Psychedelic Therapy for Anxiety in Colorado
Transform Your Relationship with Anxiety Through Evidence-Based Psilocybin Therapy
Anxiety doesn't have to define your life. At Kykeon Wellness, we offer psilocybin-assisted therapy for anxiety — a breakthrough approach that helps you address the root causes of anxiety rather than just managing symptoms.
How Psilocybin Therapy Works for Anxiety
Anxiety often stems from rigid thought patterns and an overactive threat-detection system. Psilocybin works by:
1. Increasing Psychological Flexibility Research shows psilocybin acutely increases psychological flexibility, which directly mediates improvements in anxiety symptoms. This means you become better able to respond adaptively to challenging situations rather than defaulting to anxious reactions.
2. Reducing Amygdala Reactivity Psilocybin therapy has been shown to reduce amygdala activation during trauma processing and threatening stimuli, helping your brain respond less intensely to perceived threats.
3. Promoting Mindfulness and Present-Moment Awareness Studies demonstrate that psilocybin creates lasting increases in trait mindfulness for at least 3 months, helping you stay grounded in the present rather than catastrophizing about the future.
4. Facilitating Perspective Shifts The expanded state of consciousness allows you to observe your anxiety from a new vantage point, often leading to insights about its origins and nature.
Why Traditional Anxiety Treatment Often Falls Short
If you've tried conventional approaches like SSRIs, benzodiazepines, or talk therapy alone, you may have experienced:
Temporary relief that requires ongoing medication
Side effects including sexual dysfunction, emotional numbness, or dependency
Surface-level symptom management without addressing underlying patterns
Years of weekly therapy with only incremental progress
Psilocybin therapy offers a different path — one that research shows can create lasting changes in as few as 1-2 sessions.
What the Research Shows
Clinical studies demonstrate remarkable results for anxiety treatment:
Psilocybin-assisted therapy significantly reduced anxiety symptoms in multiple controlled trials.
End-of-life anxiety showed particularly strong responses, with 70-80% of participants experiencing meaningful relief that persisted long-term.
Anxiety may decrease and remained improved for up to one year after treatment.
Participants report reductions in both state (context dependent) and trait (personality) anxiety at 1 day, 2 weeks, and 6 months post-treatment.
Unlike traditional medications that require daily use, psilocybin therapy creates enduring changes in how your brain processes anxiety-provoking situations.
Who Benefits Most from Psilocybin Therapy for Anxiety?
This approach may be particularly helpful if you experience:
Generalized anxiety disorder that hasn't responded well to conventional treatment
Social anxiety that limits your connections and opportunities
Panic disorder with recurring panic attacks
Anxiety related to life transitions or existential concerns
Health anxiety or anxiety related to chronic illness
Treatment-resistant anxiety after trying multiple medications
Legal Access in Colorado
Thanks to Colorado's Natural Medicine Health Act, psilocybin therapy is legal when provided by licensed facilitators like those at Kykeon Wellness. You can access this breakthrough treatment without legal concerns in our fully compliant practice.
Get Started
If anxiety has been holding you back from the life you want to live, psilocybin-assisted therapy may offer a path forward.
Psychedelic Therapy for Anxiety FAQ
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Research shows that reductions in anxiety can persist for 6 months to a year or more after just 1-2 psilocybin sessions. In studies of patients with anxiety related to life-threatening illness, 46.4% experienced significant anxiety reduction that was sustained over time.
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Psilocybin therapy addresses root causes rather than managing symptoms. While medications like SSRIs or benzodiazepines require daily use and often produce side effects, psilocybin creates lasting neuroplastic changes in 1-2 sessions. Additionally, psilocybin therapy doesn't cause the sexual dysfunction, emotional blunting, or dependency risks associated with conventional anxiety medications. In fact, research comparing psilocybin to the SSRI escitalopram found that anxiety symptoms were higher in the escitalopram group than the psilocybin group.
