A complex intervention perspective on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy: the role of music

Music is played in almost every psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) session and is one of the top contextual factors that trials should report. This narrative review examines how music acts on the brain, how it is used in PAP, and why it is difficult to study. We argue that PAP is a complex intervention in which music shapes the drug experience, and that standardization should apply to function rather than form.

No funding was received for this research. These authors contributed equally: Pedro Starzynski Bacchi, Sabrina Lopes Barbosa. Laboratory of Psychiatric Neuroimaging (LIM-21), Department and Institute of Psychiatry, Hospital das Clínicas, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil Sabrina Lopes Barbosa, José Vitor Guedes Tomazela & Pedro Spadoni Lemes Department of Psychiatry, Queen’s University School of Medicine, Kingston, ON, Canada Centre for Psychedelics Health and Research at Providence Care, Kingston, ON, Canada Correspondence to Pedro Starzynski Bacchi.

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To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. Bacchi, P.S., Barbosa, S.L., Tomazela, J.V.G. et al. A complex intervention perspective on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy: the role of music. npj Mental Health Res (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44184-026-00243-0 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44184-026-00243-0