilocybin medication sessions.
Results
Participants articulated a series of key phenomena related to change in drinking outcomes and acute subjective effects of psilocybin.
Discussion
The data illuminate change processes in patients' own words during clinical sessions, shedding light on potential therapeutic mechanisms of change and how participants express effects of psilocybin. This study is unique in analyzing actual clinical sessions, as opposed to interviews of patients conducted separately from treatment.
Research Summary of 'The psychedelic debriefing in alcohol dependence treatment: illustrating key change phenomena through qualitative content analysis of clinical sessions'
Introduction
Kraehenmann and colleagues situate this work within a resurgence of clinical research on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, noting that psilocybin has shown safety and potential efficacy for alcohol dependence in an open-label pilot and that a larger FDA-approved Phase II trial was underway. They describe the typical treatment structure used in these studies: a 12-week psychotherapy programme with two psilocybin medication sessions (weeks 4 and 8), therapists working as a co-therapist dyad, and debriefing sessions held the day after medication sessions to assess mental status and to allow patients to describe and reflect on their experiences. The paper aims to characterise how participants themselves talk about change-related phenomena during these immediate post-medication debriefing sessions. Because detailed descriptions of what actually occurs in clinical psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy are scarce, the investigators analysed transcripts of debriefing sessions from their open-label pilot to illustrate phenomena—such as mysticomimetic experiences, ego-dissolution, motivation, commitment to change, dysphoria, and stigma—that may relate to changes in drinking behaviour and to therapeutic mechanisms more broadly.
Expert Research Summaries
Go Pro to access AI-powered section-by-section summaries, editorial takes, and the full research toolkit.
Full Text PDF
Full Paper PDF
Create a free account to open full-text PDFs.
Study Details
- Study Typeindividual
- Journal
- Compound
- Topics
- Authors
- APA Citation
Nielson, E. M., May, D. G., Forcehimes, A. A., & Bogenschutz, M. P. (2018). The psychedelic debriefing in alcohol dependence treatment: illustrating key change phenomena through qualitative content analysis of clinical sessions. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2018.00132
References (28)
Papers cited by this study that are also in Blossom
Barrett, F. S., Johnson, M. W., Griffiths, R. R. · Journal of Psychopharmacology (2015)
Belser, A. B., Agin-Liebes, G. I., Swift, T. C. et al. · Journal of Humanistic Psychology (2017)
Bogenschutz, M. P. · Current Drug Abuse Reviews (2013)
Bogenschutz, M. P., Forcehimes, A. A. · Journal of Humanistic Psychology (2016)
Bogenschutz, M. P., Forcehimes, A. A., Pommy, J. A. et al. · Journal of Psychopharmacology (2015)
Carbonaro, T. M., Bradstreet, M. P., Barrett, F. S. et al. · Journal of Psychopharmacology (2016)
Carhart-Harris, R. L., Erritzoe, D., Williams, T. et al. · PNAS (2012)
Carhart-Harris, R. L., Leech, R., Shanahan, M. et al. · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (2014)
Garcia-Romeu, A., Griffiths, R. R., Johnson, M. W. · Current Drug Abuse Reviews (2015)
Griffiths, R. R., Johnson, M. W. · Journal of Psychopharmacology (2016)
Show all 28 referencesShow fewer
Griffiths, R. R., Johnson, M. W., Richards, W. A. et al. · Psychopharmacology (2011)
Griffiths, R. R., Richards, W. A., Mccann, U. et al. · Journal of Psychopharmacology (2006)
Griffiths, R. R. · Journal of Psychopharmacology (2008)
Johnson, M. W., Garcia-Romeu, A., Cosimano, M. P. et al. · Journal of Psychopharmacology (2014)
Sumiyoshi, T., Kraehenmann, R., Pokorny, D. et al. · Frontiers in Pharmacology (2017)
Kraehenmann, R., Preller, K. H., Scheidegger, M. et al. · Biological Psychiatry (2015)
Krupitsky, E. M., Burakov, A. M., Romanova, T. N. et al. · Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment (2002)
