Psychedelic Therapy for Addiction in Colorado
Break the Cycle: Evidence-Based Psilocybin Treatment for Substance Use Disorders
Addiction isn't a moral failing — it's a complex condition that hijacks your brain's reward system. If you've struggled with relapse despite trying rehab, 12-step programs, or medication-assisted treatment, psilocybin therapy offers a fundamentally different path to lasting recovery.
Why Traditional Addiction Treatment Often Isn't Enough
Conventional approaches focus heavily on abstinence and willpower, but often miss the deeper roots:
Detox and rehab address physical dependence but not underlying psychological patterns
12-step programs provide valuable community but may not create the neural changes needed for lasting recovery
Medication-assisted treatment manages withdrawal but requires ongoing medication
Cognitive-behavioral therapy helps develop coping skills but may not reach trauma or existential pain driving use
Relapse rates remain high — 40-60% of people return to substance use within a year
What the Research Shows
Clinical studies show remarkable results for substance use disorders:
What Substances Can Psilocybin Therapy Help With?
Research and clinical evidence support psilocybin-assisted therapy for:
Tobacco/Nicotine — Strongest research base with 67-80% long-term abstinence rates
Alcohol — Significant reductions in heavy drinking days; both abstinence and moderation goals supported
Opioids — Emerging evidence for treatment; may be particularly valuable for addressing trauma underlying use
Stimulants — Preliminary research shows promise for methamphetamine and cocaine use disorder
Cannabis — For cannabis use disorder or problematic habitual use
Behavioral Addictions — Some evidence for gambling, sex addiction, and internet addiction
Who Benefits Most from Psilocybin Therapy for Addiction?
Psilocybin-assisted therapy may be particularly valuable if you:
Have relapsed despite completing traditional treatment programs
Want to address root causes rather than just managing symptoms
Experience co-occurring trauma or depression underlying your addiction
Feel disconnected from meaning or purpose that fuels substance use
Are committed to recovery and willing to engage deeply in the process
Prefer time-limited, intensive treatment to years of weekly sessions
Legal Access in Colorado
Psilocybin therapy is fully legal in Colorado when provided by licensed facilitators under the Natural Medicine Health Act. You can access this breakthrough treatment without legal concerns or having to travel internationally.
How Psilocybin Disrupts Addiction Patterns
Addiction involves multiple interconnected systems — neurobiological, psychological, behavioral, and spiritual. Psilocybin therapy addresses all of these simultaneously:
1. Rewiring the Brain's Reward System: Psilocybin reduces activity in brain regions that initiate and maintain addiction, particularly by lowering the reward response to addictive substances. This helps break the compulsive drive to use.
2. Addressing Underlying Trauma: Many addictions stem from unprocessed trauma or emotional pain. The expanded state facilitates access to and processing of these root causes, removing the need for substances as coping mechanisms.
3. Enhancing Introspection and Self-Awareness: Psilocybin promotes deep self-reflection, helping you understand the function your addiction serves and recognize patterns you want to change.
4. Restoring Meaning and Purpose: Addiction often involves existential despair or disconnection from meaning. The mystical-type experiences common in psilocybin therapy may help people reconnect with purpose, values, and what matters most to them.
5. Increasing Decision-Making Capacity: By enhancing psychological flexibility and cognitive function, psilocybin helps restore the ability to refrain from addictive behaviors even when cravings arise.
6. Accelerating Fear Extinction: For substances associated with specific situations or emotional states, psilocybin accelerates the process of breaking those associations — similar to exposure therapy but more rapid.
Get Started
Psilocybin therapy works differently — targeting the neurobiological, psychological, and spiritual roots of addiction simultaneously.
Psychedelic Therapy for Addiction FAQ
-
Yes — psilocybin therapy shows particular promise for treatment-resistant addiction. The studies showing 67-80% tobacco abstinence rates at one year specifically included people who had failed multiple quit attempts. Research on alcohol use disorder found that 32% became completely abstinent (mean follow-up: 6 years), and others significantly reduced heavy drinking. The mechanisms are fundamentally different from conventional treatments, addressing neural, psychological, and spiritual roots simultaneously. Your ongoing recovery work is needed, but there is good reason to have hope.
-
Most research protocols use 1-3 medicine sessions combined with preparation and integration therapy. The landmark smoking cessation study used 2-3 sessions spaced over 12-15 weeks. For alcohol use disorder, some protocols use a single high dose while others use 2 sessions. The total treatment typically spans 3-4 months with 8-15 therapy sessions total. More challenging or complex addictions may benefit from additional sessions, which we determine collaboratively.
