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Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy: Emerging Treatments in Mental Health Disorders
Andrew Penn1, Caroline G Dorsen, Stephanie Hope
1Andrew Penn is an associate clinical professor in the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing. Caroline G. Dorsen is an associate professor and associate dean for advanced practice and clinical partnerships at Rutgers University School of Nursing, Newark, NJ. Stephanie Hope is founder, educator, and coach at Hope Holistic Wellness, Woodbourne, NY. William E. Rosa is a psycho-oncology postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York City. Andrew Penn receives salary support for his work as coinvestigator on a clinical trial of psilocybin-facilitated therapy for depression (NCT03866174). William E. Rosa is funded by the NIH/NCI Cancer Center Support Grant P30 CA008748 and the NCI award number T32 CA009461. Contact author: Andrew Penn, andrew.penn@ucsf.edu . The authors and planners have disclosed no potential conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise. A podcast with the authors is available at www.ajnonline.com .
Abstract:
Psychedelics are a class of psychoactive substances that were studied extensively between 1943 and 1970 as potential therapies for treating a host of mental health disorders, including addiction. Despite promising early results, U.S. psychedelic research was halted in the early 1970s with the enactment of the Controlled Substances Act. As the field of psychedelic-assisted therapy develops, nurses can decide the role they will play in the continuing clinical and scholarly research of these substances, which may soon be used in controlled settings to treat some of the most widespread mental health disorders. To prepare for this task, this article proposes that nurses * become familiar with the history, relevant language, and scientific findings related to the field of psychedelic research. * learn about existing psychedelic-assisted therapy and research resources. * examine their thoughts, judgments, and opinions about therapeutic psychedelic use. * consider the potential role of nursing in psychedelic-assisted therapies going forward.
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