Psychedelische oder substanzunterstützte Therapie findet in einem definierten Setting statt. Teil dieses Settings ist Musik, deren Einsatz bewusst der jeweiligen Situation während der Sitzung angepasst wird. Das heißt, es wird kein vorher festgelegtes Musik-„Set“ gespielt, sondern die Musik wird je nach Bedarf ausgewählt. Weil das unmittelbar im Moment während der Sitzung passieren muss, sind im Voraus zusammengestellte, sorgfältig kuratierte Playlists unerlässlich. Die folgenden Playlists des Institute for Substance-Assisted Therapy, hosted on Spotify, give an impression of the immense possibilities that the use of music brings.

Several options for classifying music are conceivable. One can orient oneself to the phases of a session, such as ascent or plateau. It is also helpful to classify music according to emotions or other states.

Spotify shows a number of playlists, for example by Mendel Kaelen, who has also published about music in this context, or from the research at Johns Hopkins University on psychedelic therapy. However, most are music sets rather than playlists. And above all, I always have the feeling that most of these tracks are more like meditative background music. They express wideness, sometimes they are even touching the heart. That's nice and sometimes appropriate.

But you can work with a far wider range of variation. Especially in group settings, music can fulfill many more functions. The prerequisite is that you respond very specifically to what is happening in the room, which also can change within minutes.

For example, music can provide a sense of privacy or ensure that one participant's process does not distract the others too much. It can also provide additional energy when a process involves expressing anger (an example from a recent session: “Conga Fury” by Juno Reactor). Or it can be almost like a hug; in the same session, for example, I deliberately chose “Calling All Angels” by k.d.lang, and the participant I played it for later said that it was exactly what she needed at that moment. Music can also be used to try to get stagnant energies in the room moving, or to fulfill needs. Once, I had the feeling that the whole group needed the presence of a mother—the obvious solution was to play songs with motherly-sounding female voices.

Technical note: the playlists here on the website update automatically when the stored Spotify playlists change, but it may take a while. In addition, only the first 100 tracks of each playlist are displayed here on the website, and the tracks are only played for 30 seconds each. Clicking on the Spotify icon in the top right corner or on the three horizontal dots takes you directly to the playlist in Spotify.