Couples/Group Therapy | +50 articles

[mr peabody]

'We took MDMA to try to fix our marriage'

Anonymous | Nov 05 2019

“After having three kids in less than three years, our relationship was on the rocks. In a desperate attempt to fix it, I bought MDMA.”

I met Dean on the Sydney party scene in 2007. We instantly became a couple and hit the nightclubs together almost every weekend. We mostly drank copious amounts of alcohol, but we occasionally took some ecstasy and danced the night away. We were young and carefree – we had nothing to lose!

Two years later, Dean asked me to marry him. I’d never been the kind of girl who dreamt of a big wedding and a white picket fence with two shiny children behind it, but Dean made settling down seem exciting. And he’d told me from the beginning that having kids was a priority for him, so I decided I was all in.

We got married by the beach in 2010 and we soon started making plans to start a family. Before we knew it, we were laughing and crying as we watched two pink lines appear on a pregnancy test! I felt amazing throughout my pregnancy and we were beyond excited to meet our baby girl.

The day Harlow was born was the best day of our lives. We couldn’t stop fussing over our perfect little bundle! Dean and I grinned at each other constantly and took a million family selfies.

“We weren’t prepared for what was about to happen next”

Dean and I agreed that there was no reason to rush to get an ultrasound this time around because we knew what to expect. But when I started to feel super nauseous and exhausted around the six-week mark, I decided to have a scan. Dean was home sick that day, so I went on my own.

As I sat on the crinkly paper on the examination table, I was a little nervous. I just hoped everything was OK… why did I feel so awful this time around? I heard the sonographer clear her throat and I whipped my head around to look at her. She was smiling. “There are two heartbeats!” she said. I gasped, laughed hysterically, and then started crying. We were having twins!

When I got home a couple of hours later, Dean eyed me nervously. “What took so long? Is everything OK?” he asked. I handed him the ultrasound photos and he burst into laughter. “I knew it! I knew we were having twins!” We cried and hugged each other. We both knew that the next chapter of our lives was going to be a wild ride.

“We had to make some big decisions”

Dean and I had a big chat that night. We knew we couldn’t afford to stay in Sydney with three children under three. We discussed our options and decided that Dean would look for jobs along the East Coast. I worked from home, so I could move anywhere.

He found a job on the Gold Coast a few months later, so we packed up our entire lives and moved interstate. It was a tough pregnancy and the move was hard on me. But as I unpacked boxes in my new home, I was full of hope.

The twins were born in early 2015 and we were so in love! Dean and I found the newborn stage easy again because I didn’t have any work pressures to worry about, but things started to get tough when we were both back in the work grind.

We started bickering again. After some particularly venomous fights, I swore to myself I’d leave him. But when I woke up the next day, I realised our marriage wasn’t over. We were just exhausted and drowning under the weight of all the pressures in our lives. We didn’t have family around to help us, so we had to do everything on our own.

“Desperate times called for desperate measures”

Over the next couple of years, our relationship went up and down. We did some couples counseling and it helped for a while, but our issues seemed to keep coming back.

About six months ago, we hit an all-time low. We weren’t even able to look at each other without exploding with anger. We were constantly fighting and it was starting to affect the kids. So, we started counselling again. It helped a little, but I still felt like there was an emotional chasm between us.

My birthday was coming up and we were meant to have a night out together. I wished for a romantic evening that would help us reconnect, but past experience had taught me not to get my hopes up. Then, I had a wild idea.

What if I got us some MDMA capsules to take once we got home from dinner? The kids would be away for the night, so it was the perfect occasion. We hadn’t touched ecstasy since before we’d had kids, but it had always helped us to connect emotionally and talk through any issues we were having. Heck, it was used for couples’ therapy in the ‘60s, so why shouldn’t we try it now? Plus, it might help us relive our carefree days and remember why we fell in love in the first place.

I told Dean about my evil plan and he was keen. So, after my birthday dinner, we swallowed the caps and waited. Within half an hour, I could feel the familiar waves of pleasure rolling over me. “Can you feel it?” I asked Dean. “Yep,” he smiled.

As the drugs took hold of our brains, the emotions started flowing from our lips. “I’m sorry I’ve been so angry,” I said. “It’s not your fault, I’ve been stressed and angry too,” said Dean. We chatted for hours and got so many issues off our chests. We ended the night with a huge hug and promised each other we’d try harder.

I can’t say our wild night has completely fixed our marriage, but it has certainly improved it. We’re still in counseling and we’re working on resolving our issues the traditional way. I don’t endorse the use of drugs to solve your problems! But it’s what this desperate mama did in a bid to save her marriage.

'We took MDMA to try to fix our marriage'

“After having three kids in less than three years, our relationship was on the rocks. In a desperate attempt to fix it, I bought illicit drugs.”

www.kidspot.com.au

 

[mr peabody]

Can MDMA fix your relationship?*

by Marlene Rupp | Sapiensoup

Relationships are hard. The daily grind of bills, chores and raising children takes a toll on most every couple. Over time, misunderstandings and communication pitfalls turn into negative behavior patterns and—fast forward ten or twenty years—what used to be love may have turned into mere (dys)functional co-habitation.

For many couples this ends in either a loveless marriage or divorce. Preliminary studies have shown that MDMA-assisted therapy can help couples quickly get to the bottom of their problems and work through them. This is what we know so far:

MDMA helps the couple remember their initial feelings of love and deep connection to one another and thereby creates a safe space in which “you can say anything” as one study participant described. In an environment where one can be vulnerable, couples begin to talk openly about their sexual fantasies, their insecurities, their needs and desires. One woman even confessed that she had cheated on her husband. In their exceptionally open and accepting state, the couple managed to deal with her affair in a compassionate way which eventually resulted in strengthening their bond.

With fear, defensiveness and resentment out of the way, couples are afforded a “nice clean slate” from which they can tackle their problems.

To be clear, the idea is not to use MDMA regularly to be in a better mood with your partner. But a few strategically placed sessions can create enough momentum to permanently change relationship dynamics. A couple from another study stated that their MDMA sessions have torn down the barriers between them so they can talk more freely when sober.12 MDMA doesn’t fix your relationship. “It’s not a magic bullet. It’s how you integrate what you learn into your life.” explained a male participant from the same study. When he and his wife get into a conflict nowadays, rather than mindlessly arguing they ask “What is this really about?”

I’ve personally interviewed a number of couples who have used MDMA to work through tough phases in their relationships. What I’ve heard over and over again was “I don’t know if we’d still be together if it weren’t for MDMA.”

MDMA-assisted couples therapy

When couples seek out professional help they’re usually on a hair-trigger with one another, quite possibly already considering divorce. The clock is ticking, and what they need is immediate relief.

A few intentionally placed MDMA-assisted therapy sessions can be exactly the kind of drastic intervention that’s necessary. Several couples have told me “if done well, such a session can be like years of counseling.”

Currently, the focus of MDMA-assisted research lies in the treatment of trauma. The use of MDMA for couples therapy is an under-researched field and to my knowledge is practiced only in the underground or on a couple’s own accord, without the supervision of a therapist. While the lack of a therapist is certainly not ideal, the much bigger problem is the health risk associated with the use of an unregulated substance. Whereas a correctly measured dose of pure MDMA is relatively safe and has a lower toxicity profile that legal drugs like alcohol or cigarettes—acquired from the black market, the user has no gauge of purity, correct dosage or possible contamination with harmful additives. The danger comes not with the use, but with the criminalization of MDMA.

Currently, our society is operating on a double standard. Have you ever been to a Christmas party without a bar? We allow alcohol as a means to bond with our co-workers. But we forbid MDMA as a means to mend our personal relationships.

The medical case for MDMA is strong and over the coming years, we will see country after country legalize the substance for therapeutic use. I can see a future in which therapists might add MDMA-assisted marriage counseling or MDMA-assisted family reconciliation to their portfolio. Personally, I’d certainly take advantage of such an offering.

*From the article here :

MDMA-assisted Therapy

MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD has shown to be far more effective that any other PTSD treatment currently available. Beyond healing trauma, researchers see possible applications in couples therapy, social anxiety and end-of-life distress.

sapiensoup.com

 

[mr peabody]

Alexander Shulgin

MDMA-assisted couples therapy: How MDMA is enhancing intimacy and healing PTSD

by Anne Wagner | The Conversation | Dec 19 2019

PTSD is a mental health condition, triggered by experiencing or witnessing a terrifying or threatening event. Symptoms can include re-experiencing the trauma, avoidance, nightmares and severe anxiety. Living with PTSD can feel devastating, permanent and life-defining.

The path to relieving suffering can also feel overwhelming — diving into past pain, memories and experience to understand and move through them can be horrifying, especially when your system is screaming for you to avoid them. People’s defence systems can be so strong, their narratives about the world so stuck, that the best treatments we have available do not work for everyone.

That’s where the synthetic psychoactive drug MDMA comes in — as a supportive catalyst to a therapeutic process.

MDMA has been showing excellent effect for the treatment of PTSD from many different causes — including military combat, sexual assault and childhood abuse — over the past decade, coupled with an inner-directed, supportive model of psychotherapy.

This therapy combination has received “breakthrough therapy designation” from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States. It is currently being tested in a large, multi-site randomized controlled trial, sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).

How MDMA works in the brain

MDMA is a drug that alters mood and perception. In non-clinical settings, it is a common recreational drug — known as Ecstasy (E) or Molly.

MDMA works on numerous neural structures (especially the amygdala and pre-frontal cortex) and enhances the secretion of hormones and neurotransmitters — namely serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine and oxytocin, among others.

The drug can produce joyful, blissful experiences and, in the context of PTSD treatment, can allow for a revisiting of traumatic memories, emotions and context with greater ease and less avoidance than would be possible without the drug.

MDMA-facilitated psychotherapy embeds the use of MDMA within a psychotherapy treatment for PTSD, therefore providing a deeply evocative template to be able to work from — to move the seemingly immovable presence of the trauma.

Revisiting traumatic memories

As a clinical psychologist and researcher, I’ve focused my work on trauma and relationships for the past decade. As the founder of Remedy, a mental health innovation community, and an adjunct professor in psychology at Ryerson University, my goal has been to illuminate treatments for trauma that can have deep, profound and lasting effects. This is what inspired me to work with MDMA.

Our team recently conducted a pilot trial of cognitive behavioural conjoint therapy (CBCT) for PTSD in combination with MDMA, with six couples in Charleston, S.C. The therapy was successful in reducing PTSD symptoms in the majority of couples and improved their relationship satisfaction.

We are now preparing to run a pilot trial of cognitive processing therapy (CPT) with MDMA and a larger randomized controlled trial of CBCT with MDMA that will take place in Toronto, pending government and regulatory approvals.

Preparation and integration

Cognitive behavioural conjoint therapy, a treatment for couples, has demonstrated excellent effect in reducing symptoms for people with PTSD, and also for their intimate relationships and their loved ones.

Cognitive processing therapy, a treatment that focuses on meaning-making about a trauma in order to unravel thoughts and feelings that are stuck, is one of the approaches that has received the strongest recommendation in international treatment guidelines. It was also recently featured on NPR’s This American Life.

We test these highly effective trauma-focused treatments alongside the catalyst of MDMA, to see if it offers an additive or potentiating effect.

Sessions with MDMA are daylong, occurring two or three times over the course of several weeks or months, depending on the study. Research participants are accompanied by two therapists.

The therapeutic work done before the MDMA sessions prepares clients for the experience. The work afterwards integrates the experience, using the template of the MDMA session to scaffold new learnings and new ways of potentially understanding their traumatic experiences.

A life-saving legal medicine?

The large randomized controlled trial sponsored by MAPS is designed to collect enough evidence on the safety and efficacy of MDMA in treatment to make it a legal medicine.

As evidence accumulates for MDMA’s effectiveness, there is the possibility that MDMA will become legal — a medicine to be used in psychotherapy and prescribed for PTSD.

The ability to use it in practice will be potentially life-altering and life-saving for people living with PTSD.

MDMA-assisted couples therapy: How a psychedelic is enhancing intimacy and healing PTSD

MDMA is better known as the party psychedelic Ecstasy or Molly. Used clinically, together with psychotherapy, it reduces symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, and shows promise with couples.

theconversation.com

 

[mr peabody]

New psilocybin trial data explores group psychedelic sessions

by Rich Haridy | New Atlas | Dec 11 2019

Researchers from King’s College London, in conjunction with mental health care company Compass Pathways, are reporting positive results from an early Phase 1 trial exploring the safety profile of different psilocybin doses in healthy adults. As well as demonstrating the psychedelic drug to be safe, with no serious adverse effects reported, the trial also explored the potential of group dosing sessions as a way to speed up research and expand patient access if the treatment is ultimately approved.

The trial data was revealed during a presentation at the annual meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP). The double-blind, placebo controlled study is the largest trial conducted to date into the safety and tolerability of psilocybin. While Compass Pathways is currently conducting Phase 2b dose-ranging trials investigating the efficacy of psilocybin in subjects with treatment-resistant depression, this earlier study was focused on the effects and safety profile of the drug instead of any specific therapeutic efficacy.

The trial recruited 89 healthy subjects to compare the effects of a placebo against either 10 mg or 25 mg of psilocybin. In terms of demonstrating the safety profile of psilocybin, the trial suggests no serious adverse effects were reported from the acute day of dosage, up to 12 weeks of follow-up.

The trial revealed the psilocybin, of course, resulted in acute psychedelic effects on the day of dosage, but all of those hallucinatory ‘adverse effects’ resolved swiftly within hours, suggesting the drug does not cause residual negative psychoactive symptoms in the days or weeks following a dose. In other words, no subjects suffered from any kind of hallucinatory flashback in the weeks after taking psilocybin.

