Table 2 Qualitative themes, prevalence, characteristics and quotes.
From: Recalled childhood trauma and post-psychedelic trajectories of change in a mixed-methods study
Theme | Prevalence | Key Characteristics | Representative Quotes |
|---|---|---|---|
1. resurfacing and re-experiencing of apparent childhood trauma | 7/18 participants (~ 39%) | • Seeing scenes from past trauma • Feeling of reliving the trauma • High emotional intensity • Recovery of suppressed memories • Amplification of known trauma | “The ayahuasca, just the entire trip, was like, yeah… your father sexually abused you. It was just like 100%. It put my entire life in context […] Every single thing made sense after that.” (P5) “The image was there, and the knowing was just there.” (P4) “I felt like I’d become that child again. I’m about to be punished.” (P2) |
2. symbolic or somatic re-embodiment of trauma | 4/18 participants (~ 22%) | • Intense bodily sensations • Strong emotional reactions • Symbolic imagery • Non-literal representation of trauma • Physical manifestations | “It really kind of replicated that trauma experience of like shit goes very bad, very sideways. I barely survived it, and now I’m back.” (P1) “I felt like I was being pulled down these rabbit holes –fast. I would come upon a scene, and then I’d be pulled backwards out again and down the next one.” (P10) |
3.Fragmentation and confusion | ~ 9/18 participants (~ 50%) | • Chaotic emergence of trauma content • Difficulty making sense of experience • Uncertainty about memory authenticity • Disorientation during and after • Nonlinear trauma processing | “I can’t trust it. I don’t know if that was real… The challenging thing is, like, that’s a horrible thing to not know if it’s real or not.” (P3) “The next day, I continued to have these weird muscle spasms… my legs started clamping, doing this involuntarily.” (P15) |
4. post-experience change from therapeutic integration to re-traumatization | All participants | Positive change (~ 8–9/18): • Healing • Personal growth • Resolution of trauma • Life improvements Negative change (~ 4–5/18): • Increased trauma symptoms • Destabilization • Re-traumatization Mixed change (~ 4–5/18): • Both benefits and harms | Positive: “I’m a much better person because of it.” (P9) Negative: “I didn’t cope well after it… I had a lot of problems with sleep, and I was having flashbacks.” (P7) Mixed: “Overall, it was a very healing experience. But… not having closure about it was harmful for me and my family.” (P3) |
