What’s The Best Playlist for Psychedelic Therapy?
In search for the best playlist for psychedelic therapy
The impact of music on the subjective experience during psychedelic therapy sessions is profound. Music can support the therapeutic process significantly, yet can also as have a significant counter-therapeutic effects. Acknowledging this, how do we then go about selecting the best playlist for psychedelic therapy?
We believe that a “best” playlist for psychedelic therapy does not exist. The experience of a psychedelic therapy session is unique for each individual. In addition, the same music will different impacts on different days for the same individual. Therefore, we do believe that there it is possible and important to offer a playlist for psychedelic therapy that is “optimal”, “right” or one might say “good enough”.
How would we define this? This article will highlight a number of considerations to take into account when selecting a music playlist for your psychedelic therapy sessions.
Playlists for psychedelic therapy used in scientific research
Music has been used to accompany altered states of consciousness throughout human history and more recently, within the field of psychedelic therapy.
The arrangement and delivery of music in the form of playlists has been used to support psychedelic therapy sessions since the conception of the field in the mid 20th century. It is an approach with enduring value among therapy and research communities today.
Some playlists maintain prestige status for their carefully chosen musical arcs in-line with the phases of a psychedelic journey. Beloved to care-providers, care-seekers and music lovers alike, playlists have evolved as important auditory artefacts of the psychedelic therapy field, both for their transformational potential and trusted, skillful curation.
Prior to founding Wavepaths, Mendel Kaelen earned a reputation for his intuitive playlist designs. He created playlists for various landmark clinical trials including the 2016 psilocybin for depression study at Imperial College London and a number of MAPS MDMA-assisted therapy trials for PTSD. His playlists continue to resound through clinical spaces, retreat centres, and private homes today.
The vast gap between clinical research and clinical practice
There are serious reasons to not include a typically fixed playlists in a psychedelic therapy session. From a therapeutic perspective the fixed nature of a playlist will not suit to the highly dynamic, fluid, profoundly personal and often unpredictable experience of an individual during a session.
It needs little argument that a multi-hour pre-recorded voice of a therapist played from start to finish for each patient in the same way, is a bad idea. It would undermine the interpersonal domain entirely, where it is essential for the care-seeker to feel seen, understood, cared for and safe.
Yet why do some care-providers treat patients this way with music? We believe there are two primary reasons:
- Clinical research is concerned by carefully limiting variability of stimuli. Typically scientists want to keep the music exactly the same for each research participant in the trial. Although this may be far from ideal, the legacy of including a one-sized fits all approach with music does spill over into some therapeutic practices on the ground.
- The second reason has to the with the complexity of music selection itself. There may be growing numbers of therapists working with psychedelics, yet it is not uncommon for many to feel insecure in their music selection. A single fixed playlists for all sessions is easier to manage than the prospect of learning how to DJ session or hire 6-hour long live orchestra.
Selecting the right music for psychedelic therapy
The Limitations of Playlists for Psychedelic Therapy
Playlists present certain practical limitations due to their pre-planned and stop-start nature:
- Potentially disruptive and jarring effects of transitions between songs.
- Inability to make live adjustments and alter the trajectory of a playlist mid-session.
This represents a key departure from live-guided methods and a shortfall of using standardised playlists during psychedelic therapy. They are unable to be attuned to the ongoing, ever-evolving emotional state of an individual. This flexibility is crucial in supporting music resonance; a fundamental variable contributing to treatment success. As a result, counter-therapeutic experiences become a greater possibility when using standardised playlists during psychedelic therapy.
From Playlists to Personalisation
Mendel observed these limitations while working directly with playlists during his academic research. This inspired him to found Wavepaths as an attempt to go beyond the predictable nature of a standardised music journey and cater to the unique experience of each individual. In addition, he wanted to empower care providers with an accessible and evidence-based music solution (for psychedelic and non-drug therapies).
Yet, the playlist as we know it today emerged out of a lively era of psychedelic research in the late 1960’s, accompanied by a growing interest in set and setting. It was preceded by a more hands-on approach, that included live curation with a turntable and selection of records.
This in-the-moment mentality aligns with a more personalised approach to music selection, used to this day by DJ-savvy practitioners and psychedelic guides. This approach is also embedded as a fundamental design characteristic of Wavepaths.
The Importance of Music During Psychedelic Therapy
Even though the standardised playlist has reached a place of eminence in psychedelic therapy as a go-to approach, up until recently its limitations were left largely unaddressed.
Music can either support or undermine (make or break) the patient experience, impacting patient outcomes and inviting us to consider the importance of a personalised approach.
In his research, Mendel Kaelen found that certain music – if not aligned with the genre preferences of individuals and their immediate emotional state – can lead to counter-therapeutic experiences.
“.. the music was playing a trick with me, sort of giving me a false sense of security”
“I just felt as if I was being manipulated, being duped almost.”
The unwelcome effects of music outlined above relate to a mismatch between the music and subjective experience of the listener. Conversely, personalised music experiences may lead to an increase in resonance and support an individual’s ability to be open to, and accepting of their experience – a key component of the therapeutic process. This insight is broadly acknowledged within the music therapy field and is gathering steam among psychedelic therapy practitioners, inspiring a new wave of research and practice. Learn more about Wavepaths person-centred approach.
“It felt like the music picked you up and carried you to the next point, it was the vehicle that moved you. It felt like it all fitted the experience.”
“This music drove the most beautiful experience of my life”
These reports not only exemplify high resonance, but portray music as a potent therapeutic medium able to influence emotion, guide experience and produce states that are profoundly significant and personally meaningful.
It is important to acknowledge that a degree of error may still be present when intuiting the right music journey for a patient and making live adjustments during a session, no matter the approach. We believe this degree of error is minimised with music that is mapped to the distinct phases of a psychedelic session, personalised to individual preferences and adaptable to the evolving needs of a therapy session – music that is carefully composed to support vulnerable psychological states and drive therapeutic experiences.
Wavepaths’ core offering is designed to minimise guesswork and instil a level of confidence in the person-centred use of music for psychedelic therapy in a way that supports, guides and comforts patient needs in the moment. Needs which may not always follow the path laid out by a playlist.
In Review: Choosing the Right Music for Psychedelic Therapy
Playlists have and continue to play a fundamental role within psychedelic therapy: artfully selected music journeys that embody a growing pool of human music innovation and mastery. They have helped launch a new era of psychedelic science and self-guided psychedelic voyaging, able to arouse and support profoundly meaningful states with enduring therapeutic implications. Playlists have also inspired a new wave of research and development into the role, function and application of music in psychedelic therapy, inviting us to think of new ways to assimilate their strengths and transcend their boundaries.
We believe there is no one size fits all approach to playlist design and acknowledge that predetermined music journeys can increase the likelihood of counter therapeutic experiences. With deep respect and honour for traditional, live and contemporary approaches to supporting vulnerable psychedelic states with music, Wavepaths broadens the horizon of person-centred music, offering an evidence-based solution built upon the artistry and emotional nuance of human composed music and designed to speak to unique patient needs, as they evolve.