“The results of the study are clinically reassuring and support further development of psilocybin as a treatment for patients with mental health problems that haven’t improved with conventional therapy, such as treatment resistant depression,” says James Rucker, lead investigator on the study from King’s College London.

Perhaps one of the more interesting aspects of this trial was the secondary exploration into the feasibility of simultaneous group administration of psilocybin. The trial encompassed 25 dosing sessions, in a variety of different group size permutations, the largest of which comprised six subjects being treated in the same space simultaneously.

In these group sessions, each subject is accompanied by their own therapist, with the entire session supervised by a lead therapist and study psychiatrist. As Compass Pathways’ Communications Officer Tracey Cheung tells New Atlas via email, the motivation behind these group dosage experiments is primarily about exploring ways to streamline the treatment process. Scheduling more than one patient at a time offers the potential for accelerating the pace of clinical trials. Plus, looking further down the line, Cheung suggests this strategy could enhance patient access once the psychedelic treatment was approved and clinically deployed.

“This study is part of our overall clinical development program in treatment-resistant depression; we wanted to look at the safety and tolerability profile of our psilocybin, and to look at the feasibility of a model where up to six 1:1 sessions are held at the same time,” says Compass Pathways co-founder Ekaterina Malievskaia. “We are focused on getting psilocybin therapy safely to as many patients who would benefit from it as possible.”

There is no indication in the data presented so far to suggest the administration of psilocybin in this kind of group setting enhances the risk of negative responses to the treatment. The results presented at the annual ACNP meeting clearly state these simultaneous group dosages generated psychedelic effects that were consistent with what prior studies have identified. Plus, the researchers note the study achieved high retention rates with all participants willing to undergo this kind of simultaneous psilocybin administration.

However, it is worth noting, this particular study was conducted with psychologically healthy individuals, and not subjects suffering from mental health concerns. So, it is unclear at this point whether psychedelic group sessions are as efficacious from a treatment perspective.

After psilocybin therapy received a Breakthrough Therapy designation from the FDA late in 2018, Compass Pathways started a major international multi-site trial hoping to enrol over 200 subjects to test the efficacy of a range of psilocybin doses for treatment-resistant depression. A number of locations across Europe, Canada, the UK and US are still recruiting subjects so it may be some time before the large Phase 2 trial offers up clear results.
​

New psilocybin trial data explores group psychedelic sessions

Researchers from King’s College London, in conjunction with mental health care company Compass Pathways, are reporting positive results from an early Phase 1 trial exploring the safety profile of different psilocybin doses in healthy adults. As well as demonstrating the psychedelic drug to be safe,…

newatlas.com

 

[mr peabody]

Canada conducts first legal group psilocybin therapy session
​

And the results, according to the participants, were nothing short of "profound."

by Emily Jarvie | PSYCHEDELIC SPOTLIGHT | 11 Nov 2021

Canada has hosted the country’s first legal group psilocybin therapy session in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The session consisted of 9 end-of-life patients and was facilitated by non-profit health care collaborative My Community Journeys, with a team drawn from ketamine-assisted psychotherapy program Roots to Thrive (RTT).

Psilocybin is not currently approved for therapeutic use in Canada. However, the patients were able to participate in this group therapy session legally after being granted section 56 exemptions under Canada’s Controlled Drugs and Substances Act by Canada’s Federal Minister of Health.

These exemptions are granted on a case-by-case basis for patients experiencing end-of-life distress following a terminal diagnosis, such as a cancer diagnosis, to access therapeutic psilocybin and to health care professionals to allow them to provide this treatment legally.

Health Canada granted permission to carry out the group psilocybin session just three hours before the first session. “It was stressful waiting on that last exemption,” said facilitator and palliative care physician Dr. Valorie Masuda. “But we believed in the process and worked with Health Canada to ensure all measures and parameters were in place to provide a safe and compassionate experience for these nine participants.”

The session was provided to the patients at no cost. However, as demand for psilocybin therapy has increased in Canada, some therapists are charging upwards of $2,000 for a single session. Dr. Masuda added "this therapy should be part of publicly funded primary health care, not just for those who can afford it.”

During the three weeks before participating in the first therapy session, all 9 patients met as a group, enabling them to bond and feel comfortable sharing their hopes and fears. The results of the group session trial will be shared publicly when the therapy program concludes in December 2021.

The participants described the first session as incredibly moving and healing. “I have trauma to process around the cancer diagnosis — and all of the pain and suffering, and intensity of the last year,” said participant Shamus Birkel. “I felt so grateful, in this experience, the gift of a place where none of the cancer has touched who I am.”
Participant Chelle Sheehan added: “I could go today, but it wouldn’t matter. It was so profound.”

Sadly, in addition to feeling the physical pain related to a terminal illness, many patients at the end of life, in addition to their families and caregivers, experience profound mental suffering, such as symptoms of anxiety and depression. But studies by the University of California Los Angeles, New York University, and Johns Hopkins University have shown that psilocybin — a psychoactive prodrug compound found in magic mushrooms — effectively reduces patients’ end-of-life distress.

Psychedelic-assisted therapy provides new hope for these patients, for many of whom the only other options to find relief from their suffering are terminal sedation, which involves administering a patient with drugs that keep them sedated until death, or Medical Assistance in Dying.

https://psychedelicspotlight.com/canada-first-legal-group-psilocybin-therapy-session/​

 

[mr peabody]

Merging Psychedelic Therapy with Sex Therapy

by Michael Aaron, Ph.D. | Psychology Today

Psychotherapist reveals advances in psychedelic research and sex therapy.

Dee Dee Goldpaugh, LCSW is a psychotherapist in private practice specializing in compassionate, sex-positive psychotherapy with LGBTQ and polyamorous individuals and couples/multi-partner relationships. Dee Dee also has specialized expertise and interest in working with adult survivors of sexual abuse and assault. Last year she presented a workshop for NYC's Sexuality Speaker Series on "The Therapeutic Use of Psychedelics in Treating Sexual Dysfunction and Trauma," which can be downloaded here for Continuing Education credits. She is appearing later this month, on October 26 at the Center for Optimal Living, discussing integrating sexuality through multiple facets of the psychedelic experience. Please note: The use of psychedelics outside of FDA-approved research is currently illegal. This interview and referenced workshops only discuss legal research and its ramifications.

Q: Your presentation discussed the possibility of healing sexual trauma through something called "psychedelic therapy." Indeed, through organizations such as MAPS, there has been renewed interest in research on the therapeutic potential of psychedelics. Could you briefly describe what you mean by psychedelic therapy?

A: Currently, there are several major research institutions in the US and around the world including Johns Hopkins, NYU, and Imperial College London as well as organizations like MAPS who are exploring the therapeutic potential of psychedelics particularly as a means of addressing treatment-resistant conditions such as PTSD. In these studies, selected candidates receive short-term, focused therapy and then a limited number (usually one or two sessions) using a psychedelic such as psilocybin (mushrooms) or an entheogen such as MDMA in the presence of a trusted therapeutic guide. What we are seeing, again and again, is that the combination of targeted therapy, a controlled clinical environment with experienced guides who have built trust with the clients, plus the use of a psychedelic substance produces extraordinary results.

In the case of MAPS studies with MDMA, which is now in Phase 3 of clinical trials and has achieved “breakthrough drug status,” the last barrier before MDMA will potentially be available in clinical settings, 83 percent of those who participated in the study no longer met the criteria for PTSD and the benefits were maintained over time. To contrast, in the largest published study for PTSD that uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy more than one-third of the patients dropped out, the rest had a significant number of adverse reactions. Most of the women in the study had full-blown PTSD after three months in the study and only 15 percent no longer had PTSD symptoms. It’s very important to note that these incredible findings relate only to the results of a psychedelic taken in a controlled clinical environment. Not “recreationally” in an unmonitored environment.

It’s also worth mentioning that since psychedelics are only legally available in these restricted settings with FDA approval, a small, but growing, number of therapists like myself are offering Psychedelic Integration Therapy specifically meant to assist people in applying their insights in the psychedelic experience to their lives. While I never direct any client to take an illegal substance, more and more people are undertaking, for example, retreats in Peru and other countries where medicines such as ayahuasca are legal. The experience can be life-changing and profound, but also at times intense and difficult. Integration work can help participants find useful ways of processing and applying what they learn from psychedelics. It’s also important to say I never encourage clients to break the law or give psychedelics to clients. This is why advocacy for rescheduling so these substances can be used legally is so important.

Q: This is not the first time that psychedelics have been considered as therapeutic adjuncts. Can you tell us a little about the history of psychedelic therapy and why it all stopped abruptly in the late 60s and early 70s?

A: In 1938, Albert Hoffman synthesized probably the most famous (and infamous) of psychedelics, LSD, and discovered it’s hallucinatory properties in 1943. In 1955, Gordon and Valentina Wasson traveled to Mexico and met the storied medicine woman, Maria Sabina, and introduced psilocybin mushrooms to the Western world. Psychologists were, of course, fascinated by these substances and carried out fairly broad and loosely controlled research throughout the 40s, 50s, and 60s. In fact, between 1953 and 1973, the federal government funded 116 studies of LSD alone, involving more than 1,700 participants. While some of this research was highly meaningful and useful to our knowledge of psychedelics today, there are also noted instances where research findings were not presented honestly and research carried out in unscrupulous ways. However, it was really the explosion of the counterculture movement of the 1960s and the public presence of figures such as Timothy Leary, who, by the way, was an esteemed Harvard professor and researcher, that tarnished the reputation of psychedelics as contributing to the fraying of the very fabric of society. In 1970, Richard Nixon signed the Controlled Substances Act and put most psychedelics on Schedule 1, prohibiting their use for any purpose. This brought promising research to a halt. It wasn’t until the 1990s that we see the first studies begin to get quietly underway again paving the way for the renaissance of psychedelic research we have today.

Q: Apparently, MDMA (Ecstasy) was used experimentally in couple's therapy in the 80s. MDMA research is now making a comeback. How do you propose that MDMA could specifically be used for sex and/or couple's therapy if this form of treatment is FDA approved sometime in the future?

A: MDMA was first synthesized in 1912 for Merck, but it was in the 1970s that Alexander “Sasha” Shulgin resynthesized the substance and discovered it’s potential as a therapeutic aid due to its effects of creating deep feelings of empathy and interconnection with other beings as well as feelings of love and compassion for the self. Therapists began to quietly use it in couples therapy since it was an unscheduled substance at the time. So, we have decades of evidence and practice to suggest that MDMA can be safe and effective in therapeutic settings. I believe that MDMA could be used in sex and couples therapy because it’s highly effective in reducing and eliminating PTSD symptoms with very limited duration of treatment for clients who are survivors of assault or childhood sexual abuse. It induces extremely pleasurable sensation in the body allowing clients to feel being fully “embodied.” It increases empathy and reduces shame, facilitating clients to experience their body as a safe place to be. In couples' work, we have evidence to suggest that MDMA can assist couples in communicating with each other in an unguarded way and to hear and hold their partner in a manner impossible to them when coming from a place of fear or defensiveness.

Q: You propose that psilocybin could also be used for sex therapy. How so and what is the mechanism through which psilocybin could prove therapeutic for sexual concerns?

A: The current research on psilocybin is so promising. While there are no studies that look directly at the possible impact psilocybin might have on sexuality, research suggests to me that there might be several applications in sex therapy. Psilocybin has been shown to reduce or eliminate entirely existential anxiety and distress and increase openness (defined as an increased capacity for fantasy, appreciation of aesthetics, feelings and increased tolerance). My friend and colleague Dr. Katherine MacLean, a research scientist who has studied psilocybin extensively, was able to show that even a single session with psilocybin that occasioned a mystical experience in the user could change personality traits instantly and more profoundly than occurs over a decade of time in an average adult. Given my knowledge of this research and my own sex therapy work, I believe psilocybin can assist with body image issues, sexual performance-related anxiety, and feelings of shame. Clients may experience a sense of entitlement to pleasure and experience an increased ability to be present with pleasure.

Q: You suggest that in the future, psychedelics could be used to treat not only sexual trauma survivors but sex offenders as well. How do you imagine that would work?

A: I do believe we can use psychedelics to treat sex offenders and believe me, when I mention it to people it’s a controversial opinion. I believe we do a terrible job at rehabilitating those who have committed sex offenses in the US. Clinical evidence suggests that psychedelics can occasion genuine, lasting personality change and also engender deep feelings of empathy and interconnection with others. I wonder if they could reduce instances of abuse and assault if integrated into our culture or used in therapy with offenders? Could they foster empathy in those with pathological deficits in empathy? I came across a New York Times article in 2015 about a Brazilian group that was using ayahuasca in prisons in the belief that drinking it would lead to healing and the ability to confront oneself and the crimes they have committed. And it seems to work.

Q: You believe that a spirituality component is missing from contemporary sex therapy practices. Why do you think that is important and how would psychedelics help?

A: I think as therapists we are often dissuaded from discussing spirituality as a facet of sexuality unless we are dealing with the consequences of religious shame. I encourage clients to first define what spirituality means for them free from the structures and religious trappings they grew up with, which are often very sex-negative. For me, spirituality encompasses a personal connection with a universal principle that facilitates a sense of meaning, interconnection of all people and phenomenon, ecstasy, and universal love. I believe that psychedelics can give people a direct felt experience of something greater than themselves. If we can use that experience to reduce inhibition and shame and encourage a view that we have a sacred right to erotic pleasure, that would be a tremendous gift to our clients.

