Treating childhood trauma with MDMA or psilocybin

Treating childhood trauma using psychedelics

Psychedelic therapy has had the wind in its sails since 2022 when it comes to awareness and high success rates in processing (childhood) trauma. The most commonly used psychedelics for childhood trauma are psilocybin and MDMA. They are two completely different substances, though both are considered classic psychedelics. Psilocybin occurs naturally in Psilocybe mushrooms (and truffles). MDMA is a synthetic drug although its precursor MDA does occur naturally (nutmeg). The effects of these two drugs are also quite different.

Psilocybin session for childhood trauma

The psilocybin sessions in the Netherlands are done with psilocybin truffles. Psilocybin is the substance that after conversion to psilocin provides the effects of this drug. Psilocybin is particularly used for depression, addictions and social anxiety. Psilocybin is the all-rounder because psilocybin can also be used for childhood trauma and PTSD if the preparation is right. Usually psilocybin is chosen when talking offers no solution. This is because psilocybin sessions are less rational and it is more about the experience than the words used. Furthermore, psilocin plays a role in acceptance plus connectedness and thus often progress.

More information Psilocybin therapy

MDMA session for childhood trauma

MDMA therapy is primarily used for PTSD and (childhood) trauma. These MDMA sessions are especially suitable for people who would benefit greatly from talk therapy or exposure therapy, but block. MDMA can temporarily remove the blockages from anxiety, making it easy for the sessions to take a positive turn. MDMA is an illegal substance in the Netherlands and therefore in the Netherlands we can only offer MDMA sessions with a substance that is 95% similar.

Learn more: MDMA therapy

With psilocybin you hallucinate and with MDMA you don’t

One benefit of psilocybin is the hallucinations. Like dreams, there can be a story in the images seen. Some images result in insights. For individuals with severe traumatization, the hallucinations can be a disadvantage because sometimes the old images can lead to negative effects. Then MDMA often seems a better option because no obvious hallucinations occur and there is less chance of reliving them.

Psilocybin trips go beyond rational thought

Whereas with MDMA you are more likely to be able to engage in conversation while feeling good, including talking about your trauma, with psilocybin you cannot talk well during the peak of the session. During the peak of the psilocybin session you go beyond thinking and end up in an experience that you probably cannot put into words. Psilocybin sessions, as described earlier, seem to be especially suitable if talking will not help you get any further, while MDMA sessions are more suitable if you cannot talk about your trauma in a sober state and still want to use talk therapy to work through it. The choice for MDMA or psilocybin should mainly depend on whether visual hallucinations are desired and whether talk therapy without blockade (MDMA) or the journey into the subconscious (psilocybin) will help.

What suits you best?

In order to have a session at trip therapy, we must screen for health and safety. We do this through the intake. Furthermore, we will also advise which drug and dosage seems best. Also, the intake will form the basis for advice during the preparation for the psychedelic session. The intake can be found through the link below:

Intake trip therapy | Rates and booking | Contact