Effects of *setting* on Psychedelic Therapies
Glad to announce a NEW PUBLICATION from our new partnership between the International Arts+Mind Lab and Dr. Frederick Barrett at the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research!
The SETTING in which psychedelic therapies take place has long been understood to be a crucial part of the experiences and their benefits... But we wanted to know: To what extent have setting's effects been explicitly studied?
Our findings lay the groundwork for future research.
Included studies reveal apparent consensus regarding the importance of setting in psychedelic therapies...
BUT: This consensus has yet to generate consistent, prospective, rigorous tests of setting & its complexities.
As a result, the field of psychedelics continues to lack understanding and agreement regarding setting’s effects:
"it is clear from the literature that various aspects of setting may contribute to positive results, but which settings are best, and for whom? under what conditions? when? for what indications? These questions remain unanswered.”
We identify 5 “categories” of setting that suggest paths for continued research, and provide several recommendations for future studies of setting/aesthetics.
Improved research on setting is needed to support improvements to psychedelic experiences and therapies, and their delivery.
Importantly, improvements to setting-research in the field of psychedelics could provide a model for better recognizing (and examining) how SETTING affects a wide variety of interventions, beyond the psychedelics context.
The effects of arts and aesthetics on health have been studied by multiple disciplines. We're glad to cultivate more links between our work in arts+health and psychedelics research.