Open Your Mind: Merging Psychedelic Therapy with Sex Therapy

Psychotherapist reveals advances in psychedelic research and sex therapy.

www.psychologytoday.com

 

[mr peabody]

How to get the most out of taking MDMA as a couple

by Jesse Klein | Reality Sandwich | 2 Aug 2020

MDMA is known as the “love drug” for the surge of serotonin and oxytocin that gets released in the brain. Users want to cuddle and experience increased vulnerability due to the surge of these neurotransmitters. When taking MDMA as a couple, touching feels good and honest, open conversations are common. Having sex on MDMA can enhance the physical and emotional connection between partners.

Because of this unique effect, MDMA has gotten the attention of therapists as a possible tool for couples counseling. It allows patients to talk about things that would normally distress them. Also, they are able to be lucid and coherent during the session. In 2019, MAPS published an article about their research combining MDMA with couples therapy where one partner was suffering from PTSD to work through obstacles in the relationship.

While MDMA-assisted couples therapy is not available for the average person, it’s possible to have an effective, meaningful experience on your own with a partner.

“It’s best for couples that are happy and want to have the experience for personal growth,” says Dr. Eva Altobelli, a psychiatrist specializing in addiction recovery who helps patients integrate their mind, body, and spirit. “Or a couple that’s committed and in love, but keeps fighting.”

You should not take MDMA to try to save a relationship that’s pretty much over except in name. The therapists I spoke with do not endorse taking MDMA without a therapist present, in order to ensure the physical and emotional safety of all involved. But here are ways to have an effective joint MDMA experience with a romantic partner.

Test your drugs

This is true for any drug and any time, not just MDMA and not just when planning a couples journey. You should always be getting your drugs from a trusted source and testing them to know what you are ingesting.

Both partners must be receptive

Just as you should never do drugs because of peer pressure, you should never let a partner force you into taking MDMA for the good of the relationship. It’s important that both parties be ready, willing, and excited about the experience. If one partner is resistant, the medicine won’t work and, in the worst cases, can lead to resentment and regret.

“Resistance can block the effects of the medicine,” Altobelli says. “They’re not allowing it to pierce through their defenses to get the benefit. If you’re not open to it, you’re going to be taking non-benign drugs unnecessarily.”

Set an intention, but don’t let it be restrictive

As a couple, you should be doing a lot of prep work before taking your dose. There should be conversations about what issues you are having in the relationship or what ideas you might want to focus on during the experience. But you shouldn’t let that plan constrain the experience. According to Dr. Anne Wagner at Remedy, a center for mental health innovation and MDMA research in Toronto, Canada, "it’s about creating a setting and holding time and space for the conversations to blossom."

Dr. Altobelli agrees. “It’s better to let it be organic and let the issues come up,” she says. “If you have an agenda, it tends not to be as helpful. Allow the medicine to be an ally and the architect of the experience.”

Having too much of a preconceived notion or expectation of the experience can lead to disappointment or frustration, and be counterproductive for your goals.

Be on the same level

First and foremost, couples should try to take similar doses (or doses that produce similar effects in each person). They should also be dosages that facilitate conversation. Overdoing it will inhibit conversation, and the resulting experience will be inconsequential to the relationship.

Second, couples should wait until both parties are at similar points in the roll to talk. If one person is still interested in their internal experience and isn’t ready to connect with someone else, the other partner shouldn’t try to force a conversation.

“If one partner wanted to talk, and the other person wasn’t ready,” Wagner says “we, as the therapists, would write down what the person wanted to say and allow the other to go back inside. That’s a bit of orchestration that we would do as therapists.”

If you do not have a third party present, you can just write down the thoughts yourself to save for later. This is a great way to allow each person to be the most relaxed, getting the most out of the experience until both want to talk.

Remember the comedown

An MDMA comedown can be intense. The lack of serotonin will have real, observable manifestations. Take supplements important for brain and emotional health. But also just being aware of your mental state will help the next few days in the relationship. Don’t let the lack of serotonin cause arguments or issues in the relationship that don’t need to be there.

“Know when you’re potentially irritable the next day, that this is a response from a drug experience,” Altobelli says. “Don’t let yourself buy into any interactions for 48 hours.”

Have an integration conversation

One of the most important parts of a joint MDMA roll is the integration period after the experience and the comedown. Couples should take time after the roll, when they are sober and their brain chemistry has normalized, to talk about the experience. Discuss the learning, observations, and ideas for change that came from the MDMA journey. Look back at notes you may have written while on MDMA and think about the intention you had set as a couple before the experience. An MDMA experience cannot create lasting change without this part of the process

Overall, it is possible to have an informative and significant experience for your relationship using MDMA, but only with thoughtful intention and guidance. It can be a monumental moment in your relationship journey, or just a fun way to spend a day. It depends on you, your partner, and your prep.

How To Get the Most out of Taking MDMA as a Couple | Reality Sandwich

Taking MDMA as a couple can lead to exciting experiences. Read here to learn how to get the most of of this love drug in your relationship.

realitysandwich.com

 

[mr peabody]

With no progress in therapy, NYC couple turns to psychedelics for help

NBC 4 | 11 Mar 2020

There are nearly 200 clinical trials, some happening in New York City, that are studying the therapeutic potential of psychedelics

It wasn’t always smooth sailing for Vanessa Velez and Danny Panzella. The Ditmas Park couple started dating again a few years ago and very quickly they felt tension. Vanessa was helping Danny raise his son, now 9 years old.

“I would take my wine, go off to my room,” said Vanessa, “And just stay to myself.”

“We were suffering from PTSD from our previous relationships,” said Danny. “We brought that into our relationship.”

Vanessa was struggling with infertility and felt she had trouble getting through to Danny.

“It made it really difficult for me to talk to Danny. He didn’t understand what I was feeling.”

The two had been trying traditional couples’ therapy for months but they had yet to make progress. And then a friend suggested they try MDMA.

“I was definitely scared, I was afraid,” said Vanessa. “All those things your parents instill like don’t do drugs, something can happen to you.”

“A lot of time in western medicine, you’re treating a symptom. You have a headache and we give you a pill to treat the headache,” said Rebecca Kronman, a therapist in downtown Brooklyn. “With psychedelics, we can get more curious about what’s causing the headache.”

Kronman is the founder of Plant Parenthood, a community and online resource for parents interested in psychedelic therapy. It may not remain at the fringe for long, there are nearly 200 clinical trials, some happening in New York City, that are studying the therapeutic potential of psychedelics.

“My patients have experienced anything from decrease in anxiety, decrease in symptoms of depression, ability to love themselves and care for themselves better.”

Vanessa and Danny decided to give psychedelics a try.

“It was amazing! It was life changing,” said Danny. “A mushroom trip is like, years of therapy packaged into one night.”

LSD, MDMA and psilocybin are classified as Schedule 1 drugs, which according to the DEA means they are not currently accepted for medical treatment in the United States. Having these drugs could land you in jail. Kronman cautions her patients there are risks.

“Psychedelics are not for everyone,” said Kronman. “I’ll never make a recommendation to someone, partially because I can’t. It’s not legal.”

Kronman says she has seen these drugs help patients understand the causes of their behaviors but that the hard work comes after the trip is over.

“I like to work with people pretty soon after they have their experience,” said Kronman. “There is so much to unpack.”

Danny agrees. He says they do not use psychedelics as often now, but says the benefits have been worth the risk.

“If our trips are helping us become more understanding people then that helps us become better parents,” said Danny.

“I don’t have this anxiety over not being able to have a baby,” said Vanessa. “I love him as my child.”

The National Institute of Drug Abuse told NBC New York that MDMA and psilocybin are not yet approved for therapy, but have been granted breakthrough therapy designations by the FDA and could be developed into medications in the future.

With No Progress in Therapy, NYC Couple Turns to Psychedelics for Help

It wasn’t always smooth sailing for Vanessa Velez and Danny Panzella. The Ditmas Park couple started dating again a few years ago and very quickly they felt tension. Vanessa was helping Danny raise his son, now 9 years old. “I would take my wine, go off to my room,” said Vanessa, “And just stay...

www.nbcnewyork.com

 

[mr peabody]

Charley Wininger, NYC-based psychotherapist

Psychotherapist says MDMA is the ‘glue’ of his marriage

by Amanda Siebert | 14 Oct 2020

You might deem MDMA a substance reserved for underground raves and people in their early 20s, but what if it was a medicine that could be used to help foster connection and deepen relationships in later years, too? Charley Wininger is a Brooklyn-based psychotherapist who has spent the last 20 years disproving the party drug stereotype around MDMA, and credits it with bringing a kind of “magic” to his marriage, career and life as a senior citizen.

Now amid a worldwide pandemic that has forced people to isolate from one another, the author says that “rolling” on the so-called chemical of connection could offer social and emotional benefits to people of all ages and at all stages of life.

In his soon-to-be released book, Listening to Ecstasy: The Transformative Power of MDMA, Wininger tells of his use of psychedelics, and his current involvement in Brooklyn’s underground psychedelic scene.

Part memoir and part guidebook, Wininger writes of the life-changing effect that MDMA has had on his marriage to his wife Shelley, and his practice as a psychotherapist, while also countering the narrative that MDMA is a substance to be feared with data and tips for safe use.

Strengthening bonds at mid-life and beyond

While today MDMA and psychedelics are being increasingly studied for conditions such as PTSD, end-of-life anxiety, alcoholism and even social anxiety, Charley and Shelley first introduced MDMA to their marriage in 2001, long before academic interest in psychedelics began to resurface.

While Charley had experimented with different psychedelics in his youth, Shelley was a nurse and had spent the entirety of her life avoiding drugs, even going so far as to leaving the room when a joint was passed around during a frat party in her college years, she recalls. “I was so straight-laced… and I stayed that way until I met Charley,” she says. Ironically, it was her idea to take ecstasy together. By the time she and Charley had met in 2000, he had dabbled with and already given up on MDMA (before he had become familiar with safety protocols for optimal use).

“Our relationship was already pretty strong. I’d say we were on a roll without ‘rolling’,” Charley says. What came after was “a profound, immediate shift” with just one use, fostering increased connection as they transitioned into seniorhood.

“We discovered MDMA could serve as a kind of emotional superglue for relationships,” he says. “We took what was already really good and added a whole other layer of magic, depth and profundity. Sharing this chemical chemistry and adding it to our existing sexual chemistry has really taught us that experiencing play, fun and joy can be transformational.”

Can ecstasy breed empathy?

Beyond improving their relationship, the Winingers also say that using MDMA opened them up to a community in New York City they didn’t know existed, one full of freeing experiences and opportunities for friendships with people of all ages.

“We entered this forbidden world of drug users in the New York City vicinity, and found the world to be enchanted,” Charley says. “It was a real revelation for us in that respect. We’re taught in school and by law enforcement that the people who hang around drugs are the wrong crowd. I don’t know about other drugs, but when it comes to psychedelics and MDMA, we found it really to be the 'right' crowd.”

Since 2001, the Winingers have tried to schedule four to six “rolls” or experiences a year, sometimes just the two of them and other times with a small group of friends. In the broadest sense, Charley says, the purpose is to take their relationship to a deeper place. More specifically, both he and Shelley have been able to work on areas like forgiveness, empathy, and self-confidence, even envisioning future life experiences with one another.

“It’s like a vacation, especially in these times,” says Shelley, who was able to heal from contentious relationships with her mother and ex-husband while using MDMA. While he cannot legally use MDMA in his practice or encourage others to do so, Charley says his personal use has made him a better psychotherapist in several ways.

“It’s deepened my ability for empathy, which of course is a very important part of the job,” he says, noting that when MDMA was used legally by psychologists in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, the drug was informally referred to as ‘empathy’ before it became known as ecstasy. “It has deepened my ability to have compassion for my clients and be present with them in an authentic way.”

In addition, Charley says MDMA could help people to feel less disconnected from one another, something particularly important during the Covid-19 pandemic. “It can help you connect with yourself, with your loved ones and with the world at large,” he says, “and that is especially important now when we live in a time of isolation and fear.”

What about the Tuesday blues?

While MDMA is known for causing feelings of love and euphoria as a result of an increased release in serotonin, it’s also known for a rather depressing comedown effect caused by the depletion of serotonin that generally occurs a few days after consuming (hence the nickname). An entire chapter of Wininger’s book is dedicated to tips for responsible recreational use that he says can help to reduce this and other unpleasant side effects that may come with using MDMA recreationally (or “celebrationally” as he sometimes refers to it).

Wininger suggests taking the supplement 5-HTP both the evening of the MDMA experience and the one after, and making sure nothing is planned the following day so that one may catch up on sleep. He emphasizes the importance of staying hydrated, and strictly avoiding other substances such as alcohol. (The only thing he might introduce later in a roll, he admits, is cannabis.) Working with a trained guide or facilitator could also be helpful.

“Think beforehand about what you’d like to accomplish during your time in that rare and unique space together,” he says. “Let the medicine lead the way, and don’t impose anything on the time that you spend together. It’s certainly not the time to confess an affair.”

But his most important piece of advice? “Only use pure MDMA.”

As for where to get it? That’s about the only information Charley can’t provide.​

 

[mr peabody]

Living an MDMA Love Letter

by Colleen Newvine | LUCID | 19 Nov 2020

It’s not surprising that a psychotherapist known as The Love Doctor would write a book sharing insights he’s learned from his own loving marriage.

Plot twist: He’s a 71-year-old relationship counselor who calls MDMA “relationship super glue.”

In addition to offering rich how-to resources, Charley Wininger’s new book, “Listening to Ecstasy,” acts as a love letter to his wife, Shelley Wininger, that details how MDMA has helped them deepen their relationship and create a community.

