Tripping down memory lane: the psychedelic therapy boom

Psychedelic therapy is portrayed as a booming, mainstreaming movement, shifting from fringe interest toward licensed retreat models and celebrity visibility. The piece centers on Donna Sorgen and her ketamine retreats in upstate New York, explaining the common mechanism of a “window” for neuroplasticity after dosing and the role of psychotherapy and integration sessions to help people turn difficult experiences into lasting change. Interviews and anecdotes highlight both promise and risk. Bessel van der Kolk points to evidence for MDMA-assisted therapy for severe PTSD while stressing that support and setting matter, since participants can still feel pain while accessing traumatic memories. Retreat attendees describe varied outcomes, from resurfacing inner-child memories and calmer decision making to spiritual experiences, while the article emphasizes that what people experience is not fully controllable. The broader theme is how “psychedelic tourism” and paid retreat industries are expanding, raising questions about access, commercialization, and the difference between therapeutic structure and unsupervised “magic pill” expectations.