Ayahuasca-assisted meaning reconstruction therapy as an early resource for bereavement: a non-randomized clinical trial

Ayahuasca-assisted therapy outperformed therapy alone for adults experiencing severe grief after losing a family member.

In a non randomised clinical trial, 84 adults experiencing severe grief within 12 months of losing a first-degree relative were allocated to ayahuasca-assisted meaning reconstruction therapy (A-MR), meaning reconstruction therapy alone (MR), or no treatment. The A-MR group showed a greater reduction in grief severity than both MR and no treatment, with effects maintained at the 3-month follow-up; it also showed improvements in prolonged grief symptoms, post-traumatic growth and quality of life. The authors propose that ayahuasca may help catalyse the meaning-reconstruction process involved in adapting to loss. Ayahuasca was generally well tolerated in this small sample, with no serious adverse events, although nausea/vomiting/diarrhoea, headache, fainting and transient anguish were reported. Importantly, this was not a randomized trial: participants were sequentially allocated, the study was open-label, the sample was small (28 per group), and the authors explicitly describe the findings as preliminary and call for larger randomized trials before conclusions about efficacy can be drawn

Abstract

Preliminary evidence suggests that ayahuasca may alleviate severe grief symptoms. This three-arm, sequentially allocated, open-label study examines the therapeutic changes associated with ayahuasca-assisted meaning reconstruction therapy (A-MR) compared to meaning reconstruction therapy alone (MR) and a no-treatment control (NT). A total of 84 adults experiencing severe grief within 12 months of losing a first-degree relative were allocated to A-MR (n = 28), MR (n = 28), or NT (n = 28).

Grief severity, prolonged grief disorder symptoms, post-traumatic growth, and quality of life were assessed at baseline, after the intervention, and 3 months post-intervention. Ayahuasca was well tolerated, with no serious adverse events reported. All groups showed significant grief severity reduction (A-MR: p < .0001, d = 2.44; MR: p < .0001, d = 1.84; NT: p < .002, d = 0.74). Greater reductions were observed in the A-MR compared to MR (p = .012, d = 0.86) and NT (p = .0008, d = 1.07). A-MR was also associated with significant improvements in prolonged grief symptomatology, post-traumatic growth, and quality of life, with medium-to-large effect sizes.

This is the first controlled prospective study to provide preliminary support for A-MR as a safe and potentially effective intervention for severe grief, though replication in larger randomized trials is required.

Soto-Angona, O., Andión, O., Sabucedo, P. et al. Ayahuasca-assisted meaning reconstruction therapy as an early resource for bereavement: a non-randomized clinical trial. Sci Rep 15, 32158 (2025). Read Paper

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