“Fun, play and joy can be transformative experiences,” Charley says, explaining that rolling together gives the couple relationship capital that helps them get through hard times, while also helping them create a vision for their life together. This is the second marriage for both, and they’ve built a fundamentally different partnership the second time around.

Plenty of authors dedicate their book to their spouse, saying something along the lines of “I couldn’t have done it without you.” But in Charley’s case, it’s literally true. This book wouldn’t exist without Shelley. Charley had written off MDMA as “a substance without substance” before the two started dating about two decades ago.

After leaving her marriage of 18 years, Shelley recalls feeling, “There’s got to be more to life than this.” She’d only smoked pot a few times, and generally lived the straight and narrow, but she craved adventure. She thought Charley could help her find it. “I knew he could show me more.”

Charley agreed to act as sort of a participating guide, procuring the medicine and crafting set and setting. Shelley describes her first MDMA experience as a release, while Charley remembers “it brought the joyful part of her out all the more.”

And for him? Charley writes in his book, “in turning her on, I got reintroduced myself. I experienced, as if for the first time, this lift of aliveness, a kind of sensual affirmation of my spirit.”

One major change was that Charley had taken MDMA as a party drug before. “I didn’t know back then that MDMA is basically for one-on-one experiences,” he said.

Since the two of them delighted in the MDMA bond, they began inviting one or two couples to their apartment for small group rolls. Momentum picked up, and they eventually gathered as many as 27 friends in a park. What looked like an everyday picnic was in fact a group of adults sharing days of open-hearted connection.

“We decided early on to invest our major social capital in the community,” Charley Wininger said of their psychedelic posse. “These people have become some of our best friends.”

This writer is grateful to count themselves among the Winingers’ friends. I almost certainly blushed when I read an advance copy of “Listening to Ecstasy” and saw that Charley thanked my husband, John Tebeau, and me for our support, seeing the A-list company we were among.
​

“The best part of the psychedelic community isn’t the psychedelics; it’s the community.” Charley Wininger, in “Listening to Ecstasy”​

Charley and Shelley Wininger are now the welcome committee for psychedelics in New York City.

Since 2004, they have hosted potlucks that MAPS promotes. But it helps to already be on Charley and Shelley’s email list. Even though they’ve packed people in shoulder to shoulder, sitting not just on the couch, loveseat and chairs but all along the floor, all four nights filled up quickly with a long waiting list.

(That is, until the pandemic.)

After the couple hosted a small viewing party for MAPS, watching the Peter Jennings-narrated Ecstasy Rising in their Brooklyn apartment, they felt they were on to something. They wanted to connect with fellow travelers.

Initially, they had reservations. Shelley was still working as a nurse and didn’t want to risk her losing her license, nor did Charley want to put his psychotherapy practice in jeopardy. They worried about being ostracized, too.

Charley recalls expressing his concerns to Rick Doblin, founder and executive director of MAPS, and that Doblin replied, “What exactly are you afraid of?”

When I replayed this to Doblin to see if he remembered the exchange, he chuckled knowingly, and explained he’s given many a pep talk to people worried about disclosing their drug use.

“What I have learned is you can speak about your own psychedelic experiences without getting yourself in trouble,” Doblin said, referring to legal incrimination rather than professional licensing or the reaction of friends and family.

Doblin called the Winingers’ willingness to host dozens of strangers “quite unusual and quite pioneering.” While psychedelic societies connect people across the country and around the world, MAPS hasn’t developed local chapters and the psychedelic society demographic is not generally silver-haired boomers.

“I think what Charley and Shelley are doing, not just in their gatherings but in other parts of their life, to come out,” Doblin adds, “it’s had this multiplying effect.”

As part of Charley deciding to write “Listening to Ecstasy,” the couple had to fully commit to being public about their experiences.

“I just couldn’t stand not being who I was in the world,” Charley says. “I’m too old to care what people think.”

While Shelley used to worry about her career and her relationship with her grandkids, now she feels “I’ve got to do what works for me.”

And what works for them is open-heartedly sharing their world. I’ve seen Shelley charge up to people with the warm enthusiasm of a golden retriever to invite them to a potluck, and I’ve seen them take a shine to newbies at events, introducing them around and helping them feel welcome.

I first met Charley at a MAPS fundraiser. In a crowded, boisterous event space, he seemed to decide immediately that we were friends. Within a few minutes of chatting, he handed me a small, clear plastic bag containing a silver-colored zinc alloy pendant in the shape of the MDMA chemical structure – a molly-cule.

At Wininger potlucks, some guests wear the molly-cule as a necklace while at least one dangles it on an earring. It is a visual signal of shared connection.

“People into psychedelics tend to be the kind of people, I’ve learned over time, I want to be open to. Fellow travelers have so much to share, and the openness is contagious,” Charley says.

The Winingers’ openness comes in different forms. While Shelley is effervescent, Charley is more cerebral. They’re both warm, but in different ways that complement each other as a team.

Sarah Rose Siskind, host of the educational comedy show Drug Test, recalls going to a Wininger potluck for the first time. “When I showed up, I remember Charley saying, ‘I feel like I’m meeting a celebrity,’ and I said, ‘I feel the same.’”

“Charley really is a bright star in the constellation of the psychedelic family,” Siskind said. “He’s the Kevin Bacon of psychedelics.”

That constellation shone brightly at Charley’s virtual book launch Nov. 13, featuring Rick Doblin, artists Alex and Allyson Grey, playwright and performer Rich Orloff and fellow therapist/author/psychedelic advocate Julie Holland.

Living an MDMA Love Letter - Lucid News

A “bright star in the constellation of the psychedelic family,” psychotherapist Charley Wininger and his wife Shelley connect people in the psychedelic space through their inclusive potlucks and MDMA gatherings.

www.lucid.news

 

[mr peabody]

A preliminary trial has looked at the safety and feasibility of incorporating two MDMA sessions
into a treatment protocol for couples therapy, where one member is suffering from PTSD.

MDMA-assisted Couples Therapy investigated in landmark pilot trial for the treatment of PTSD

by Rich Haridy | NEW ATLAS | 8 Dec 2020

In the late 1970s and early 1980s MDMA was often utilized to help facilitate positive results in couples counseling. A few dozen pioneering psychotherapists in the United States explored the drug’s therapeutic uses until the US government declared MDMA a Schedule 1 controlled substance in 1985.

Richard Ingrasci, a psychiatrist who had for years been successfully using MDMA as an adjunct to marriage counseling, was one of several therapists who opposed the scheduling of the drug. Ingrasci, whose work became foundational for many modern psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy researchers, provided prominent testimony during the government's scheduling hearings in 1985.

“I have seen MDMA help many couples break through longstanding communication blocks because of the safety that emerges in the session as a result of the drug,” Ingrasci declared in his testimony from the scheduling hearings. “It is difficult to convey in words how deeply moving it is to watch couples heal in this way with the help of MDMA.”

Of course, we all know what happened next. MDMA was classified a Schedule 1 drug with no medical uses making it virtually impossible to clinically study anywhere in the world. Since the turn of century research into the therapeutic uses of MDMA has slowly but surely moved back into the realm of clinical credibility, largely due to the efforts of Rick Doblin and his non-profit organization, MAPS.

MAPS was founded in 1986, in the wake of MDMA’s Schedule 1 restriction. Its goal was to get MDMA clinical research going again, and over the years its primary framework to do that was through investigating the drug as an adjunct to psychotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

After years of work, and some truly extraordinary results, MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD is now on the cusp of being approved in the United States. And now some researchers are turning their attention to engaging in clinical studies investigating the benefits of the drug in couples therapy.

This latest study, published in the European Journal of Psychotraumatology, is the first to explore the effects of MDMA therapy in couples where one member is suffering from PTSD. Candice Monson, corresponding author on the new study, says this new proof-of-concept trial arose organically out of the prior MDMA for PTSD research.

“PTSD in one partner can cause distress in the relationship and barriers to understanding each other,” says Monson. “It seems that MDMA-assisted psychotherapy can engender empathy and connection, opening a pathway to remembering why came together in the first place and a desire to understand the other.”

This preliminary study investigated the feasibility of incorporating two MDMA sessions into a previously established PTSD therapeutic regime known as CBCT, or cognitive-behavioral conjoint therapy. As opposed to traditional PTSD therapies focusing on the individual, CBCT is designed to help improve relationship functioning for couples, while still improving PTSD symptoms in the individual patient.

The new trial recruited six couples, in which one member of the couple had a pre-existing PTSD diagnosis, and explored the feasibility of incorporating two MDMA sessions into the CBCT protocol, which traditionally involves around 15 therapy sessions conducted over several months.

“The literature that inspired this study suggests that MDMA may allow people to talk about painful experiences without experiencing the pain again,” explains Monson.

“The therapist can guide couples to talk about very difficult things that they’ve either experienced themselves or experienced together—against the other or with the other— with a greater sense of understanding, openness, connection, and empathy.”

The new study reports the addition of MDMA to the couples therapy protocol resulted in effects that were, “on par with, or greater than, those achieved with CBCT alone.”

Improvements were detected in both relationship outcomes and individual PTSD symptoms. The effects were most significant at the six-month follow up implying the MDMA therapy confers compelling long-term benefits.

It is important to note the study was uncontrolled, so any efficacy comparisons to CBCT alone can only be garnered by examining prior CBCT studies. However, this feasibility study does establish the addition of MDMA to the pre-existing therapeutic protocol is safe and it does not negatively interfere with other PTSD treatments.

A previously published case study in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs outlined the experiences of one couple in this preliminary trial. The couple, Stuart and Josie, were suffering from relationship difficulties after Stuart’s trauma-related PTSD symptoms had returned.

“For Josie, the CBCT + MDMA experience allowed her the opportunity to no longer feel she had to 'walk on eggshells,' and to experience relief from anxiety and tension,” the case study reports. “Together, Stuart and Josie were able to share the experience of Stuart’s traumatic memories, and face them in a united and accepting manner.”

Interestingly, the improvements seen in PTSD symptoms in this pilot study were noted as greater than those seen in several individually delivered MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD trials. Of course, this is a tiny pilot study, so little can be concluded by comparing its efficacy results to these larger ongoing randomized trials. However, the interpersonal nature of PTSD and the way the condition impacts close relationships does suggest involving partners in a therapeutic protocol could hypothetically improve treatment outcomes.

A larger Phase 2 randomized controlled trial is currently being prepared by the research team. The next steps will be to better explore the safety and efficacy of MDMA-facilitated CBCT for PTSD in a diverse set of participants with a variety of relationship distresses.

The new study was published in the European Journal of Psychotraumatology.

MDMA-assisted couples therapy investigated in landmark pilot trial

In the late 1970s and early 1980s MDMA was often utilized to help facilitate positive results in couples counseling. A few dozen pioneering psychotherapists in the United States explored the drug’s therapeutic uses until the US government declared MDMA a Schedule 1 controlled substance in 1985.

newatlas.com

 

[mr peabody]

How MDMA and psychedelics salvage crumbling relationships

by Jacqueline Ronson | Feb 14, 2017

What if a drug can help teach us to care for each other?

Twenty years into her first marriage, Friederike Meckel Fischer fell in love with another man. The affair was so tumultuous, so devastating, that after it was over she went in search of help. The help she found came from a surprising source — a branch of therapy that uses altered states of consciousness, sometimes aided by psychedelic drugs, to probe and to heal. Being a therapist herself, it wasn’t long before Meckel began using the drugs with her own clients — when she trusted their confidence and thought they might see benefits, like she did.

Her practice grew until she and her second husband were regularly hosting weekend-long group sessions with clients at their home in Switzerland. They used MDMA, LSD, and sometimes other substances in a carefully tailored program.

That chapter, which lasted nearly a decade, ended with heartbreak, too. A couple in the group split up, and the woman retaliated by turning Meckel in to the police. She was taken into custody and ultimately sentenced to two years of probation on charges related to dealing LSD.

Now Meckel has moved on from providing psychedelic therapy to evangelizing for it. Lots of people are doing this sort of work, but sharing information about it is a challenge. She wrote Therapy with Substance: Psycholytic Psychotherapy in the Twenty-first Century to tell others of her methods and insight. Inverse asked about the risks — and possibilities — of working through relationship problems in altered states of consciousness.

Why was it worth it for you to provide therapy enhanced by illegal substances, despite the risks?

I was so convinced that these things help. I sat quite a while, meditating on the dangers, that one day I decided I will not be caught. Being caught, and being in prison — you cannot imagine it. It was far from being something real for me. Not that we weren’t careful. But people who came to me were so enthusiastic about it, too, that they talked naturally quite a bit about it. So sometimes I got a phone call from strange people saying, “Oh, I want to join your group.” I took the risk, not really being aware of the things that I know now.

What about MDMA makes it useful in therapy?

MDMA has a lot of effects that have healing power in itself. When you take it, after a while, your fear goes away. Being free of fear is something that, when you experience it, it is like a healing for the soul. Without fear, you can open up. You can open up to who is in the room, to your mate, to whoever. You open up to yourself, which is for many people, a relief.

And why use LSD?

LSD is faster. You reach deeper layers of the unconscious. You have to be really acquainted with the substance so you are not flooded over. It is not that easy a substance to handle. And it doesn’t bring this love immediately. It shows you all the sides you have — your crazy side, your hate side, your victim side, your perpetrator side. It is sometimes merciless, whereas the MDMA is kind to you.

Is that why you used the drugs in combination and in sequence? One to open you up and one to get to work?

