Rafaelle Lancelotta
PhD, Social Work (The Ohio State University) · LPCC · she/they
I study what helps psychedelic-assisted therapy work beyond the drug itself: the relationships, support, and settings around it, and who the research leaves out.
- 26
- peer-reviewed journal articles, plus a book chapter
- 2
- psilocybin-assisted therapy clinical trials as study therapist
- 35+
- conference talks, panels, and guest lectures
- 10
- years on psychedelic research teams, since 2016
Four threads run through my work.
Relationship as a mechanism
How social support and the therapeutic alliance shape outcomes in psychedelic-assisted therapy. The focus of my dissertation.
02Clinical trials and the therapeutic container
Psilocybin trials for veterans with PTSD and for people with lung cancer and depression, plus the music, setting, and preparation that surround a dose.
03Equity, access, and liberation
LGBTQIA+, gender-expansive, and Spanish-speaking people who use psychedelics, and research methods that stop leaving them out.
045-MeO-DMT and naturalistic use
Some of the first epidemiological and prospective studies of 5-MeO-DMT, and a decade of harm reduction work alongside them.
Research experience, put to work.
Trial design and protocols
Preparation and integration structure, facilitator roles, measure selection, and the extrapharmacological details that protocols often leave vague.
Music for psychedelic sessions
Playlist design and validation for clinical trials, based on the method I developed and published for a psilocybin trial.
Inclusive research
Recruitment, measures, and community partnership for LGBTQIA+ and Spanish-speaking participants, including translation and validation.
Facilitator training
Curriculum and teaching for psilocybin-assisted therapy trainings, clinical teams, and graduate programs.
Ethics, power, and harm reduction
Advising programs and organizations on safety, consent, power dynamics, and harm reduction in psychedelic care.
Speaking
Keynotes, lectures, and panels for conferences, universities, and community audiences.
Recent work.
- Development and assessment of a psychedelic-assisted therapy music playlist for clinical trials: Theory, intentionality, and metricsLancelotta et al. · Journal of Psychedelic Studies · 2026
- Safety, feasibility, and preliminary clinical outcomes of psilocybin-assisted therapy for veterans with severe, treatment-resistant PTSD: An open-label pilot clinical trialArmstrong, Levin, Sepeda, Shaub, Hunter, Douglas, Lancelotta, & Davis · Communications Medicine · 2026
- Exploring self-reported effects of naturalistic psychedelic use among gender and sexual minorities: A quantitative survey studyLancelotta et al. · Journal of Psychoactive Drugs · 2025
- The therapeutic alliance between study participants and intervention facilitators is associated with acute effects and clinical outcomes in a psilocybin-assisted therapy trial for major depressive disorderLevin, Lancelotta, et al. · PLOS ONE · 2024
Building something in this field?
Research teams, training programs, and organizations reach out for protocol support, training, and talks. Tell me what you're working on.