Participant Reports of Mindfulness, Posttraumatic Growth, and Social Connectedness in Psilocybin-Assisted Group Therapy

An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis

Bibliographic Data

ID9057914
AuthorsGabrielle Agin-Liebes (0000-0002-9754-229X, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA, corresponding author), Eve Ekman (0000-0002-1572-5309, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA), Brian Anderson (0000-0001-5023-660X, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA), Maxx Malloy (University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA), Alexandra Haas (University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA), Josh Woolley (University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA)
Year2024
Volume64
Issue4
Pages564-591
Publication date2024-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Humanistic Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-1678 • E-ISSN: 1552-650X
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00221678211022949
OpenAlexW3166459008
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited35

The primary objective of this qualitative study was to explore the therapeutic trajectories of individuals undergoing psilocybin-assisted group therapy. This interpretive phenomenological analysis focused on an enriched study sample of gay-identified cisgender men ( n = 9) with human immunodeficiency virus diagnosed before 1996 and clinically significant trauma symptoms. Microphenomenological interviews were carried out 1 day after participants’ individual psilocybin sessions to elicit fine-grained descriptions of the psilocybin-assisted treatment. Two major thematic change processes were identified using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. During their psilocybin sessions, participants reported transitioning out of habitual, evaluative modes of processing and into mindful, experiential modes of processing (from “autopilot” to “meta-aware”). Freed from their emotionally avoidant tendencies, participants were able to process and release previously disowned feelings (grief, shame) and access relational and self-transcendent feelings and prosocial attitudes (joy, gratitude, love, care, compassion). The treatment also supported processes of meaning-making and the realization of posttraumatic growth (in psychological, relational, spiritual dimensions) as participants integrated past traumas into their life narratives and identities (from “trauma-dominant” to “growth-dominant”). These findings suggest that administering adjunctive group therapy with psilocybin may enhance the effectiveness of trauma processing by reinforcing social cohesion, safety, trust, and belonging. These data provide the first empirical suggestion of psilocybin’s efficacy in alleviating trauma symptoms in a group-facilitated format and provide a deeper understanding of the potential psychological change processes involved in this novel treatment approach

Feeling · Gratitude · Group cohesiveness · Group psychotherapy · Hallucinogen · Interpretative phenomenological analysis · Mindfulness · Psilocybin · Psychiatry · Psychotherapist · Qualitative research · Chemical synthesis and alkaloids · Clinical Psychology · Psychedelics and Drug Studies · Psychology · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications · Social Psychology

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