Yes. With MDMA you may go into all the nice places in the world, have a good feeling and think everything is good, and you have solved the problem, which is not true, because the solution of the problem has to be implemented later on.

Have you heard MDMA being called the love drug?

Yeah, but I’ll tell you something about love. Love is not a feeling. Love is a state of being. If you take MDMA, it is not the love that MDMA brings out. It is being free of fear, and the stillness, and relaxation, and the openness. And all of these three combined get you to the state of being of love.

In this state of feeling — this fearlessness, this relaxation — you’ll even manage to love your neighbor. But I do think that the real chance in taking MDMA as a couple is in the deep meeting, getting together in a deep talking about yourself — really listening and understanding and agreeing to what is, and then making a decision — really concrete integration of what you have lived through or felt or seen in the session. It’s very hard work. You can’t throw in the pill and repair your relationship — forget it.

You’ll wake up quite sober afterwards. But it is a facilitator, it is an enabler, to really get to a new state of being, and being together.

How do you use these substances to work with couples?

Maybe I should explain something beforehand that is forgotten pretty often. In a couple, there are always two loves. One is the love that we, as couples’ therapists, call the binding love — the love that is made from what you have lived through so far, the children — your special history of you being a couple. This is something that is grounded very, very deeply. The bindings love does not change — even when your partner betrays you, or he yells at you, or forgets to put out the garbage. Your children are the living love — they are made out of love.

Then there is this other love, what we call everyday love. That’s the way that we deal with each other, that we fight or we get back together again. This love is very changeable. It can go into hate, into fights, and the worst thing is into “I don’t care about you anymore.”

When you have a couple in a psychedelic therapy session, they always find their deep bindings love. And when they have a problem in everyday life, and they come to me, and they want to take a session, then they end up in this bindings love, and then they cannot understand why they have all these troubles. When they are not made aware of this fact, that it is the everyday life that is the crucial point of staying together or separating, then they get out of the session saying, “Oh yes, we love each other,” and within three weeks they are back in their everyday trouble.

In the session, we have to exactly find out what’s the problem, and then really install in everyday life behavior changes or new understandings, and so on. If we can implement this, then we have a good outcome — that’s the best case.

Partners may find out in a session that they don’t really want anymore, but only one partner finds it out. That’s a very difficult situation, because the substances reveal your true feelings, your true wishes. You are confronted with your inner attitudes. Then we have a difficult situation because one wants to keep on, and the other doesn’t. Then we have to deal with that problem.

The MDMA is, as I used to say, the gold for the relationship. But if we can really first find this true, deeply rooted love, and then talk together and learn to interact, first on the session, and then practicing in everyday life, to install the understanding of each other, and taking the other as he is, without wanting to change him anymore. That’s a very good outcome.

Naturally, we had couples that separated within our group, but they separated — at least some — in a very respectful, loving way. Before you separate, you have to find the deep-rooted love, and in the interface with this deep-rooted love, you can separate.

What advice would you give to a couple who wanted to try this?

I would tell them what I have just told you — to do hard work on the session. To talk about every single problem, but with a moderator — a therapist or a third person. You might not get the crucial points. You have to really learn how to do it.

So from a couple’s perspective, at least, it’s worth the risk?

I really do think that it is the possibility for a couple to really connect. I am in my second marriage, and I got to know my husband in the beginning of the training we had. We took the training together because I knew, if I would go on with the training without him, we wouldn’t be on the same level, because these substances change you. They develop a general change of attitudes, of beliefs, of insights, of your way of life.

How do you imagine the future of this work?

It would be wonderful if more people — doctors, psychologists, intelligent people who have influence — could see the benefits that we could have from these substances, and understand that society needs to learn and to teach the youngsters to deal with these things, to use them in a way that I’ve just described — so that everyone could have access to these sorts of substances, and there would be a culture of understanding how to use them, how to use them ritually, in safe places, and to learn how to get connected with themselves again, with their bodies again — to really get to know the use of all this and the enormous potential that these substances have.

Do you think we’ll get there?

I think we are on our way. What I would like to find out over the years that I still have in front of me is a way to spread the word, and the experience, that more people know about this side of these substances. That would be my true wish.

https://www.inverse.com/article/27730-mdma-ecstasy-lsd-psychedelic-couples-therapy​

 

[mr peabody]

The use of MDMA in couples therapy*

by Derek Beres | BIG THINK | 18 Feb 2019

While MDMA is now being shown to help alleviate PTSD, and many therapists used it in individual counseling in the 1970s and '80s, couples received immense benefits from ingesting this "love drug" in its early days. Rick Ingrasci, who used LSD in therapy until it was banned, turned to MDMA next. Between 1980–85, he treated 100 patients in over 150 sessions; a third of his sessions were with couples.

To be clear, MDMA is not a "sexual" drug. When Ann Shulgin, Alexander's therapist wife, administered it to patients, she made them consent to the "four agreements," one of which was "no sexual activity." Confusing boundaries could easily be breached when one is in such an open, transparent state.

That does not mean there is no sensual element. Sensuality in this context requires a redefinition, such as the way your favorite food enlivens your senses and a song embeds itself deeply into your consciousness. A strong bonding element is possible with MDMA, which applies to one's mindset as easily as relationship challenges faced by couples.

Professionals have always realized this. While Friederike Meckel Fisher was imprisoned for using psychedelics, including MDMA and LSD, in her therapy practice after a spurned client retaliated, she now advocates for their usage in couples therapy. MDMA alleviates fear, she says, which allows individuals to access parts of their minds they might normally suppress. When you feel safe being vulnerable with your partner the potential for healing and growth becomes possible.

MDMA’s impact on romantic relationships

Katie Anderson, in the Psychology Department at London South Bank University, recruited participants in a 2016 study called "MDMA: The Love Drug." She coined the term, "MDMA bubble," to describe the "protective casing" a couple enters as the substance takes hold. The sense of connectivity it offers serves as a powerful mechanism for dealing with past traumas and moving forward with confidence and clarity.

MDMA could prove to be a powerful antidote to the loss of the "romance period" of new relationships as it expresses the same chemistry: dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. Considering the DEA gave the thumbs up to clinical testing of MDMA for PTSD in 2015, there is no reason for it to remain a Schedule 1 substance. There is therapeutic utility, as the above and other research shows.

Simply put, we need it. While millennials waiting longer to get married has caused a plummet in the divorce rate, American couples still split roughly half of the time. MDMA is no silver bullet, but many have found success using it. The fact that the DEA is loosening its grip is a step in the right direction. For individuals and couples, more steps are needed.

*From the article here :

Decades ago, ecstasy — yes, MDMA — was used in marriage counseling

A revival is occurring, and we sure can use it.

bigthink.com

 

[mr peabody]

The case for psychedelic couples counseling

by Gabriella Paiella | GQ | 25 Feb 2021

Therapist Jayne Gumpel on the transformative healing power of tripping together.

Back in the '70s, Jayne Gumpel was a 20-something living in South America, “riding bareback in the mountains and eating mushrooms.” When she'd trip, she'd think, Oh, my God, this would be so good for the world.

Decades later, science seems to agree: Psychedelic integration, when an individual takes a drug and explores their experience in follow-up therapy sessions, is becoming increasingly mainstream. Oregon voted to legalize psilocybin in the fall after studies showed the drug's efficacy in treating depression, anxiety, addiction, and PTSD. Meanwhile, researchers in Canada have seen promising results when administering MDMA to couples.

Today, Gumpel is a licensed clinical social worker with over 25 years of experience as a couples therapist. She also works for Fluence, an organization that trains therapists to incorporate psychedelic integration in their own practices. She doesn't (and can't legally) recommend or administer MDMA or psilocybin to her clients, but if they approach her saying that they're planning on trying it, she'll help them prepare for the journey. After they've tripped, they'll come back and incorporate their findings—which, she says, are “very profound very often”—into their ongoing work.

GQ: Can you share some insights that have come out of a successful psychedelic integration session?

JAYNE GUMPEL: I can honestly say I've never had any unsuccessful ones. Because even if it's a difficult psilocybin session, if it's presented the right way and you create safety for the person to really talk about what happened, there's always an opportunity to learn something.

This one particular couple that I'm thinking about, they did their psilocybin trip in the Hudson Valley. There's a lot of underground up there. They went in with the intention of doing it as a couple connected, not separate journeys. They wanted to sit and hold hands and look in each other's eyes. And they both experienced being pre-birth together. They experienced themselves in their past lives, and they were brothers.

Whoa.

I know. When you talk about it on this level in this reality, it sounds really far-out. But they were brothers and they got separated. There was some catastrophe, a fire or an earthquake. They didn't come back together again in that lifetime. They lost each other, so they felt the pain of that situation. They were both crying because they were lost and they were looking for each other. Then they found each other and were so happy.

They came back to the present moment as husband and wife with this experience of being brothers together. When they came into my office for the integration session, they used it as a metaphor, feeling like they had really lost each other.

What sorts of issues were they dealing with before this session?

They felt very disengaged, they felt disconnected. He was drinking a lot. She was enraged because her father was an alcoholic. Her father abandoned her family, so there was a lot of loss in her life.

I wouldn't say they were on the brink of divorce, because they had kids, but they felt like they were living like siblings. There was no sex, and they felt really disengaged and unhappy. So you can see the parallels in what they described in the psilocybin experience. Loss, separation, angst, anguish. Being able to talk about the brothers—giving them a voice—and what they went through, they can hear themselves speak their own experience, but in a way that's completely non-defensive.

How did they incorporate what they learned on their trip into their marriage?

We did a lot of Gestalt therapy, a lot of “become the brother, sit together face-to-face, chair to chair. Talk to each other as if you're back in the trip.” That was very powerful. There were a lot of tears, as they were integrating what it was like to lose each other and then to find each other again.

Do you ever get couples who come in and each person had a wildly different reaction to the drug?

You mean a negative one?

Sure, or just not aligned. One person really got something out of it, and the other person wasn’t so into it.

I've had it where one person cried the entire trip because she realized the devastation of the planet. She's a nature photographer. She cried for six hours. It was all about “Oh, my God, we're fucked. We're polluting the waters.” The trees, she experienced them as people crying in the forest. So it was really difficult for her.

And her partner had a completely different experience. He was in outer space visiting his people.

Instead of being upset that they weren't attached at the hip, which he would love, he had all this space where he could be okay to be alone and not feel lonely. He saw into her soul that she was connected to nature in a way that he was not. Instead of resenting her, it completely changed his relationship to her.

Are there any specific relationship problems that you come across that are best suited by psychedelic integration?

MDMA is very useful for people who are struggling with intimacy. What happens when couples come into therapy, they're out of alignment. Usually it's around deep misunderstandings and hurt feelings, and they get very stuck in and attached to their narrative: “You did this, and that's why I feel that.” When you do the psilocybin, it engenders a feeling of oneness and well-being in the world. That's not to say that all journeys are pleasant, but even with the ones that are not pleasant, there's a sense of ego disillusion. When the medicine wears off, you still have that change in perception, so you're able to see each other very differently.

Sometimes it's really hard for me not to say, “Hey, you know what, dudes? You should go do some MDMA.”

Have you ever observed the work of couples you've been seeing for months or years speed up after a psychedelic integration session?

Absolutely, yes. Forgiveness is so much easier. It's like the difference between holding your hand out flat and holding it as a fist. With the psilocybin, it's flat in your hand. It releases the ego's hold and it releases the attachment to the pain. You realize that we're all nodes of consciousness on the tapestry of being. And for some people it can be very profound. They're married 15, 20 years, and they go off and they do a psilocybin session, and it's like, “Oh, my God, I can't believe we've been fighting about this thing for years.” It just goes away, because it doesn't have any significance anymore.

What has doing psychedelic integration work with couples taught you about love in general?

I've learned how to be a much kinder, more patient person and to let go. I care much less about a lot more. And I care much more about a lot less. Working with couples, they open their lives to you in this very intimate way, and that's very humbling.

The Transformative Power of Tripping With Your Partner

Therapist Jayne Gumpel makes a case for the healing power of psychedelic couples counseling.

www.gq.com

 

[mr peabody]

Dr. Anne Wagner

MDMA Couples Therapy, with Dr. Anne Wagner

by Anne Wagner, PhD, C.Psych | Psychedelic.Support | 12 May 2021

Couples therapy, especially for couples with PTSD, is a new focus of psychedelic research. Dr. Wagner shares her insights as a researcher.

Couples therapy for those with PTSD is a growing area of research in psychedelic medicine. Anne Wagner, PhD, C.Psych, shares her insights as a PTSD researcher, a clinician trained in MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, and the principal investigator on several studies exploring the impact of MDMA-assisted therapeutic interventions with couples in which one member has a diagnosis of PTSD.

Dr. Anne Wagner is the founder of Remedy, a centre for mental health innovation committed to clinical practice, research, and community-building, based in Toronto, Ontario. Dr. Wagner uses her training in MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioural and mindfulness-based approaches in helping individuals, couples, and others in intimate relationships to process trauma, navigate their lives, and prepare for and integrate experiences in psychedelic and non-ordinary states of consciousness. She was one of the investigators of the MAPS-sponsored pilot trial of Cognitive-Behavioral Conjoint Therapy for PTSD + MDMA, studying the impact of treating couples where one member is diagnosed with PTSD. She is the Principal Investigator for the upcoming randomized trial of Cognitive Behavioral Couples Therapy (CBCT) + MDMA, as well as for a pilot trial of Cognitive Processing Therapy + MDMA for PTSD. She sits on the Board of Directors of Casey House, Toronto’s HIV/AIDS hospital, and is also an adjunct professor at Ryerson University.

