UNM Academic Interest Group
The MAT-POD study is a collaboration of the UNM Psychedelic Assisted Therapy Research Program and MAPS Public Benefit Corporation (MAPS PBC)
Larry Leeman, MD, MPH, who treats expectant mothers experiencing opioid use disorder as medical director for The University of New Mexico’s Milagro Program, was dismayed to see that many of his patients eventually resumed opioid use due untreated post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Now, Leeman and his colleagues are launching a first-of-its-kind pilot study to see whether a regimen of trauma-focused therapy coupled with doses of MDMA – popularly known to rave participants as ecstasy or molly – can help new mothers permanently overcome their drug dependency.
What the MDMA-assisted therapy does is take away their fear for a short period of time. During that time, they have the ability to process the trauma that has led to their PTSD, and which have never been able to process.
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Opioid use disorder (OUD) has reached epidemic levels in the United States and is now common in pregnant and postpartum people. Psychological trauma is a common antecedent of addiction, and a trauma-informed approach is integral to substance misuse care. The high rates of childhood sexual abuse and rape are factors resulting in high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among pregnant and postpartum people.
The combined neurobiological effects of MDMA reduce defenses and fear of emotional injury, enhance communication and introspection. By increasing empathy and compassion these effects support a psychological state that enhances successful trauma processing during psychotherapy. MDMA has demonstrated benefit for treatment resistant PTSD in a series studies of MDMA-assisted therapy sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. OUD and PTSD are strongly associated comorbid disorders. The association between these conditions may be due to traumatic life events leading to PTSD which are “self-medicated” with the opioid, however the lifestyle of individuals with opioid use disorder may also predispose to an increased likelihood of traumatic events.
This study will be the first to examine the effect of MDMA assisted therapy for PTSD on the resumption of opioid use. Maternal PTSD and substance use disorders have been proposed as mechanisms of intergenerational trauma transmission through their effect on maternal infant bonding. The disruption of maternal attachment may lead to an increased risk of the child developing substance use disorder. MDMA assisted therapy for PTSD during pregnancy or after childbirth has the potential to decrease the likelihood of the infant developing a substance use disorder during adolescence or adulthood. Despite the strong association between PTSD and opioid use disorders prior studies of MDMA for PTSD have excluded individuals with substance use disorders
Study participants will be people with both PTSD and Opioid Use Disorder who have had childbirth between 6 and 12 months prior to entering the study and are on a medication for opioid use disorder (buprenorphine or methadone). We will have 15 participants in this pilot study all of whom received trauma focused preparation therapy before the three MDMA assisted therapy sessions and integration therapy after each session. Participants will be followed for six months after completion of MDMA-AT to assess the effect of the therapy on the resumption of opioid use.
Our study has received approval of the FDA as an Investigational New Drug (IND) study, MAPS PBC as a collaborator and the University of New Mexico Human Research Protection Office (HRPO). On June 23, 3023 the New Mexico Board of Pharmacy issued the UNM Research Program in Psychedelic Therapies a schedule one license allowing us to administer the MDMA -Assisted Therapies. US Drug Enforcement Administration Approval was be granted by August 2023. Our four therapists have all received training with MAPS PBC.
We anticipate starting the study In November 2023 and need $125,000 in funds to initiate the study. We started fundraising in March of 2023 and as of September 2023 we have raised over $60,000.
If you would like to receive periodic updates regarding our study, please complete this form.
Potential participants who believe they may meet the study criteria of having had childbirth within the last 12 months, have opioid use disorder on medications, and have posttraumatic stress disorder may confidentially send their contact information through this link and will be contacted by a member of the research team.
A note of gratitude: The psychedelic assisted therapy approach used by our UNM team has been guided by trainings and mentorship from the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), Psychedelic Research and Training Institute (PRATI), Polaris Insight Center, and the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). We are thankful for their guidance. We extend our homage and gratitude to the indigenous peoples who were the originators and holders of the sacred medicine traditions that inform this work today.