Psychedelic and Ketamine Chaplaincy

In collaboration with Tara Deonauth, the spiritual care manager at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, this clinical research program develops the practice of ketamine integration chaplaincy and investigates related approaches to psychedelic chaplaincy. Psychedelic chaplaincy is a nascent field that integrates the interfaith spiritual care techniques of hospital chaplains with psychedelic care. Although it is currently limited to clinical trials and ketamine clinics, this field is expected to grow alongside the medicalization of psychedelics.

Building on the interdisciplinary ketamine chaplaincy program at Faulkner, the study is currently going through IRB approval and will work with chaplaincy students, medical residents, and patients to assess the efficacy and best practices of psychedelic chaplaincy. This case-based research program seeks to add to the clinical study of psychedelics and spiritual care professions by articulating professional competencies, training protocols, standards of care, and spiritual care approaches to integration. We expect that this research will be broadly applicable to ketamine treatment and will inform care approaches for treatments with other psychedelic substances.

Project point people: Jeffrey Breau and Paul Gillis-Smith