Psychedelic.Support interviewed Dr. Anne Wagner as a part of our new series, The Quick Trip, where we hear expert answers to questions about psychedelic medicine and mental health.

Dr. Wagner started her career as a PTSD treatment development researcher at Ryerson University, working as a post-doctoral fellow with Dr. Candice Monson. Dr. Monson, and her colleague, Dr. Steffany Fredman, had developed Cognitive Behavioral Couples Therapy (CBCT), which is a couples’ therapy for PTSD. Around 2013, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) approached Dr. Monson about collaborating on a study combing CBCT with MDMA, and as a post-doc at the time, Dr. Wagner joined those meetings.
​

“It just really captured my attention. Before that, I had really never thought about using a psychedelic with treatment. I really didn’t know a lot about the background. So, I quickly read up on what was going on at the time.”​

This was prior to Phase 3 trials with MDMA that have occurred in the years since, so Dr. Wagner began reading up on older studies with LSD as well as alternative techniques to induce altered states of consciousness, including Holotropic Breathwork.

To trip or not to trip?
​

“It just all was really compelling. But at that point, I was still really agnostic in terms of the potential. I didn’t really know what it would mean or what it would look like. And then I got the opportunity to be a participant in a trial for therapists that MAPS had put together, to give therapists the opportunity to have the experience of being in an MDMA session in a therapeutic context. I feel very lucky that I got to participate in that study because it was the reason why I got so excited about doing this work. That experience for me was probably one of the most impactful, therapeutic experiences that I’ve ever had, and certainly changed the course of how I do my own personal work. And so from there, we dove headfirst into developing that treatment and ever since it’s been the focus of my clinical work, my research work, and now most of what I do, professionally. That was the starting point of it.”​

One question deeply alive in the psychedelic field is if practitioners need to have their own firsthand experiences with psychedelics in order to be effective. Dr. Wagner recognized the impact a firsthand experience of a psychedelic in a therapeutic context had on her as a clinician and a researcher. Yet she is quick to highlight that there are many paths to accessing non-ordinary states of consciousness, such as through breathwork and through spontaneous experiences. Dr. Wagner is working to extend the opportunity she had to experience a psychedelic in a therapeutic context to other clinicians through her efforts at Remedy to create a similar study in Canada. The goal is:
​

“…that folks have more opportunity to have experiential training that is legal and they’re able to do it in a research context. So, we’re hopeful that that will be something that gets going in the next year or two, perhaps.”​

Couples therapy: MDMA + PTSD

Dr. Wagner is at the center of several exciting research projects in the world of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD. She is one of the investigators of the MAPS-sponsored pilot trial of Cognitive-Behavioral Conjoint Therapy for PTSD + MDMA, studying the impact of treating couples where one member is diagnosed with PTSD. She is also the Principal Investigator for the upcoming randomized trial of CBCT + MDMA. She appreciates the impact that healing can have not only for the individual, but for the couple, family system, and other intimate relationships they are intertwined.
​

“The experience of recovering from trauma…doesn’t impact just the person who experienced it. It will have reverberations throughout that person’s social network, their close relationships, their intimate relationships….being able to do healing work with someone who is close with you can not only help the relationship, it can help both people, and it can potentially have longer lasting effects and broader impacts as well. And the fact is that it’s really hard to heal in isolation. When we’re healing with a therapist, that can feel less isolating, but then the idea of actually having it take place in the relationships that exist in your life, outside of that, can be very impactful as well. So that’s the idea behind doing a dyadic or couples work with PTSD, and when we’re combining it with MDMA, the idea is we’re trying to help catalyze that process.”​

​

Communication & openness in couples therapy​

A vital component of the CBCT + MDMA studies involve increasing communication, specifically helping couples understand “what’s going on with PTSD, understanding how it’s impacting them both, and their relationship, and how they interact together.” MDMA is then strategically added in at two points in the treatment. The first is at the beginning, after folks have learned communication skills, “so they’ve got a language…and a template to work with together to be able to go into deep experiences.” This experience can allow some important material to surface, which they can then use those skills to work on.

The second point is the MDMA is administered “right in the heart of the trauma processing. And so the idea is to give that piece a boost of being able to go really deeply and explore what’s there. So that’s in essence what we’re doing to combine those things together. And MDMA, as an entactogen – this idea of ‘to touch within’ – it’s really well suited to interacting with couples and helping with that creation of safety and the container, but also the feeling of empathy that comes along with it and an openness to sharing.” The focus is on having the difficult conversations, so the couple can move through trauma towards an even stronger relationship.

The results of couples therapy
​

“That’s what we did with the pilot study. We ran six couples through that study. We saw really compelling results. Five of the six folks no longer had PTSD at the end of the treatment and we saw gains in terms of relationship satisfaction as well, which is very exciting for us, especially because folks didn’t have to be distressed in their relationships at the beginning of treatment. And so, to see gains in relationship satisfaction, even when you’re not starting in a distressed range, is a really nice signal and nice demonstration that it can help with growth and with satisfaction and well-being as well. And then the outcomes with the partner were compelling too, in terms of their own well-being and growth. And that was exciting for us because we’re giving a dose of MDMA to the partner, who does not have necessarily have a diagnosis of anything, and they definitely don’t have PTSD, because that was a rule-out. So, we’re planning on taking that model, doing a few tweaks methodologically to it, and putting it into a larger randomized controlled trial that we’re getting ready right now.”​

What’s next?

Dr. Wagner and the team at Remedy have lots of great ideas ready to go. The nearest term one is the:
​

“launch our study of cognitive processing therapy, which is an individual treatment for PTSD. That is one of the ones that’s the most widely disseminated in terms of healthcare systems. It’s a short-term treatment for PTSD, and combining that with MDMA. And that’s a pilot trial to demonstrate that we can combine MDMA with different modalities of psychotherapy, which I think is an important and interesting questions so that when we get to the point where MDMA is able to be prescribed as a medicine, there may be a wider array of therapists who would be able to do that given if they have training in CPT, which many do, and also just showing what could happen with that combination. So that’s been a study that’s been in the works for a long time and we’re really excited to launch it, and just waiting for some of the COVID restrictions here in Toronto to reduce…And then ideally that will lead hopefully almost directly into the larger couple study.”​

​

“I [also] really hope to focus on clinician experiences and training…not only for people who are going to be participating in doing MDMA therapy themselves, but also as a tool for growth and experience for the clinicians. One of the biggest gifts we can give to ourselves, but really to our clients as well, is to do our own work and to understand what is coming up for us and be able to feel those depth experiences. So that makes me really excited.”​

A message for the field

Dr. Wagner has a broad view of some of the growth happening across the psychedelic field, both as a researcher and as a clinician. When asked what ideas she thinks are most needed in the field right now, she first highlighted the need to pause. There is so much energy from new entities and companies that are rushing to join the field, yet
​

“…what the psychedelic work and the non-ordinary state work asks us to do is to go inwards, to get quiet and to sit. And I think we could all benefit from a moment of pause whenever we’re about to launch into something or go full steam ahead. So, that’s a thing I hope for. And, I try to do myself and I really encourage everyone to think about.”​

​

“And then I think the other piece is this idea of trying to lead with love. There’s a oneness experience, that we don’t need to be grabbing at pieces of the pie that because of this idea of scarcity or fear or needing to be best or biggest or first. Because this is not new, this information, this knowledge, we’re not inventing it. It’s knowledge that has been known for a long time and through lots of different cultures and experiences. Some of the medicines may be a little bit newer, but not all of them. And so, I think those are two things that come to mind.​

Dr. Wagner is an inspiring clinician and works to bring her values alive in the field. We are grateful she is part of the Psychedelic Support community. Learn more about Remedy at https://remedycentra.ca

Dr. Anne Wagner is the founder of Remedy, a centre for mental health innovation committed to clinical practice, research, and community-building, based in Toronto, Ontario. Dr. Wagner uses her training in MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioural and mindfulness-based approaches in helping individuals, couples, and others in intimate relationships to process trauma, navigate their lives, and prepare for and integrate experiences in psychedelic and non-ordinary states of consciousness. She is one of the investigators of the MAPS-sponsored pilot trial of Cognitive-Behavioral Conjoint Therapy for PTSD + MDMA, studying the impact of treating couples where one member is diagnosed with PTSD. She is the Principal Investigator for the upcoming randomized trial of CBCT + MDMA, as well as for a pilot trial of Cognitive Processing Therapy + MDMA for PTSD. She sits on the Board of Directors of Casey House, Toronto’s HIV/AIDS hospital, and is also an adjunct professor at Ryerson University. Learn more about Anne on her profile in the Psychedelic.Support Network or at Remedy.

MDMA Couples Therapy with Dr. Anne Wagner - Psychedelic.Support

Couples therapy, especially for couples with PTSD, is a new focus of psychedelic research. Dr. Wagner shares her insights as a researcher.

psychedelic.support

 

[mr peabody]

MDMA-assisted cognitive-behavioral therapy may help couples overcome PTSD

by Christian Rigg | PsyPost | 27 Jul 2021

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects roughly 7 million people in the United States alone. It is associated with a variety of comorbid conditions, including depression, anxiety, and increased risk of heart attack. Developing effective new therapies to combat it is thus an essential activity.

In a study published in the European Journal of Psychotraumatology, six couples participated in accelerated Cognitive-Behavioral Conjoint Therapy (CBCT), two session of which occurred while under the influence of MDMA. In each of the six couples, one partner had been diagnosed with PTSD.

Conjoint CBT has been shown to be particularly effective in the treatment of PTSD, focusing on “the relationship between the participants as the treatment target,” such that couples develop their skills “as a dyad, both in terms of communication as well as reduction of avoidance and challenging of beliefs.”

MDMA was selected for the study for its empathogenic qualities, that is, the fact that it enhances feelings of emotional connectedness and togetherness. The administration of MDMA was timed to coincide with certain related aspects of the CBCT interventions (like the development of communication skills).

The study’s results revealed “significant and sustained improvements” in PTSD, as assessed by clinicians and according to self- and partner-rated symptoms. Overall depression, emotion regulation, and trauma-related beliefs improved markedly.

While the study is the first of its kind, both its power and generalizability are quite low, given it involved only 12 participants, all of whom were Caucasian and in heterosexual couples. Additionally, there were no control groups, which makes it impossible to ascertain whether MDMA-assisted CBCT out- or underperforms relative to traditional CBCT.

At the very most, we can only say that facilitating CBCT with MDMA does not hinder its efficacy, so additional research will be needed to better understand its impact and, of course, exactly how it interacts with therapy and outcomes.

The paper, “MDMA-facilitated cognitive-behavioural conjoint therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder: an uncontrolled trial”, was published by Candice M. Monson et al in December, 2020.​

 

[mr peabody]

Could MDMA Save Your Relationship?

by Natasha Preskey | ELLE | 21 July 2017

"I take MDMA to help me feel closer to my partners," 23-year-old Lydia explains.

For bartender Lydia and her boyfriend, a night-in chatting, listening to music and taking MDMA is more intimate than an evening drinking wine in front of the TV.

"If my boyfriend and I hadn't had those personal, in-depth talks, I don't know if we would have gotten to know and understand each other so well," she explains.

If that sounds like a pretty extreme way to bond with your partner, Lydia's experience isn't actually that unique.

Josh, a 25-year-old journalist, and Emma, a 28-year-old events co-ordinator, take MDMA together at festivals and often go clubbing, just the two of them.

"I find it makes us more empathic with each other," says Josh. "Alcohol, in comparison, just makes us short-sighted and more likely to force our point of view."

Emma adds, 'I tried MDMA for the first time with Josh because I already felt extremely safe with him. I experienced those powerful feelings of trust the first time, and that carries on each time I take it with him.'

However, the theory behind using a drug like MDMA as a therapeutic or bonding tool is one that's actually firmly grounded in science, with many studies currently ongoing.

PhD researcher Katie Anderson's work focuses on the way taking the drug affects romantic relationships. She describes how the heightened empathy users experience when they are under the influence of MDMA can help them reach a 'deeper emotional understanding' with their significant other.

"It's not like thinking 'ok, I want to talk about something, let's take MDMA'," one participant told her. "It was like 'uh, I want to love you even more, let's take MDMA'."

After interviewing plenty of different couples, Anderson discovered that MDMA could be a catalyst for discussion of trickier subjects, such as sexual fantasies and non-monogamy and, seemingly, the trust inspired by greater levels of empathy made for more forgiving conversations. Some even felt bold enough to declare that they'd like to marry their partner while in the safety of the MDMA 'bubble'.

Though some disclosures caused couples anxiety during the dreaded come down, Anderson emphasises that most people she spoke to found their MDMA-assisted frankness beneficial to the relationship.

"Holding back has done a lot of damage to my relationships in the past," Lydia, who suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), tells ELLE. "If I've been distant, worrying about something, or don't know how to start a difficult conversation, taking MDMA gives me that 'loved-up' feeling and allows me and my boyfriend to talk openly at length about things we wouldn't usually bring up."

Clearly the drug has a great impact on your emotional wellbeing, but the question on everyone's lips is, well, drug-enhanced sex any different? Better, even?

Lydia says sex with her partner while high on MDMA is "more intense."

"Once you feel close and connected to someone emotionally, the rest flows on its own."

Anderson explains participants report that intimacy is "more about physical touch and affection rather than actually having sex." Some recalled having more sensual, 'less goal-orientated' sex.

"One of the guys described it as taking away some of the masculine pressure to perform," she explains. "Another guy said he thought the sex became more similar to the way that women want to have sex."

Before MDMA was criminalised in 1977 (1985 in the US), psychotherapists used it during therapy for a range of mental health problems – and to help couples with relationship problems.