Krupitsky, E. M., Grinenko, A. Y. · Journal of Psychoactive Drugs (1997)
Lebedev, A. V., L€ Ovd En, M., Rosenthal, G. et al. · Human Brain Mapping (2015)
Maclean, K. A., Johnson, M. W., Griffiths, R. R. · Journal of Psychopharmacology (2011)
MacLean, K. A., Leoutsakos, J. S., Johnson, M. W. et al. · Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (2012)
Richards, W. A., Rhead, J. C., Dileo, F. B. et al. · Journal of Psychedelic Drugs (1997)
Ross, S., Bossis, A. P., Guss, J. et al. · Journal of Psychopharmacology (2016)
Schenberg, E. E., de Castro Comis, M. A., Alexandre, J. F. M. et al. · Journal of Psychedelic Studies (2016)
Strassman, R. J., Qualls, C. R., Uhlenhuth, E. H. et al. · JAMA Psychiatry (1994)
Studerus, E., Gamma, A., Vollenweider, F. X. · PLOS ONE (2010)
Tagliazucchi, E., Roseman, L., Kaelen, M. et al. · Current Biology (2016)
Watts, R., Day, C. M., Krzanowski, J. et al. · Journal of Humanistic Psychology (2017)
Cited By (36)
Papers in Blossom that reference this study
Brett, J., Lea, T., Knock, E. et al. · Addiction (2025)
Ermakova, A. O., Dunbar, F., Seynaeve, M. et al. · Scientific Reports (2025)
Mathai, D. S., Roberts, D. E., Nayak, S. M. et al. · Journal of Psychedelic Drugs (2025)
Tap, S. C. · Addiction Biology (2024)
Breeksema, J. J., Niemeijer, A. R., Krediet, E. et al. · Scientific Reports (2024)
Di Virgilio, V., Minerbi, A., Deol, J. K. et al. · MedRvix (2023)
Kopra, E., Ferris, J. A., Winstock, A. R. et al. · Journal of Psychopharmacology (2023)
Ponomarenko, P., Seragnoli, F., Calder, A. et al. · Journal of Psychopharmacology (2023)
Di Virgilio, A., Di Virgilio, V., Minerbi, A. et al. · MedRvix (2023)
Kałużna, A., Schlosser, M., Gulliksen Craste, E. et al. · Journal of Psychedelic Studies (2022)
Show all 36 papersShow fewer
Calleja-Conde, J., Morales-García, J. A., Echeverry-Alzate, V. et al. · Addiction Biology (2022)
Breeksema, J. J., Kuin, B. W., Kamphuis, J. et al. · Journal of Psychopharmacology (2022)
Johnson, M. W. · Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences (2022)
Amada, N., Shane, J. · Journal of Humanistic Psychology (2022)
Belser, A. B. · Frontiers in Psychology (2022)
Whitney, S., Yaden, D. B., Lipson, J. et al. · Frontiers in Psychology (2022)
McCulloch, D. E-W., Madsen, M. K., Jensen, P. S. et al. · Frontiers in Pharmacology (2022)
Thal, S., Engels, L. B., Bright, S. J. · Journal of Humanistic Psychology (2022)
Dursun, S. M., Kelly, J. R., Gillan, C. M. et al. · Frontiers in Psychiatry (2021)
Williams, M. L., Korevaar, D., Harvey, R. et al. · Frontiers in Psychiatry (2021)
Podrebarac, S. K., O'donnell, K. C., Mennenga, S. E. et al. · Spirituality in Clinical Practice (2021)
Kočárová, C., Horacek, J., Carhart-Harris, R. L. · Frontiers in Psychiatry (2021)
Teixeira, P. J., Johnson, M. W., Timmermann, C. et al. · Journal of Psychopharmacology (2021)
Rush, B., Marcus, O., García, S. et al. · Frontiers in Pharmacology (2021)
Payne, J. E., Chambers, R., Liknaitzky, P. · ACS Pharmacology and Translational Science (2021)
McCulloch, D. E-W., Madsen, M. K., Stenbæk, D. S. et al. · Journal of Psychopharmacology (2021)
Olson, D. E. · ACS Pharmacology and Translational Science (2020)
Nichols, D. E., Walter, H. · Pharmacopsychiatry (2020)
Stenbæk, D. S., Madsen, M. K., Ozenne, B. et al. · Journal of Psychopharmacology (2020)
Johnson, S., Black, Q. C. · International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction (2020)
Breeksema, J. J., Niemeijer, A. R., Krediet, E. et al. · CNS Drugs (2020)
Wolff, M., Evens, R., Mertens, L. J. et al. · Frontiers in Psychiatry (2020)
Dos Santos, R. G., Hallak, J. E. · Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews (2020)
Luoma, J. B., Sabucedo, P., Eriksson, J. et al. · Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science (2019)
Garcia-Romeu, A., Davis, A. K., Fire Erowid et al. · Journal of Psychopharmacology (2019)
Barsuglia, J. P., Polanco, M., Palmer, R. et al. · Progress in Brain Research (2018)
Your Personal Research Library
Go Pro to save papers, add notes, rate studies, and organize your research into custom shelves.