THE ROLE OF THERAPEUTIC SUPPORT IN THE PSYCHEDELIC-ASSISTED THERAPY: A SCOPING REVIEW

• Grant number: 23/14419-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: April 01, 2024
• End date: September 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Psychiatry
• Principal Investigator: Thiago Marques Fidalgo
• Grantee: Flavia Giaffone de Paiva Ferreira
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

With the increase of research about the use of psychedelic substances to treat psychiatric disorders, it is necessary to study the pharmacology of psychedelics and the influence of other factors on its effects. In addition to the substance, it is essential to explore the psychological procedures involved and the conditions in which the so-called Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy (PAT) is carried out. With emphasis on the extra-pharmacological factors, this research aims to select, describe, and categorize therapeutic protocols in clinical trials that used psychedelic substances to improve symptoms and psychiatric disorders. The method will be a scoping review of experimental and observational studies that have as intervention the PAT, using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Assessment 2.0 and Newcastle-Ottawa Assessment Scale to assess the quality of the studies. Therapeutic support, that is, any procedure based on psychosocial technique, will also be an inclusion criterion. The searches will be done on online search platforms (such as Pubmed, ResearchGate, Google Scholar, Clinical Trials), and the included substances will be Ayahuasca, LSD, Mescaline, MDMA, Psilocybin, and Ibogaine. As a result, this review will be able to evaluate the models of therapeutic support in the PAT, which will make it possible to identify the most used protocols and suggest follow-up models, guiding future clinical trials and expanding the discussion on the contextual and sociocultural factors in this field.