The drug affects multiple receptors in the brain, Dr Ben Sessa, an experienced psychiatrist and pharmacologist, explains, "causing a 'reduction in fear' when talking about difficult issues and fostering 'a sense of connectivity and bonded-ness."

"One of the problems with relationships is that people take a very rigid stance from their point of view," he says. "A substance that appears to allow you to reflect on someone else's point of view is a really good way of helping people to resolve issues."

Each week, Sessa receives roughly five requests from patients asking him to supply them with MDMA.

"These are not just people after some hedonistic fix," he explains. As he quite rightly points out, "you can get MDMA anywhere, it's not hard."

Dr Sessa works with people battling addiction, trauma and chronic mental illness and is poised to undertake a trial in Bristol of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for alcoholics. Importantly, he doesn't administer the drug to his patients but he does believe that MDMA is a powerful tool to help those with treatment-resistant mental health problems.

When it comes to couples struggling with PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), help might be closer than they think. MDMA has been approved by the FDA for final trials as a treatment for PTSD, meaning, if the drug clears this last hurdle, it could be a legal medicine in the US by 2021. Dr Sessa estimates that if these trials are successful and similar research follows in Europe, the drug could be being prescribed in the UK by around 2024.

One of the psychiatrists who worked on the trials, Dr Michael Mithoefer, has begun research into MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for couples where one partner has PTSD. So far, Dr Mithoefer and his wife Annie, a nurse, have trialled MDMA-assisted Cognitive Behavioural Conjoint Therapy (CBCT) with three married couples. Their work is funded by a non-profit called MAPS (The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies).

This six-week process involves two eight-hour MDMA therapy sessions (three weeks apart) as well as talking therapy, phone calls and three and six month follow-up sessions. The focus is on both tackling the affected partner's PTSD and addressing issues it may have created in the relationship.

"Patients usually raise their experiences of trauma during the MDMA sessions without any prompting," says Dr Mithoefer.

"MDMA does tend to bring people's attention to important issues in their lives," he explains.

In a clinical setting, both Sessa and Mithoefer say that 'Tuesday blues' don't tend to feature. Sessa attributes the midweek drop in mood recreational users often complain of to poor sleep, malnutrition and mixing MDMA with alcohol and other substances, which can be extremely dangerous.

The practical stumbling blocks of MDMA research are a source of frustration to those who believe in the drug's medical potential. "Whether a drug's legal or illegal is all somewhat arbitrary really," says Dr Ben Sessa. "Half the things I prescribe to people on a daily basis are way more toxic than MDMA, yet they're all drugs that are in widespread use."

For people taking drugs in their own homes, however, nobody can deny that the practice is fraught with problems.

While the researchers conducting MDMA trials can guarantee the MDMA's purity, couples taking the drug together illegally can never be sure of the composition of their pills or powder.

"A pill is absolutely anything - including whatever dose of MDMA happens to be in it or no MDMA at all or something really toxic," cautions Dr Sessa. "One of the problems with prohibition is the dangerousness of not knowing what you're taking."

When the drug comes from a dealer, it's obviously more difficult to control. The majority of couples Anderson spoke to described attempts at cautious dosing or restricting their usage to once per month (or less). Others chose to buy their drugs from the Dark Web, where they took into account buyer reviews.

"We obviously worry about the potential risks," Josh tells me. "When we go out we take regular breaks from dancing so we don't over-heat and keep our fluid intake up but also make sure not to over-hydrate."

Lydia has never experienced lasting negative side effects from using MDMA but she says greater access to drug testing facilities (like the service provided by The Loop at some festivals) would put her mind at ease.

"I do worry about what's in my drugs and how it might affect me later in life," she explains. "It always crosses my mind when I take MDMA but, for me personally, the benefits definitely outweigh the risks."

Could MDMA Save Your Relationship?

Couples are using ecstasy to solve romantic problems but can it really work? ELLE investigates

www.elle.com

 

[mr peabody]

​

Relational and Growth Outcomes following Couples Therapy with MDMA for PTSD*

Anne C. Wagner, Rachel E. Liebman, Ann T. Mithoefer, Michael C. Mithoefer, Candice M. Monson

Healing from trauma occurs in a relational context, and the impacts of traumatic experiences that result in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) go beyond the diagnosis itself. To fully understand a treatment for PTSD, understanding its impact on interpersonal, relational, and growth outcomes yields a more fulsome picture of the effects of the treatment. The current paper examines these secondary outcomes of a pilot trial of Cognitive Behavioral Conjoint Therapy (CBCT) for PTSD with MDMA. Six romantic dyads, where one partner had PTSD, undertook a course of treatment combining CBCT for PTSD with two MDMA psychotherapy sessions.

Outcomes were assessed at mid-treatment, post-treatment, and 3- and 6-month follow-up. Both partners reported improvements in post-traumatic growth, relational support, and social intimacy. Partners reported reduced behavioral accommodation and conflict in the relationship, and patients with PTSD reported improved psychosocial functioning and empathic concern. These improvements were maintained throughout the follow-up period. These findings suggest that CBCT for PTSD with MDMA has significant effect on relational and growth outcomes in this pilot sample. Improvements in these domains is central to a holistic recovery from traumatic experiences, and lends support to the utility of treating PTSD dyadically.

Introduction

Traumatic events impact relationships, and healing from trauma occurs in a relational context. Social factors play a key role in the development, worsening, and improvement of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (1). Negative social interactions in particular are pernicious in their impact on traumatized individuals, and are associated with higher likelihood of PTSD following a traumatic event (1, 2). Likewise, the presence of PTSD can have a deleterious effect on relationships (3), therefore creating a self-perpetuating cycle of exacerbation of symptoms (4). Given the role of social interactions in the course of, and healing from, PTSD, we examined the relational and growth outcomes in a pilot trial of a dyadic treatment for PTSD, Cognitive Behavioral Conjoint Therapy (CBCT) (5) for PTSD with MDMA.

Interpersonal functioning, both within and outside of intimate relationships, is often negatively impacted by PTSD, and vice versa. Addressing this impact is important given the fundamental role interpersonal functioning plays in developing and maintaining relationships over time, attachment, parenting, reducing secondary traumatization, and satisfaction and security in life [e.g., (6, 7)]. Interpersonal traumas more frequently result in PTSD than other forms of trauma in part because of the violation in expectations of relational trust, which then generalizes to other interpersonal connections (8). Additionally, the content of much trauma-related suffering is interpersonal (including feelings of numbness and detachment from others, cognitive appraisals of trust, control, and intimacy, avoidance of people and situations, anger, and aggression as examples). PTSD can erode relationship quality over time, and conversely, relationships can exacerbate or ameliorate the post-trauma recovery, depending on whether the interactions are positive or negative (1).

Post-traumatic growth, a construct consisting of relations to others, perceptions of new possibilities in life, perceived personal strength, spiritual change, and an appreciation of life (9), exists separately from traumatic symptomatology (10). It is an important outcome due to its reflection of an adaptive cognitive process of adjustment (11), and is positively associated with resiliency, meaning-making of the traumatic event, relationship functioning and hope (9, 12). Therefore, post-traumatic growth is indicative of a holistic process of change following a traumatic event.

The loved ones of individuals with PTSD often experience their own struggles in relation to being in relationship with someone who has experienced a significant traumatic event(s) [e.g., (3)]. This can encompass their own mental health and well-being, quality of life, and their interpersonal relationships and relationship satisfaction with the person with PTSD. While well-meaning, loved ones of individuals with PTSD may engage in behavioral accommodation, a means of trying to ease the symptoms of the person with PTSD (e.g., by reducing noise, limiting the responsibilities of the person with PTSD, excusing aggressive behavior, etc.), which inadvertently may reinforce the presence of these symptoms (13). Overcoming PTSD ideally occurs in tandem with a greater engagement in life. To foster and support holistic healing, domains related to interpersonal functioning, quality of relationships, and post-traumatic growth need to be considered, as opposed to solely focusing on psychological symptomatology.

Treating PTSD in a relational framework, and in this case, a couple format, is one means of explicitly utilizing the interpersonal milieu in order to create substantive and lasting change, for both the person with PTSD and their loved one. Cognitive Behavioral Conjoint Therapy for PTSD (5), a dyadic intervention for PTSD, has shown significant positive impact on both patient and partner mental health and well-being (14, 15), as well as relational functioning and post-traumatic growth (16).

MDMA has been used in couple therapy since its first clinical applications in the 1970s (17–19). MDMA's empathogenic qualities create a unique therapeutic opportunity in which couples not only feel more comfortable sharing their emotions, but can also approach conversations with greater ease (20). MDMA has been reported to facilitate individuals' ability to maintain an optimal window of tolerance, allowing for both positive and negative emotions to occur without avoidance or being overwhelmed (21). This can be particularly useful in addressing couple-based distress and communication.

MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD has shown promising results as an individual treatment for PTSD in an inner-directed, supportive therapeutic framework [e.g., (22)]. Participants also report improvements in psychosocial functioning and interpersonal relationships following the treatment, albeit without the use of standardized measures (23), as well as in post-traumatic growth (24). Collateral reports of symptoms and outcomes by close others have not yet been collected in MDMA-assisted individual psychotherapy studies, offering an opportunity to expand the understanding of the impacts of the intervention.

We therefore sought to examine patient and partner outcomes related to interpersonal functioning, relationship satisfaction, and post-traumatic growth in a sample of dyads who participated in a pilot study of Cognitive Behavioral Conjoint Therapy for PTSD with MDMA (25). Primary outcomes from this trial demonstrated significant decreases in PTSD symptoms assessed by independent rater (d = 2.10), the individual with PTSD (d = 2.72), and their partner (d = 1.85) (25). Treatment gains continued to improve by 6-month follow-up (d = 2.25, 3.59, 2.72, respectively). The combination of CBCT for PTSD and MDMA was designed to amplify the qualities of each, and in particular, capitalize upon the relational context each is designed for.

Discussion

The couples in this study experienced significant gains in terms of their relational functioning, post-traumatic growth, and behavioral accommodation. They also exhibited gains in or maintenance of strong interpersonal and psychosocial functioning, demonstrating that the combination of CBCT with MDMA for PTSD provides improvements for both partners and the relationship. Additionally, the improvements in minor psychological aggression, and stability of the absence of severe aggression, suggest that the intervention is safe and does not increase a risk of relational or interpersonal harm.

Notably, the improvements in post-traumatic growth were significant for both patients and partners, indicating that both identified growth and change in the partner with PTSD through the course of therapy. Improvements in behavioral accommodation, as assessed by the partner on their own behaviors, demonstrates a greater understanding of the role of accommodation in maintaining PTSD in a relationship, and the choice of the partner to shift their behavior in order to address it.

Improvements in quality of relationship functioning, specifically increases in perception of support and decreases in conflict, demonstrate that this intervention may have promise to strengthen the positive social interactions and diminish the negative social interactions in relationships, both of which are important to recovery post-trauma. Improvements in reported depth of relationship were not significant, which may be partially attributed to the high levels of depth reported by the participants at study baseline. This may speak to couples who are already deeply invested in their relationships as having self-selected into an experimental dyadic treatment for PTSD.

Participants often reported feeling greater connection to others during MDMA-assisted sessions that lasted beyond the therapeutic intervention. Though not formally tested, this experience likely played a role in improvements in intimacy reported in outcome measures. Additionally, improvements in empathic concern and psychosocial functioning for the patient with PTSD suggest a turning toward and engagement with the relationship, and that these results extend beyond the relationship, creating both intra- and interpersonal benefits. This offers a possibility for more holistic improvement and overall well-being. Although partners did not have statistically significant improvement in psychosocial functioning, their baseline scores indicated that they were, as a group, functioning very well, and therefore a large improvement would not have been possible with the intervention. Both partners demonstrated low levels of personal distress related to interpersonal reactivity, potentially accounting for the non-significant findings in this subscale. Patients demonstrated significant improvement in empathic concern, highlighting the relevance of this intervention for improving the well-being of the interpersonal relationship. Partners demonstrated high baseline levels of empathic concern that remained stable over the course of therapy, demonstrating that expressions of empathy can remain stable and improve while engaging in trauma-focused work. Low rates of personal distress and fantasy for both patients and partners were assessed at baseline and remain unchanged.

While the results of the study demonstrate significant improvements, there are numerous limitations to consider. The study sample was very small, and while expected in a proof of concept pilot interventional study, it limits the conclusions that can be drawn. Likewise, the sample was not diverse in terms of ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, and gender identity, suggesting that any conclusions drawn are limited to white, mixed gender, intimate couples. Future studies should place a strong focus on recruiting more diverse and representative samples of participants. The study, by design, was uncontrolled, which means that conclusions regarding the efficacy of the intervention compared to placebo, or either interventional component alone (CBCT or MDMA-assisted psychotherapy), cannot be drawn.

The findings of this pilot study suggest that a larger, controlled study of CBCT + MDMA to explore the relational outcomes of the intervention are warranted. These outcomes also suggest that couple therapy with MDMA may indeed be well-suited for a range of couple-related concerns beyond PTSD, particularly those that are relational in nature. By targeting individual and relational functioning simultaneously, this intervention has the potential to maximize recovery from trauma and enhance present living for those with PTSD and their loved ones.
​

BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Frontiers In Psychiatry, 28 June 2021 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.702838

*From the article here :

Relational and Growth Outcomes Following Couples Therapy With MDMA for PTSD

Healing from trauma occurs in a relational context, and the impacts of traumatic experiences that result in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) go beyond the diagnosis itself. To fully understand a treatment for PTSD, understanding its impact on interpersonal, relational, and growth outcomes...

www.frontiersin.org

 

[mr peabody]

Psychedelics and Couples Therapy: The Ultimate Pairing?

by Martha Allitt | 24 Sep 2021

In the 1980s, scientific researchers investigated how MDMA, the “love drug,” could help couples resolve relationship issues. However, this research stopped after MDMA was banned in 1985.

