Underground MDMA-, LSD-and 2-CB-assisted individual and group psychotherapy in Zurich: Outcomes, implications and commentary

Introduction

Psychedelic substances have long been used in non-Western and archaic cultures for psycho-spiritual purposes and were the focus of substantial psychiatric research after LSD's discovery in 1943. That clinical research largely ceased by the 1970s amid widespread recreational use, and only in recent decades has interest resumed in using such compounds as adjuncts to psychotherapy. Despite the hiatus in formal research, the authors note continuing pockets of underground psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy worldwide. This paper presents a descriptive account of one such underground project in Zurich, reconstructed from several interviews between UK psychiatrist Ben Sessa and German psychiatrist Friederike Fischer. The account aims to describe the therapist's training and practice, the structure and content of individual and group psycholytic sessions, client characteristics and reported outcomes, and the legal, ethical and clinical implications of the project in the context of a resurging formal research field in psychedelics.