What, exactly, makes psychedelic-assisted therapy therapeutic?

In recent years, researchers have found that MDMA reduces activity in the amygdala, increases activity in the frontal cortex, and increases connectivity between the amygdala and the hippocampus, where memories are put into long-term storage. 

“Those are good explanations, but none of that is really filtered down to how you do the therapy differently,” Doblin says. 

Doing the therapy differently, however, is the exact platform on which MAPS has sold itself. 

“Inner healing intelligence” — which MAPS’ treatment manual defines as “a person’s innate capacity to heal the wounds of trauma” — seems intuitive enough. After all, cuts and scrapes heal on their own without direct intervention from the mind, so couldn’t your mind “get out of its own way,” through ego dissolution or some similar mechanism, to help facilitate emotional healing?

MAPS’ treatment strategy is based on the assumption that it can. 

“This very process of surrendering ego/directed functions to self/inner healer may be the method of therapeutic action that is so hard to come by without the help of MDMA.”