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Low-Income Group Psilocybin Assisted Therapy for Depression

NCT06372197 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 20

Last updated 2025-06-05

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Due to psilocybin-assisted therapy's success in previous research, growing cultural awareness and use of psilocybin and other psychedelics, the Oregon Psilocybin Services Act passed by ballot measure in 2020 and began offering services in 2023. While the program has had many successes, a significant problem it faces is affordability and no research to date has investigated the therapy in a low-income population.

Psychedelic research in recent decades has used the model of two therapists to one client to demonstrate an abundance of caution and safety to regulators, but no evidence has demonstrated this model to be safer or more effective than one with less practitioner oversight. This feasibility study would be the first investigation of Oregon Psilocybin Services as a model of care and among the first few to use a group therapy model. This study aims to test the feasibility of the model by assessing recruitment, retention, acceptability and safety of the treatment. In addition to an appropriate medical screening and intake the following questionnaire data will be collected: the Adverse Childhood Events (ACE) questionnaire, Credibility/Expectancy Questionnaire (CEQ), Hamilton Depression Inventory, PROMIS-29, Altered States of Consciousness (11-ASC) rating scale, and a survey and structured interview.

Participants will consist of adults in Oregon with an income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level. Inclusion criteria will include DSM-5 diagnosis of major depression. Participants will be individually screened by a study investigator and placed into groups of five to six participants. Treatment will consist of two group preparation sessions, two psilocybin sessions, and two group integration sessions. An additional follow-up visit to collect further data will take place three months after conclusion of the treatment.

The proposed study will provide valuable information for designing future clinical trials investigating the efficacy, mechanisms, and cost-effectiveness of psilocybin-assisted group therapy for depression in low-income populations.

Conditions

Interventions

DRUG

Psilocybin

Following Oregon Psilocybin Services (OPS) rules, participants will be placed in cohorts of five to six, which whom they will do two 90-minute preparation session, two psilocybin sessions, and two 90-minute integration sessions. All sessions will be guided by two licensed facilitators.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Matthew Hicks

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Matthew R Hicks, ND, MS · National University of Natural Medicine

Study Design

Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Model
SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age
21 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2024-08-01
Primary Completion
2025-05-14
Completion
2025-05-14

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Drugs
Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT06372197 on ClinicalTrials.gov