Maria Beckman

Maria Beckman is a licensed clinical psychologist with a PhD in medical science. She works at the Centre for Psychiatry Research at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. Her research is mainly about the relationship between therapist and patient in-session behaviors and outcomes and quality assurance/implementation of evidence-based psychotherapy, including supervision & training of therapists. She is involved in several clinical trials utilizing psilocybin within a psychotherapeutic framework, including two Swedish studies on its use for depression (PSIPET and CAPSI, PI Johan Lundberg), one European trial investigating its effects on psychological distress in palliative care (PsyPal, PI Robert Schoevers), an upcoming Danish trial focused on the psychotherapeutic framework in treatment of depression (PSISET, PI Dea Siggaard Stenbæk), and an upcoming study at Linköping University exploring its potential for alleviating grief (PI Rebecca Böhme).

The Therapeutic Component of the PSIPET and CAPSI Trials

Major depressive disorder is a prevalent psychiatric condition. Recent research suggests that psilocybin may have potential as an effective treatment. Current clinical trials investigating psilocybin typically incorporate a model that includes psychotherapeutic support alongside dosing, which often involves multiple preparation and integration sessions. However, the specific nature of the required support, including the essential skills and qualifications of the professionals responsible for delivering it, remains unclear. PSIPET is a Swedish double-blind, randomized (1:1), placebo-controlled phase II trial comparing 25mg psilocybin and psychotherapeutic support with active placebo (100mg niacin) and psychotherapeutic support in 34 patients with major depression. CAPSI is Swedish ongoing multicenter, double-blind, randomized (2:1) placebo-controlled phase II trial comparing 25mg psilocybin and psychotherapeutic support with an active placebo (1mg psilocybin) and psychotherapeutic support in 100 patients with cancer related depression. This brief presentation provides an overview of the work with the psychotherapeutic support component in these trials. The presentation includes objective assessments of session recordings from PSIPET, semi-structured interviews on the experiences of the in-session therapeutic activities with PSIPET participants from both groups and the clinical psychologists who conducted the treatment. Subjective and objective evaluations of the CAPSI facilitator training program will also be presented.