A Brief History of Psychedelic Therapy: From Ancient Ritual to Modern Medicine

The story of psychedelic therapy is one of the most dramatic arcs in the history of medicine — a journey from ancient sacred practice to modern clinical science, interrupted by decades of political suppression and now experiencing a remarkable renaissance. Understanding this history provides essential context for the moment we’re in.

Ancient Roots

The use of psilocybin-containing mushrooms in ceremonial and healing contexts predates recorded history. Archaeological evidence suggests ritual use dating back thousands of years across Mesoamerica, with the Mazatec people of Oaxaca, Mexico maintaining a particularly well-documented tradition of using what they called teonanácatl — “flesh of the gods” — for healing, divination, and spiritual communion.

When Spanish colonizers encountered these practices in the 16th century, they suppressed them as heresy. The traditions survived underground for centuries, practiced quietly in rural indigenous communities.

The Western Discovery

In 1955, R. Gordon Wasson, a New York banker and amateur mycologist, participated in a Mazatec mushroom ceremony led by the curandera María Sabina — and subsequently published his account in Life magazine in 1957. The article ignited Western interest in psilocybin and brought the compound to the attention of the scientific establishment.

Albert Hofmann — the Swiss chemist who had already synthesized LSD in 1938 — isolated and synthesized psilocybin in 1958, making it available for systematic research. By the early 1960s, hundreds of studies were underway at universities across the United States and Europe.

The First Wave of Research

The early research era, roughly 1960–1970, was remarkably productive. Studies explored psilocybin and LSD for alcoholism, depression, anxiety in terminal illness, and personality change. Some of the findings were striking: a landmark study at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center found that psychedelic-assisted therapy produced significant improvements in alcoholism outcomes. Research with terminal cancer patients showed dramatic reductions in existential anxiety.

However, this era was also marked by methodological inconsistency and, in some cases, recklessness. Timothy Leary’s Harvard Psilocybin Project began as legitimate research but devolved into advocacy that blurred the line between science and counterculture. The association of psychedelics with the anti-war movement and social upheaval made them political targets.

The Shutdown

In 1970, the Controlled Substances Act classified psilocybin, LSD, and other psychedelics as Schedule I substances — the most restrictive category, defined as having “no currently accepted medical use” and “a high potential for abuse.” Virtually all research ceased overnight. Funding dried up, institutional review boards refused proposals, and a generation of promising clinical data was effectively buried.

For nearly three decades, psychedelic therapy research was almost entirely dormant in the United States.

The Renaissance Begins

The modern renaissance can be traced to a small group of scientists who kept the flame alive. Rick Doblin founded the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) in 1986, beginning the long bureaucratic work of rebuilding a regulatory pathway for psychedelic research.

The pivotal moment came in 2006, when Roland Griffiths at Johns Hopkins published a rigorous, double-blind study demonstrating that psilocybin could occasion mystical-type experiences with lasting positive effects in healthy volunteers. Published in Psychopharmacology, the study met the methodological standards that the 1960s research often lacked. It proved that rigorous psychedelic research was possible — and the results were worth pursuing.

The Modern Evidence Base

Following Griffiths’ proof-of-concept, research accelerated rapidly. Key milestones include the 2016 landmark trials at Johns Hopkins and NYU demonstrating psilocybin’s profound effects on cancer-related anxiety and depression, the 2021 and 2022 New England Journal of Medicine publications on psilocybin for depression, and the 2024 living systematic review encompassing 15 randomized controlled trials.

The FDA granted psilocybin “breakthrough therapy” designation for treatment-resistant depression in 2018 and for major depressive disorder in 2019 — a status reserved for treatments that may represent substantial improvements over existing therapies. Phase 3 trials are now underway.

Legal Access

Oregon became the first state to legalize regulated psilocybin therapy in 2020. Colorado followed in 2022 with Proposition 122, the Natural Medicine Health Act, which created a framework for licensed healing centers and trained facilitators. Both programs are now operational, representing the first legal, non-research access to psilocybin therapy in the United States.

Where We Are Now

We’re in a remarkable moment — a convergence of robust clinical evidence, growing institutional acceptance, legal access in multiple states, and a cultural shift toward taking psychedelic therapy seriously. The field isn’t without challenges: questions about equity, cultural sensitivity toward indigenous traditions, regulatory frameworks, and insurance coverage remain unresolved.

But the trajectory is clear. What began as ancient ceremony, was rediscovered by Western science, shut down by politics, and revived by a handful of persistent researchers has become one of the most promising frontiers in mental health treatment.

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See also: the science behind psilocybin therapy or our resource directory for further reading.