MAPS Canada School of Psychedelics

Talk abstract

Eating disorders (EDs) are severe and difficult-to-treat psychiatric illnesses, with high mortality rates, limited pharmacological options, and substantial dropout and relapse from the gold-standard treatment cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT-ED). Our research program investigates the therapeutic potential of psilocybin treatment to enhance CBT-ED by targeting key neurobiological and psychological barriers, including cognitive rigidity, comorbid psychopathology, and experiential avoidance. This talk will overview our recent perspective article which provides the first consolidation of evidence for psilocybin-enhanced CBT-ED, proposes a concurrent intervention protocol, and discusses clinical research considerations to empirically evaluate it. Further, it will discuss how phenomenological approaches are often overlooked in conventional psychedelic study design, but can deepen our understanding of the therapeutic potential of psychedelic experiences by examining key experiential domains (e.g., embodiment, selfhood, affectivity). Finally, this talk will discuss the development of a clinical trial design which aims to evaluate the feasibility of a randomized controlled trial examining psilocybin-enhanced CBT-ED for bulimia nervosa. Together, this research is expected to advance the treatment of EDs and, more broadly, the study of psychedelics as tools to enhance evidence-based psychotherapies for difficult-to-treat neuropsychiatric conditions.