Perceptions of psychedelic-assisted therapy among Black Americans

Carter, Sierra; Packard, Grace; Coghlan, Callan; George, Jamilah R.; Brown, Ashanti J.; Ching, Terence H.W.; Julian, Jacob; Maples-Keller, Jessica L.

doi:10.1016/j.xjmad.2023.100023

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Future cross-cultural work, or studies that oversample from different religious or spiritual traditions, would be very valuable. Non-White individuals have been underrepresented in psychedelic research (e.g., George et al, 2020; Michaels et al, 2018; Thrul & Garcia-Romeu, 2021), and studies have documented racial differences in psychedelic experiences (e.g., Neitzke-Spruill, 2020), psychological outcomes of psychedelic experiences (Jones & Nock, 2022; Viña & Stephens, 2023), and attitudes about psychedelic-assisted therapy (Carter et al, 2023).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptions of psychedelic use by adults in the United States: Perceived psychospiritual benefits and risks, including spiritual struggles.

Exline,

Schutt,

Wilt

et al. 2024

Psychology of Religion and Spirituality

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What spiritual and psychological risks and benefits do people associate with psychedelics? We aimed to address these questions in a multimethod study. As part of a larger project, we did an internet survey of U.S. adults (N = 788; 41% reported prior psychedelic use) with both preregistered hypotheses and exploratory analyses, using Likert and open-ended items. Participants saw psychedelics carrying more psychological and practical risks (e.g., bad "trips," accidents, impaired judgment, legal problems) than psychospiritual benefits, which were endorsed more than spiritual struggles or risks. Highly endorsed psychospiritual benefits included awe, a deep sense of connection, and increased belief in a nonmaterial world. Other benefits included a greater sense of life meaning, profound spiritual experiences, new insights about ultimate reality, and deepened religious or spiritual beliefs. Participants rated interpersonal, moral, and doubt struggles higher than ultimate-meaning struggles, which were endorsed more than divine or demonic struggles. Perceived spiritual risks related positively to religiousness, Christian identification, religious community disapproval of psychedelics, and seeing the potential for demonic messages. Perceived benefits related positively to identifying as spiritual but not religious, past psychedelic use (especially positive or spiritual experiences), supernatural beliefs and experiences, religious community approval of psychedelics, and seeing psychedelics as doorways to positive spiritual messages. Qualitative analyses identified additional perceived risks (e.g., violence, death, reality confusion; financial and social problems; self-harm) and benefits (e.g., physiological and relational benefits; entertainment). These findings suggest that U.S. adults associate psychedelic use with a wide array of potential risks and benefits, including spiritual ones.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptions of psychedelic use by adults in the United States: Perceived psychospiritual benefits and risks, including spiritual struggles.

Exline,

Schutt,

Wilt

et al. 2024

Psychology of Religion and Spirituality

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“… 71 A recent survey-based study by Carter et al. 72 found that Black Americans had more positive views of psychedelic assisted therapy than White Americans, and those with a greater baseline severity of depression or PTSD symptoms had greater interest in these treatments. These data reveal both a willingness to engage with psychedelic drugs, and potential for unique therapeutic benefits from psychedelic treatments in minoritized populations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnoracial inclusion in clinical trials of psychedelics: a systematic review

Hughes,

Garcia-Romeu

2024

eClinicalMedicine

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“…For example, Feng et al (2023) found that BIPOC individuals reported being more likely to seek psychedelic-assisted therapy for mental health problems than their non-Hispanic White counterparts after psychoeducation about such treatments. Likewise, Carter et al (2023) showed how Black American participants endorsed more positive views of psychedelic-assisted therapy than White participants after psychoeducation about these treatment modalities. Further, in focus group discussions about the utility of MDMA-AT for PTSD among transgender and gender non-conforming individuals, Stauffer et al (2022) reported how a few participants shared personal experiences with MDMA or other psychedelics, describing these experiences as being "profoundly moving" (p. 5).…”

Section: Psychedelics For Healing Among Diverse Communitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Primer for Culturally Attuned Psychedelic Research

Ching

2024

Preprint

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Background: Systemic diversification of psychedelic research is needed, in light of interest in psychedelics for healing among Black, Indigenous, and Peoples of Color (BIPOC) and queer communities. Doing so also contributes to an inclusive evidence base, ethically meeting the anticipated demand for psychedelic treatments post-approval. Aims: Here, a primer for culturally attuned psychedelic research is presented. This primer covers common psychological and pragmatic barriers to diversity – as part of set and setting – in modern psychedelic research, as well as potential strategies for culturally attuned recruitment, assessment, and retention of diverse participants. Methods: This primer non-exhaustively synthesizes existing literature on barriers and potential strategies for culturally attuned psychedelic research. This primer focuses on classic psychedelics and other drugs with similar consciousness-altering effects, including 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and ketamine. This primer also limits ‘diversity’ to BIPOC and sexual- and gender-diverse populations, primarily in the United States. Results: Psychological and pragmatic barriers include drug and mental health stigma, medical mistrust, history of psychedelic-assisted conversion therapy, income disparities, schedule inflexibilities, and transportation inaccessibility. Culturally attuned recruitment, assessment, and retention strategies include queering and diversifying the study team, debinarizing the therapist dyad, developing culturally attuned flyers, investing in community outreach, using language in a culturally attuned way, improving access through transportation, diversifying the dosing room setup, and using culturally attuned instruments. Conclusions: Psychedelic research groups are encouraged to adapt and enact these recommendations as appropriate in their clinical trials, to improve accessibility to innovative mental health treatments for diverse populations.

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Perceptions of psychedelic-assisted therapy among Black Americans

Cited by 4 publications

References 36 publications

Perceptions of psychedelic use by adults in the United States: Perceived psychospiritual benefits and risks, including spiritual struggles.

Perceptions of psychedelic use by adults in the United States: Perceived psychospiritual benefits and risks, including spiritual struggles.

Ethnoracial inclusion in clinical trials of psychedelics: a systematic review

A Primer for Culturally Attuned Psychedelic Research

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