What is MDMA Assisted Psychotherapy?
MDMA is a psychoactive substance with decades of history in both therapeutic and recreational contexts. Also known as an entactogen ("touching within") or empathogen, MDMA belongs to a class of substances that can produce feelings of empathy, emotional openness, and a sense of connection.
In therapeutic settings, MDMA facilitates an inner-directed process of exploring, processing, and bringing healing to painful past experiences and trauma.
How Does an MDMA Experience Feel?
MDMA effects often include a temporary reduction of fear alongside increased feelings of empathy, intimacy, and closeness. The medicine can expand the range of positive emotions toward yourself and others while enhancing interpersonal trust. Importantly, it allows continued access to deeply held emotions and memories, strengthening your ability to encounter and process difficult psychological experiences with greater openness and resilience.
Rather than creating extreme arousal, MDMA tends to foster a sense of inner calm when confronting traumatic material. This allows you to examine traumatic content more objectively while powerful emotions surface in a space of openness and self-compassion.
MDMA-assisted psychotherapy works with your intrinsic healing capacity and innate wisdom, supporting your natural movement toward wholeness and well-being.
How is MDMA taken?
MDMA is administered orally in capsule form. The therapeutic protocol typically includes three to four MDMA-assisted therapy sessions, each conducted in the presence of two trained practitioners. Each session lasts six to seven hours, with the medicine's effects active for approximately four to five hours.
Which Conditions Can MDMA Treat?
MDMA-assisted psychotherapy is currently undergoing clinical trials for the treatment of chronic, complex, and severe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The treatment has received breakthrough therapy designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for PTSD.
Research has shown remarkable results: more than 80% of participants with severe, long-lasting PTSD demonstrated clinically significant improvement with MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. Up to 65% of participants no longer met criteria for PTSD one year after treatment completion. In some studies, PTSD symptoms continued to improve in the months following treatment, suggesting that MDMA-assisted therapy catalyzes an ongoing therapeutic process that extends beyond the sessions themselves.
MDMA is also being studied for treating social anxiety in autistic adults, anxiety associated with life-threatening illness, eating disorders, and for understanding its psychological effects in healthy adults. Before its prohibition in the 1980s, MDMA was used therapeutically for trauma work, relationship challenges, couples counseling, and other applications.
How Does MDMA BeHow Can I Access MDMA-Assisted Therapy?hotherapy?
MDMA-assisted psychotherapy combines traditional talk therapy with MDMA in a safe, supportive setting. The therapeutic effect emerges from multiple elements working together: your inner healing intelligence, the effects of the medicine, practitioner support, and the therapeutic environment.
MDMA may catalyze therapeutic processing by allowing you to stay emotionally engaged while revisiting traumatic experiences without being overwhelmed by anxiety or other painful emotions. It's essential to understand that you are the source of your own healing—MDMA and your therapist facilitate access to your healing process but are not its source.
This is an inner-directed approach that creates space for you to engage with your innate healing capacity. You can revisit traumatic experiences while staying emotionally present, even during intense feelings of anxiety, pain, or grief, without becoming overwhelmed. The practice emphasizes permission, allowance, and receptivity to whatever arises during the session.
Entering MDMA-assisted psychotherapy is a journey that requires time, attention, and care. We're committed to walking alongside you with thorough preparation and ongoing support every step of the way.
How Can I Access MDMA-Assisted Therapy?hotherapy?
In August 2024, MDMA-assisted psychotherapy was denied approval by the FDA, with the request by the FDA to conduct more research on its safety and efficacy. Therefore, MDMA-assisted therapy is not presently available outside of enrolling in a clinical trial. Once approved by the FDA, our practitioners who are trained in MDMA-assisted therapy, will be able to accept new clients. However, with the recent setback in 2024, MDMA-assisted therapy may still have a long road of several years or more before it is available in clinics.
If you are interested in engaging with psychedelic-assisted therapy right now and are unable to enroll in a clinical study with MDMA, you might want to explore ketamine-assisted therapy or psilocybin assisted therapy as an option.
Psychedelic Resources and further readings
https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp.20230681
https://maps.org/mdma/
https://maps.org/integration-station/