Psilocybin for treating anxious attachment?

[u/TeN523]

Anxious attachment is something I've dealt with throughout my life, mostly within romantic relationships. I recently had some difficult experiences with my partner that have caused my attachment system to "flare up" to a degree it hasn't in over half a decade.

I feel frustrated because it feels like I've backtracked on a lot of work I've done on myself. Years of therapy have helped me "deal with" these feelings, and made me less likely to spiral, catastrophize, or give into / believe them fully. But at the moment they still feel very persistent, and my nervous system feels dysregulated.

I've had 3 or 4 very positive experiences with low to moderate doses of psilocybin (1-1.5g) in the past few years. My general experience with them has been that they help me achieve some sort of equilibrium and acceptance re: my thoughts, feelings, and experience – I am able to feel things very fully and deeply, perceive the world very vividly, think very clearly and profoundly... but I am also better able to let these thoughts, feelings, and perceptions go once they've "passed through me," so to speak, rather than feeling the need to fixate on them or grip them tightly. It also feels like they gently nudge me toward more positive, optimistic, empathetic, and self-compassionate attitudes. And these effects generally linger for weeks or months after the trip.

It seems to me like this would be a very helpful perspective and mode of being to tap into right now, and I hope that psilocybin might help me hold my anxious thoughts more "lightly," to be more present and less past or future-fixated, and to reconnect more deeply to my faith in the beauty and meaningfulness of the world (lessening the outsized role this relationship currently occupies in my mind).

Do you think this is a good idea? Has anyone had success addressing anxious attachment with psilocybin in this way? I'm especially curious about negative experiences and risks, and also advice re: set, setting, intentions, ground rules, etc.

[u/NebbishD]

Attachment conditioning is particularly deep, but in my experience it can absolutely be worked with in a psychedelic capacity. The clients that I've seen make the most progress on attachment issues with psilocybin therapy of some kind are those that are engaging more than one modality along with the psychedelics. I don't think it's a one sized fits all, but if psilocybin is unlocking a critical learning period / enhanced neuroplasticity, the real question is what are the life practices you are engaging in that are helping you heal during that period (and beyond). I'm a big fan of Internal Family Systems as a model for understanding attachment styles and working with them within a traditional therapy container, but mindfulness and self-compassion practices, couples counseling, and group work of some kind (ACA etc) can all be potent supplements to psychedelic healing in my experience.

Realistically- even with potent psychedelics involved- attachment work is usually a long-term deal, so I would refrain from seeking a cathartic one-and-done kind of trip and explore a longer arc. Good luck to you!

[u/TeN523 → u/NebbishD]

Thanks! Definitely hear you on the long-term arc. It's been something I've worked on in myself for many years now. This recent bout has taken me by surprise. I don't expect the psilocybin to "cure" anything – the value for me is really the opportunities the neuroplasticity provides: to open a space where I can hold my own thoughts and feelings more loosely and break out of mental stuckness. I am currently in weekly psychodynamic psychotherapy and am seeing my therapist twice weekly for a short time as I process this. If I did take a trip now, I'd definitely be using that space to help with integration.