ItemArticle

Queer healing in altered states: A critical interpretive synthesis of psychedelic therapy inqueer and non-binary individuals

Title
Queer healing in altered states: A critical interpretive synthesis of psychedelic therapy inqueer and non-binary individuals
Creator
David, Sonia; Sadasivan, Anupama
Description
As psychedelic-assisted therapies gain prominence, queer and non-binary individuals remain largely marginalized within this emerging field. This Critical Interpretive Synthesis (CIS) reviews 44 empirical studies (20142024) to explore how queer experiences are represented and erased in psychedelic research. Guided by queer theory, intersectionality, and post-psychiatry frameworks, the synthesis reveals a dominant biomedical paradigm, 36.7% of studies where clinical trials often lack disaggregated data on gender-diverse participants or fail to recruit them adequately due to structural barriers or oversight. In contrast, qualitative studies (32.7%) emphasized identity affirmation, somatic healing, and community care. Yet, only 10.2% of research meaningfully addressed intersecting oppressions. Three core themes emerged: clinical exclusion and epistemic violence, embodied healing through altered states, and grassroots queer psychedelic practices. The findings call for queer-affirming, intersectional, and decolonial methodologies that center lived experience and politicized healing. Reimagining psychedelic science through justice-based lenses is vital to ensuring these therapies serve as pathways to collective liberation rather than reinforce systemic marginalization. 2025 The Author(s). Open Access statement. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium for non-commercial purposes, provided the original author and source are credited, a link to the CC License is provided, and changes if any are indicated.
Source
Journal of Psychedelic Studies;
Date
01-01-2025
Publisher
Akademiai Kiado ZRt.
Subject
altered states of consciousness; epistemic justice; intersectionality; psychedelic therapy; queer mental health
Coverage
David S., Department of Psychology, JAIN (Deemed-to-be University), Bangalore, India; Sadasivan A., School of Psychological Sciences, CHRIST University, Bangalore, India
Rights
All Open Access; Gold Open Access
Relation
ISSN: 25599283;
Format
online
Language
English
Type
Article

Citation

David, Sonia; Sadasivan, Anupama, “Queer healing in altered states: A critical interpretive synthesis of psychedelic therapy inqueer and non-binary individuals,” CHRIST (Deemed To Be University) Institutional Repository, accessed June 18, 2026, https://archives.christuniversity.in/items/show/23337.

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