-
You should be stabilized (not in acute withdrawal or intoxication) but don't necessarily need extended sobriety. For alcohol and most substances, we recommend at least 2-3 days of abstinence before medicine sessions. For opioids, you can be on medication-assisted treatment (buprenorphine, naltrexone) during psilocybin therapy. The key is physical and mental stability, not a specific sobriety duration. Some people complete detox immediately before beginning treatment; others have several weeks of initial sobriety.
-
Yes — research shows psilocybin reduces both the frequency and intensity of cravings. The mechanism is multi-fold: psilocybin reduces reward activity in the brain that initiates cravings, helps process underlying emotional triggers, provides alternative sources of meaning and reward, and increases decision-making capacity even when cravings arise. Many participants report that cravings either disappear or become much more manageable, and they feel more equipped to ride them out.
-
Yes — psilocybin can be safely combined with medication-assisted treatment (MAT). Buprenorphine (Suboxone) and naltrexone do not create dangerous interactions with psilocybin. In fact, psilocybin therapy may help address the underlying trauma, meaning, and psychological patterns that led to opioid use, while MAT manages physical dependence. We coordinate care carefully to optimize both treatments. Some people use psilocybin therapy to successfully taper off MAT after addressing root causes.
-
Relapse doesn't mean treatment failed — recovery is often non-linear. If you relapse, we can work together to understand what happened, process it without shame, and determine if additional medicine sessions or extended integration would be helpful. Research shows that even when some substance use returns, the overall trajectory often remains much improved. Many people describe feeling fundamentally different in their relationship to the substance, even if they use again, and are able to return to recovery more quickly.
-
Both show promise but work differently. Ibogaine is specifically studied for opioid addiction and appears to interrupt physical withdrawal, while psilocybin addresses psychological and spiritual dimensions. Ibogaine has more cardiac risks and requires intensive medical monitoring. Psilocybin is safer with fewer contraindications. Some people do ibogaine for initial opioid cessation, then psilocybin therapy for ongoing recovery and addressing trauma.
-
Many people report profound insights about their addiction, though the specific content varies. Common themes include: recognizing the function the substance served (coping, connection, escape), seeing the impact on loved ones from a new perspective, connecting to what they want their life to be about, understanding childhood or trauma roots, experiencing self-compassion instead of shame, and spontaneous commitment to change. These insights, combined with the neuroplastic changes, create motivation that's internally driven rather than externally imposed.
-
Psilocybin therapy can support either abstinence or moderation goals. Some clients choose complete abstinence while others significantly reduced heavy drinking days without full abstinence. We support your chosen goal. That said, psilocybin experiences often spontaneously shift people's relationship with substances — many participants report no longer finding the substance appealing even when they don't consciously "decide" to quit. We'll explore your goals and what feels right for you.
-
While specific research is limited, the mechanisms suggest potential benefit for behavioral addictions. Psilocybin addresses underlying compulsivity, escapism, shame, and disconnection that fuel all addictions — substance and behavioral. The increased self-awareness and psychological flexibility help people recognize triggers and make different choices. We've seen promising results, though more research is needed. Behavioral addictions may require less medical monitoring but equally intensive psychological work.
-
Alyahya, N. M., & Al Saleem, E. A. (2024). Therapeutic Use of Psychedelics for Mental Disorders: A Systematized Review. Journal of Nature and Science of Medicine. https://doi.org/10.4103/jnsm.jnsm_76_24
Bogenschutz, M. P., Forcehimes, A. A., Pommy, J. A., et al. (2015). Psilocybin-assisted treatment for alcohol dependence: A proof-of-concept study. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 29(3), 289-299.
Brett, J., Knock, E., Korthuis, P. T., et al. (2023). Exploring psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy in the treatment of methamphetamine use disorder. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14.
Griffiths, R. R., Johnson, M. W., Carducci, M. A., et al. (2016). Psilocybin produces substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer: A randomized double-blind trial. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 30(12), 1181-1197.
Noller, G. E., Frampton, C. M., & Yazar-Klosinski, B. (2018). Ibogaine treatment outcomes for opioid dependence from a twelve-month follow-up observational study. American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 44(1), 37-46.
Van der Meer, P. B., Fuentes, J. J., Kaptein, A. A., et al. (2023). Therapeutic effect of psilocybin in addiction: A systematic review. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14.