Exploratory clinical trial finds ayahuasca combined with meaning reconstruction therapy may ease severe bereavement

An exploratory clinical trial suggests that combining ayahuasca with meaning reconstruction therapy may reduce severe grief more effectively than therapy alone or no treatment among adults who lost a first-degree relative within the previous year. The 84 participants were assigned to weekly online therapy, a no-treatment control, or therapy plus two medically supervised ayahuasca retreats with integration sessions. The combined-treatment group showed larger reductions in normal and prolonged grief symptoms, greater post-traumatic growth, and better psychological health and social relationship scores, with benefits maintained at a three-month follow-up. Ayahuasca was generally well tolerated, although nausea, vomiting, headaches, and reluctance to repeat dosing occurred. Interpretation is limited by non-randomized, open-label allocation, substantial prior psychedelic experience among participants, and the absence of an ayahuasca-only group. Larger randomized and blinded trials are needed to establish efficacy and separate drug, therapy, expectation, and group-support effects.