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While specific research on panic disorder is limited, psilocybin therapy's effects on anxiety mechanisms suggest potential benefit. The treatment reduces amygdala reactivity, increases psychological flexibility, and promotes mindfulness — all relevant to panic disorder. We recommend discussing your specific panic symptoms during the consultation to determine if this approach is appropriate.
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Anxiety during the session is natural and can be therapeutically valuable when properly supported. Our preparation process teaches you how to work with difficult emotions, and your facilitator remains present throughout to provide guidance. Challenging moments often lead to the most significant breakthroughs. Research shows that when conducted in a supportive setting, serious adverse events are extremely rare.
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Most clients experience significant benefit from 1-2 medicine sessions along with preparation and integration therapy. The total treatment typically spans 6 weeks. Some individuals choose additional medicine sessions over time for continued growth, but the initial course often creates lasting change.
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Currently, psilocybin therapy is not covered by insurance as it's classified as a natural medicine service rather than a prescription pharmaceutical. However, the total cost of treatment is than 1 year of ongoing medication and weekly therapy. We offer payment plans and cost-effective group options to improve accessibility.
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Many medications are compatible with psilocybin therapy, but some require tapering before treatment. SSRIs can reduce psilocybin's effects, so we may recommend a supervised taper period. Benzodiazepines should typically be reduced or discontinued before treatment. During your consultation, we'll review all medications and create a safe plan tailored to your situation.
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Research shows promise for social anxiety treatment. Studies have found that psychedelic-assisted therapy, including MDMA for social anxiety in autistic adults, produced positive results. The perspective-shifting nature of psilocybin experiences often helps people recognize the constructed nature of social fears and develop greater self-compassion. However it it likely that some degree of exposure work will also be required for building greater social ease.
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Temporary increases in anxiety during integration are not uncommon and represent emotional material surfacing for processing. This is why integration therapy is crucial. We work with you during the weeks following your medicine session to process emerging content and reinforce positive changes.
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Psilocybin therapy has been studied safely in adults up to age 75, including many older adults with anxiety related to life-threatening illness. Age is not a contraindication as long as cardiovascular health is stable. We conduct thorough screening to ensure safety for all clients, and the research shows psilocybin is well-tolerated across age ranges.
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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
Andersen, K. A., Carhart-Harris, R., Nutt, D. J., & Erritzoe, D. (2020). Therapeutic effects of classic serotonergic psychedelics: A systematic review of modern-era clinical studies. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 143(101-18).
Carhart-Harris, R., Giribaldi, B., Watts, R., et al. (2021). Trial of psilocybin versus escitalopram for depression. New England Journal of Medicine, 384(15), 1402-1411.
Davis, A. K., Barrett, F. S., May, D. G., et al. (2020). Effects of psilocybin-assisted therapy on major depressive disorder: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Psychiatry.
Gasser, P., Holstein, D., Michel, Y., et al. (2014). Safety and efficacy of lysergic acid diethylamide-assisted psychotherapy for anxiety associated with life-threatening diseases. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 202(513-520).
Luoma, J. B., Chwyl, C., Bathje, G. J., Davis, A. K., & Lancelotta, R. (2020). A meta-analysis of placebo-controlled trials of psychedelic-assisted therapy. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 52(4), 289-299.
Søndergaard, A., Madsen, M. K., Ozenne, B., et al. (2022). Lasting increases in trait mindfulness after psilocybin correlate positively with the mystical-type experience in healthy individuals. Frontiers in Psychology, 13.
Weston, N. M., Gibbs, D., Bird, C. I., et al. (2020). Historic psychedelic drug trials and the treatment of anxiety disorders. Depression and Anxiety, 37(1261-1279).
Yu, C.-L., Yang, F.-C., Yang, S.-N., et al. (2021). Psilocybin for end-of-life anxiety symptoms: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychiatry Investigation, 18(10), 958-967.