Treating OCD With Psychedelic Therapy In New York City And Denver

Understanding and healing OCD with psychedelics

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Ketamine And OCD

  • Early clinical research has shown that ketamine can produce rapid decreases in OCD symptoms:

  • Ketamine’s potential effects in OCD are linked to its action on the glutamate system, which may help disrupt rigid thought–action patterns typical of OCD.

Psilocybin and OCD

  • Research from Robin Carhart-Harris and colleagues at Imperial College London proposes that psilocybin relaxes rigid predictive priors through what they call the REBUS model (“Relaxed Beliefs Under Psychedelics”). Under psilocybin:

    • Activity at the 5-HT2A receptor increases cortical entropy.

    • High-level beliefs (about identity, trauma, self-worth, fear, etc.) lose precision.

    • Bottom-up sensory and emotional information gains influence.

    • Previously suppressed or avoided material can surface.

    • The brain becomes temporarily more flexible and open to revision.

    Psilocybin allows for new learning.

  • Psilocybin reduces functional integrity of the default mode network, a system associated with:

    • Self-referential thinking

    • Rumination

    • Narrative identity

Disrupting the DMN may reduce rigid self-models — a key feature in depression, OCD, and trauma.

To learn more about Psilocybin Therapy, Ketamine Therapy and about why healing in a group environment at OUR HOUSE is powerful, schedule a free 20-min consultation and visit our free learning sections.

Our upcoming programs all follow the core research principles for psychedelic safety and maximizing positive outcomes.