Deena Prichep
Sep 24, 2023
Research on the therapeutic use of psychedelics is underway at several universities, and data continues to accumulate on how they may help with conditions from PTSD to depression. Many states and localities across the country are considering legislation. Some, like Oregon and Colorado, have already passed regulatory models, which involve licensing facilitators to administer these drugs. And there's increasing interest in that work from a group of professionals who already guide people through life's deep and difficult times: chaplains.
Chaplains are religious professionals who work in non-religious settings — hospitals, schools, battlefields. Although they're trained and often ordained in a particular tradition, they help people of any faith — or none at all — wrestle with spiritual issues, and connect with a sense of meaning.
Caroline Peacock recently drew upon this training as part of a clinical trial using psilocybin, the compound in so-called "magic mushrooms," at Emory University's Winship Cancer Institute. Their results will be published next year. In the study, chaplains worked alongside mental health practitioners to administer the psychedelic drug to terminal cancer patients. And after the treatment, they provided what's called integration — using their experience navigating shifts in worldview to help patients make sense of the experience.
After participating in the trial, Peacock convened a Psychedelic Care Network within the Chaplaincy think tank group Transforming Chaplaincy, which over 150 fellow chaplains have joined. The conversation is growing within the field — both the Association of Professional Chaplains and the Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains held workshops on psychedelic-assisted therapy at their most recent annual conferences, and panels and webinars have been held in many forums, as chaplains explore this topic.