MDMA could be the tool for fixing a bad relationship - News - Mixmag
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MDMA could be the tool for fixing a bad relationship

Yale University's Dr Brian Earp has written a research paper on its use in therapy

  • Dave Turner
  • 29 August 2017

MDMA's use as a means of therapy could branch out into relationships.

A recent research paper by Dr Brian Earp, titled Psychedelic Moral Enhancements, recalls MDMA being used in therapy for couples in the 1980s.

Earp, of Yale University, writes: "In the 1980s, before it was made illegal, MDMA - popularly known as “ecstasy” due to the feelings of euphoria it can induce - was being used as an aid in couple’s therapy by professional counselors.

"Writing in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs in 1998, George Greer and Requa Tolbert described a method of conducting MDMA-enhanced therapeutic sessions based on their experience with roughly 80 clients between 1980-1985."

Apparently 90 per cent of Greer and Tolbert's clients reported feeling more love towards their partners after undergoing therapy.

In terms of directly helping a relationship, Earp told the Metro that it could "restore a good relationship or even to help end a bad one because of its ability to create previously buried openness between couples."

He added: "It removes our self defense mechanisms. It removes this and frees the mind. It helps to explore territories of our own mind. The evidence is abundantly there."

Back in July, trials of MDMA being used to treat alcoholism were announced, while Phase II trials of it being used to treat PTSD have just been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration.

[Image: Maurice Mikkers]

Dave Turner is Mixmag's Digital News Editor, follow him on Twitter

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