A World-First Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy Trial for Prolonged Grief Disorder
Tuesday, May 13, 2025 |
4:00 PM - 4:30 PM |
Overview
Associate Professor Vanessa Beesley, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute
Speaker
Associate Professor Vanessa Beesley
Team Head, Psychedelic Medicine & Supportive Care Lab
Qimr Berghofer Medical Research Institute
A World-First Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy Trial for Prolonged Grief Disorder
Abstract
Background: Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) represents a substantial public health issue, especially in oncology settings where it affects up to 30% of bereaved carers. Current best-practice treatments are lengthy, and up to 50% of participants have persistent PGD. Building on encouraging recent research with psychedelic-assisted therapies, the Psilocybin-Assisted suppoRtive psychoTherapy IN the treatment of prolonged Grief (PARTING) trial is the first study to consider psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy as a potential treatment for prolonged grief.Methods: PARTING is an open-label pilot trial of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for 10 bereaved cancer carers with PGD. It aimed to investigate feasibility, safety, acceptability, participant experience, and participant-reported therapeutic effects over a 12-month follow-up period. Participants received three preparation sessions before receiving a psychoactive (25 mg) dose of psilocybin alongside non-directive supportive guidance, followed by four integration sessions. All sessions are delivered by a psychologist and either a nurse or Indigenous therapist. Feasibility was assessed through recruitment/retention rates. We assessed safety via documenting adverse events over 12 months. Semi-structured evaluation interviews assessed acceptability and therapeutic potential at 1 week and 6 and 12 months post-intervention. As a secondary analysis of the potential for therapeutic benefit, we also explored changes in pre-post participant-reported grief severity on the validated PGD-13-R measure and via a diagnostic clinical interview conducted at baseline, and 1 week and 3, 6 and 12 months post-intervention. Findings: This presentation will share interim results (up to 6-months). We will also explore in-depth participants’ descriptions of their psilocybin experience depicted in AI-generated artwork.
Biography
Associate Professor Vanessa Beesley, a behavioural scientist, leads the Psychedelic Medicine and Supportive Care Lab at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute. She has dedicated two decades to working in psycho-oncology research and is an emerging leader in psychedelic medicine. Ranked 3rd in Australia and 17th worldwide in needs assessment research (Expertscape, 2024), she has been a chief investigator of 13 patient-reported outcomes studies, spanning various cancers including ovarian, pancreatic and melanoma. Currently, she leads a national telehealth counselling and education support service trial for pancreatic cancer carers and a world first psilocybin-assisted therapy trial for bereaved cancer carers with prolonged grief disorder. She’s authored 70+ scientific articles, co-written a data analysis manual, held multiple Cancer Australia contracts to provide recommendations to government and is a founding member of the Queensland Collaborative for Cancer Survivorship which focuses on developing and evaluating health innovations. Her dedication to cancer and mental health research underscores her commitment to improving lives.