Currently, researchers are drawing more attention to the therapeutic potentials of MDMA and other psychedelic drugs to treat various mental health disorders. As they discover more about their biological and psychological effects, scientists are now re-discovering how psychedelic therapy might benefit couples.

We’ve discussed some of the history, science, and current research on psychedelics and couples therapy below.

Psychedelics and Couples Counseling

What Is Couples Counseling?

Couples counseling is a form of talking therapy to help people in intimate relationships resolve conflicts and emotional issues and learn to communicate better.

Through chatting to a therapist, couples can increase their understanding of some of the issues causing difficulties in their relationship. And by better understanding one another and the roots of their behaviors, counseling can guide couples to navigate arguments and other relationship problems more effectively.

The key goals of couples counseling include:​

• Understanding how factors such as family upbringing, culture, and moral values affect the relationship​
• Understanding how events from the past affect the current relationship​
• Learning to communicate more effectively​
• Learning why arguments escalate​
• Negotiating and resolving ongoing conflicts​

A therapist will set various tasks for couples outside the therapist room to learn to apply the skills they’ve learned in the counseling sessions in their everyday relationship at home.

How might psychedelics help?

Psychedelic therapy involves having a drug-induced psychedelic experience under the guidance of a trained therapist. These experiences are followed up with psychedelic integration sessions that help people make sense of their experience and apply things they’ve learned from the experience into their daily lives.

Currently, psychedelic therapy is being investigated to treat various mental health disorders, but findings suggest this form of therapy may also be helpful for couples counseling.

The word “psychedelic” means “mind-manifesting,” highlighting how psychedelic experiences can help people understand the causes of their thoughts and behaviors. Having a psychedelic experience may help members of a couple better understand why they behave in specific ways towards their partners and seek to change negative behaviors accordingly.
​

Having a psychedelic experience may help couples better understand why they behave in specific ways.​

One research study found that giving psilocybin to participants increased their levels of emotional empathy. Psychedelic therapy could therefore help people better understand not only their own but also their partners’ behaviors. By realizing why their partners may be acting in a certain way, they may be less likely to react with anger or hostility.

Another study investigated the effects of taking psychedelics together in a group and found that participants had increased levels of social connectedness five weeks following the psychedelic experience.

To measure social connectedness, researchers used the Interpersonal Tolerance Scale, which includes things like:​

• Respecting people’s beliefs even if they contradict their own​
• Seeing differences in opinions as opportunities to learn from one another​
• Allowing people to be themselves without trying to change them​

By helping improve social connectedness, psychedelics could help strengthen a couples’ tolerance of one another’s differences, helping them learn from each other’s differences instead of arguing against or trying to change their partner’s beliefs.

MDMA-Assisted Couples Therapy

History of MDMA-Assisted Couples Therapy

Before its criminalization in 1985, several different researchers investigated MDMA as a tool for couples therapy.

One of these researchers includes the psychotherapist Rick Ingrasci, who used MDMA to help treat couples in over 50 different sessions between 1980 to 1985. Ingrasci noticed how the drug helped couples feel more at ease, allowing them to communicate in more honest and open ways. In a paper published in 1985 (link at the bottom of the page), he quotes:

‘‘I have seen MDMA help many couples break through long-standing communication blocks because of the safety that emerges in the session as a result of the drug.’’

How does MDMA work for Couples Therapy?

Researchers have shown that MDMA can decrease activity in a brain area called the amygdala.

As activity in the amygdala is responsible for creating fear responses, MDMA can decrease overt emotional reactions and help people feel more at ease discussing troubling issues. This free expression of honest thoughts and feelings can significantly improve communication.

Experiments have also shown that MDMA increases the amount of a chemical messenger molecule in the brain called oxytocin.

Oxytocin is sometimes referred to as the “love chemical,” as it increases during hugging, orgasms, childbirth, and breastfeeding and is associated with feelings of empathy and compassion. By increasing oxytocin, MDMA can help couples to be more understanding and compassionate towards their partners.

Can MDMA Couples Therapy help people heal from PTSD?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) refers to the psychological and physical effects of being exposed to a traumatic event, including repeated flashbacks and nightmares relating to the event.

Because people with PTSD may find it more challenging to regulate their emotions and may have difficulty connecting to and trusting others, they can experience difficulties within relationships. One research study showed that war veterans with PTSD were more likely to be hostile and psychologically abusive in relationships.

Increasingly, studies are showing that MDMA can help heal PTSD by allowing patients to explore their traumatic memory without causing the associated fear responses.

By helping improve PTSD, MDMA-facilitated therapy for couples may improve relationship dynamics for people with PTSD. MDMA could also help those without PTSD increase empathy and compassion towards partners with the condition.
​

MDMA-facilitated therapy for couples may improve relationship dynamics for people with PTSD.​

In one study, a group of scientists investigated whether MDMA could facilitate cognitive-behavioral conjoint therapy (CBCT) – a treatment for couples where either one or both people in a relationship have PTSD. The therapy aims to simultaneously reduce PTSD whilst improving relationship functioning.

The six couples in the study had several CBCT sessions, which included sessions involving MDMA and preparation and integration sessions. After six months following the course of therapy, all but one of the participants showed a decrease in their symptoms of PTSD and all couples had improved relationship satisfaction.

Summary

Although there have been limited experiments to date, the effects of psychedelics on empathy, tolerance, and bonding, means psychedelic therapy could be well-suited to aiding couples counseling.

Currently, MDMA-based therapy is the main target for researchers investigating psychedelic therapy for couples. However, with more light shed on the usefulness of classic psychedelics like LSD and psilocybin, in treating mental health disorders, we may start to see more research on the effects of these drugs in relationships.

Psychedelics and Couples Therapy: The Ultimate Pairing?

MDMA and other psychedelics could help solve relationship issues in couples therapy by increasing empathy and compassion. Here's the science and research.

wayofleaf.com

 

[mr peabody]

How psychedelics salvage crumbling relationships

by Jacqueline Ronson | INVERSE

Twenty years into her first marriage, Friederike Meckel Fischer fell in love with another man. The affair was so tumultuous, so devastating, that after it was over she went in search of help. The help she found came from a surprising source — a branch of therapy that uses altered states of consciousness, sometimes aided by psychedelic drugs, to probe and to heal. Being a therapist herself, it wasn’t long before Meckel began using the drugs with her own clients — when she trusted their confidence and thought they might see benefits, like she did.

Her practice grew until she and her second husband were regularly hosting weekend-long group sessions with clients at their home in Switzerland. They used MDMA, LSD, and sometimes other substances in a carefully tailored program.

That chapter, which lasted nearly a decade, ended with heartbreak, too. A couple in the group split up, and the woman retaliated by turning Meckel in to the police. She was taken into custody and ultimately sentenced to two years of probation on charges related to dealing LSD.

Now Meckel has moved on from providing psychedelic therapy to evangelizing for it. Lots of people are doing this sort of work, but sharing information about it is a challenge. She wrote Therapy with Substance: Psycholytic Psychotherapy in the Twenty-first Century to tell others of her methods and insight. Inverse asked about the risks — and possibilities — of working through relationship problems in altered states of consciousness.

Why was it worth it for you to provide therapy enhanced by illegal substances, despite the risks?

I was so convinced that these things help. I sat quite a while, meditating on the dangers, that one day I decided I will not be caught. Being caught, and being in prison — you cannot imagine it. It was far from being something real for me. Not that we weren’t careful. But people who came to me were so enthusiastic about it, too, that they talked naturally quite a bit about it. So sometimes I got a phone call from strange people saying, “Oh, I want to join your group.” I took the risk, not really being aware of the things that I know now.

Would you do it again, now that you know?

Now, after my trial — no, I’d rather not. I would not do it in a therapeutic setting again as I used to. But if I were 15, 20 years younger — not knowing was it was like to be in prison — I would start over.

What about MDMA makes it useful in therapy?

MDMA has a lot of effects that have healing power in itself. When you take it, after a while, your fear goes away. Being free of fear is something that, when you experience it, it is like a healing for the soul. Without fear, you can open up. You can open up to who is in the room, to your mate, to whoever. You open up to yourself, which is for many people, a relief.

And why use LSD?

LSD is faster. You reach deeper layers of the unconscious. You have to be really acquainted with the substance so you are not flooded over. It is not that easy a substance to handle. And it doesn’t bring this love immediately. It shows you all the sides you have — your crazy side, your hate side, your victim side, your perpetrator side. It is sometimes merciless, whereas the MDMA is kind to you.

Is that why you used the drugs in combination and in sequence? One to open you up and one to get to work?

Yes. With MDMA you may go into all the nice places in the world, have a good feeling and think everything is good, and you have solved the problem, which is not true, because the solution of the problem has to be implemented later on.

Have you heard MDMA being called the love drug?

Yeah, but I’ll tell you something about love. Love is not a feeling. Love is a state of being. If you take MDMA, it is not the love that MDMA brings out. It is being free of fear, and the stillness, and relaxation, and the openness. And all of these three combined get you to the state of being of love.

In this state of feeling — this fearlessness, this relaxation — you’ll even manage to love your neighbor. But I do think that the real chance in taking MDMA as a couple is in the deep meeting, getting together in a deep talking about yourself — really listening and understanding and agreeing to what is, and then making a decision — really concrete integration of what you have lived through or felt or seen in the session. It’s very hard work. You can’t throw in the pill and repair your relationship — forget it.

You’ll wake up quite sober afterwards. But it is a facilitator, it is an enabler, to really get to a new state of being, and being together.

How do you use these substances to work with couples?

Maybe I should explain something beforehand that is forgotten pretty often. In a couple, there are always two loves. One is the love that we, as couples’ therapists, call the binding love — the love that is made from what you have lived through so far, the children — your special history of you being a couple. This is something that is grounded very, very deeply. The bindings love does not change — even when your partner betrays you, or he yells at you, or forgets to put out the garbage. Your children are the living love — they are made out of love.

Then there is this other love, what we call everyday love. That’s the way that we deal with each other, that we fight or we get back together again. This love is very changeable. It can go into hate, into fights, and the worst thing is into “I don’t care about you anymore.”

When you have a couple in a psychedelic therapy session, they always find their deep bindings love. And when they have a problem in everyday life, and they come to me, and they want to take a session, then they end up in this bindings love, and then they cannot understand why they have all these troubles. When they are not made aware of this fact, that it is the everyday life that is the crucial point of staying together or separating, then they get out of the session saying, “Oh yes, we love each other,” and within three weeks they are back in their everyday trouble.

In the session, we have to exactly find out what’s the problem, and then really install in everyday life behavior changes or new understandings, and so on. If we can implement this, then we have a good outcome — that’s the best case.

Partners may find out in a session that they don’t really want anymore, but only one partner finds it out. That’s a very difficult situation, because the substances reveal your true feelings, your true wishes. You are confronted with your inner attitudes. Then we have a difficult situation because one wants to keep on, and the other doesn’t. Then we have to deal with that problem.

The MDMA is, as I used to say, the gold for the relationship. But if we can really first find this true, deeply rooted love, and then talk together and learn to interact, first on the session, and then practicing in everyday life, to install the understanding of each other, and taking the other as he is, without wanting to change him anymore. That’s a very good outcome.

Naturally, we had couples that separated within our group, but they separated — at least some — in a very respectful, loving way. Before you separate, you have to find the deep-rooted love, and in the interface with this deep-rooted love, you can separate.

But it doesn’t always end so peacefully, as you learned.

The straw that broke the camel’s neck for me was a couple. In an illegal setting, these therapies with couples are extremely dangerous. Because if one of them doesn’t take the whole responsibility for him- or herself, and their partner leaves, then they blame the substance, or the therapist, or both for the separation.

In an illegal setting, I wouldn’t advise anybody to sincerely work with couples. Have them have a good feeling — fine. But the rest of the hard work, of confronting and pointing out the difficult corners and so on, it is dangerous.

What advice would you give to a couple who wanted to try this?

I would tell them what I have just told you — to do hard work on the session. To talk about every single problem. But with a moderator — a therapist or a third person. You might not get the crucial points. You have to really learn how to do it.

So from a couple’s perspective, at least, it’s worth the risk?

I really do think that it is the possibility for a couple to really connect. I am in my second marriage, and I got to know my husband in the beginning of the training we had. We took the training together because I knew, if I would go on with the training without him, we wouldn’t be on the same level, because these substances change you. They develop a general change of attitudes, of beliefs, of insights, of your way of life.

How do you imagine the future of this work?

It would be wonderful if more people — doctors, psychologists, intelligent people who have influence — could see the benefits that we could have from these substances, and understand that society needs to learn and to teach the youngsters to deal with these things, to use them in a way that I’ve just described — so that everyone could have access to these sorts of substances, and there would be a culture of understanding how to use them, how to use them ritually, in safe places, and to learn how to get connected with themselves again, with their bodies again — to really get to know the use of all this and the enormous potential that these substances have.

Do you think we’ll get there?

I think we are on our way. What I would like to find out over the years that I still have in front of me is a way to spread the word, and the experience, that more people know about this side of these substances. That would be my true wish.

*From the article here :

How MDMA and Psychedelics Salvage Crumbling Relationships

What if a drug can help teach us to care for each other?

www.inverse.com