Interviews with 10 people given 5-MeO-DMT plus CBT for alcohol use disorder

The question

How do people with alcohol use disorder, and their therapists, describe the psychological changes that follow a single dose of 5-MeO-DMT given alongside cognitive behavioural therapy?

What they did

This was an interview study embedded in an early-stage (phase 2a) open-label trial in London, UK, running from March 2023 to July 2024. Ten people with moderate to severe alcohol use disorder (8 men, 2 women) received one intranasal dose of 5-MeO-DMT (BPL-003) plus psychological support and a structured relapse-prevention CBT programme. Participants were interviewed the day after dosing and again at the 12-week endpoint, and six therapists were interviewed once. Transcripts were analysed qualitatively rather than statistically.

What they found

The day after dosing, participants often described the experience with words like “reset”, “cleansing” or “rebirth”, along with emotional release and quick shifts in how they saw themselves. They reported more clarity about their relationship with alcohol, more emotional openness, and greater self-compassion and sense of connection. At 12 weeks, the 5 participants who had stayed abstinent described the session as a turning point and reported more mindfulness, mental flexibility, better sleep, more energy and improved relationships; 2 participants who had returned to moderated drinking also reported more self-awareness and less compulsive drinking. Therapists’ accounts matched these themes, including among participants who found the session difficult.

The fine print

This is a qualitative study of only 10 participants and 6 therapists, with no placebo group and no blinding, so expectation and enthusiasm about a new treatment could shape what people said. Outcomes were self-described experiences rather than measured drinking data, and the abstract does not report outcomes for all 10 participants at 12 weeks. Follow-up was 12 weeks, and this summary is based on the abstract alone.

What it means

Participants and therapists described meaningful shifts in self-perception and emotional regulation after a single 5-MeO-DMT session combined with CBT, but this small, uncontrolled study cannot show whether the drug itself caused lasting changes in drinking.

Evidence grade: Very low. A small qualitative interview sub-study inside an open-label trial with no control group, based on 10 participants’ and 6 therapists’ self-reported accounts.

This summary is based on the study’s published abstract.