The Untold Story of Women Psychedelic Therapists: 5 Questions with historian Zoë Dubus

Women psychedelic therapists Margot Cutner, Joyce Martin, and Betty Eisner are presented as key innovators in how LSD-assisted therapy was administered in the 1950s and 1960s, despite being largely forgotten. Historian Zoë Dubus explains how these practitioners helped shift psychedelic use away from earlier “shock therapy” style approaches and toward what became “set and setting,” including patient reassurance and attention to the therapeutic relationship. Dubus also highlights their emphasis on careful patient selection and clear pre-session explanations of what LSD is, what might happen, and how to behave. A central theme is therapists’ use of physical touch and consent. Dubus describes the women’s practice of responding to patients’ requests for contact, and in Joyce Martin’s case, a more controversial “fusion” approach aimed at evoking maternal-love imagery through structured, intimate sessions. The interview also connects this legacy to today’s debates and harms, including sexual abuse concerns, and notes that safety evaluation and training are ongoing challenges in the underground to clinical trial transition.