ACS pharmacology & translational scienceOct 16, 2025

Lack of Research and Expert Disagreement on Choosing Music for Psychedelic Therapy

Psychedelic Science Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗OA ↗

Updated Jun 28, 2026

Abstract

Essence

This review finds that music is considered central to psychedelic-assisted therapy, but there is still little solid evidence on what music should be used.

Evidence

This paper reviews the published literature on music selection for psychedelic-assisted therapy and notes that only three empirical studies have directly tested which music may best support treatment.

Caveat

With only three direct empirical studies and important limitations and disagreement across recommendations, the field still lacks reliable evidence-based guidance.

Simplified

Prior research has determined that music plays a central role in psychedelic assisted therapy (PAT). While there is a general consensus of the importance of music during PAT, there are only three empirical studies published to date that directly investigate which type of music might best support PAT. Importantly, no review to date has critically analyzed these studies and identified the gaps. Careful examination reveals these studies have important limitations and the findings lack alignment with other publications and existing recommendations. Additionally, our understanding of guidelines seems to be not much different from when this research started in 1970. This paper summarizes the common impacts of music during PAT, reviews what we know about music selection and guidelines for PAT, and makes suggestions of priorities for future research.