Translated from our German original by AI. The German text was researched, written, and edited by the Psychedelia Foundation team and remains the authoritative version.
As psychedelic-assisted therapies gain scientific and regulatory recognition, researchers say a question that has received little attention so far is moving into focus: how well can treatment models developed largely in Western countries be transferred to other cultural contexts? That is the conclusion of a commentary titled “Psychedelic therapy and cultural humility”.
The authors point out that clinical trials of psilocybin- and LSD-assisted therapy in people with life-limiting illnesses have shown clear improvements in depression, anxiety and demoralization. The therapy protocols established so far, however, were developed predominantly in Euro-American cultural settings and reflect the corresponding values and assumptions.
Using the example of palliative care in China, the authors explain that psychosocial and cultural factors are likely to shape the course of psychedelic therapies in complex ways. These include family-centered decision-making, spiritual beliefs, social stigma and culturally formed ideas about what makes for a “good death”.
Against this background, the authors argue for an approach of cultural humility. This describes an attitude of continuous self-reflection, a sensitivity to power relations in the therapeutic relationship, and openness towards patients’ worldviews and life experiences. In psychedelic therapy this matters especially, since subjective experience is shaped substantially by the therapeutic setting, the relationship between patient and therapist, and individual processes of meaning-making.
With regulatory openings for psychedelic therapies in Australia and in several European and US jurisdictions, the question of their cultural transferability is gaining in importance. In the authors’ view, the effectiveness of psychedelic therapies is not only a pharmacological or psychotherapeutic question but equally a cultural one. To improve the transferability of these treatment approaches, research and clinical practice should give more weight to cultural diversity and to the interplay of beliefs, social norms, clinical practices and psychedelic pharmacology.
