Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair and Members

Sara Haden, Chair

Philip Wong

Cory Chen

Keywords

Attachment, Challenging experiences, Mental health, Mystical experience, Psychedelics, Social connectedness

Abstract

Research into psychedelic-assisted psychotherapies and the overall psychedelic experience is in a period of acceleration, with hopes from multiple disciplines that such research might uncover novel and effective treatments for myriad psychological disorders. Much research to date has examined the neurobiological underpinnings of psychedelic states. The current study, existing as part of a larger trend examining the phenomenological and psychological mechanisms of psychedelic experience, sought to examine the ways in which attachment dynamics influenced the type of psychedelic experience—mystical versus challenging—and the subsequent effects on social connectedness and psychiatric symptoms. Prior research had suggested that individuals with more anxious attachment styles would be prone to more mystical-type experiences, with subsequent increases in connectedness and decreases in symptoms, however the current study did not support these findings. Removing the mystical experience component instead suggested that anxiously organized people experienced decreases in social connectedness, indirectly increasing their psychiatric symptoms. Several potential explanations for these unexpected findings, as well as their implications, are discussed. Additionally, this study supported an exploratory, less-researched model wherein individuals with more avoidant attachment dynamics were more prone to challenging experiences, leading to decreases in connectedness and increases in overall psychiatric symptoms. Further discussed are the potential implications of these results for clinical practice with psychedelics as well as several directions for future research.

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