Healing in Connection: The Evolution of MDMA-Assisted Group Therapy for PTSD

This article recaps the Psychedelic Support webinar “MDMA-Assisted Group Therapy for PTSD,” presented by Christopher Stauffer, MD — psychiatrist, researcher, and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU).

In this session, Dr Stauffer explored how MDMA-assisted therapy, traditionally delivered one-on-one, can be expanded into a group format that leverages connection, shared meaning, and mutual support as central elements of healing. He also shared emerging clinical findings from his research at the Portland VA Medical Center and discussed implications for trauma-affected populations, particularly veterans.

🎥 Watch the Webinar Replay: MDMA-Assisted Group Therapy for PTSD with Christopher Stauffer, MD

Rethinking Trauma and Healing Through Connection

For decades, trauma has often been treated as a solitary wound — something to be processed individually, in private, with a clinician. Dr Stauffer invites us to rethink that framework.

“Trauma happens in relationship,” he explained. “So, it makes sense that healing can happen in relationship too.”

In MDMA-assisted group therapy, the medicine becomes a catalyst not only for introspection but for connection. Participants experience both their own inner material and the presence of others moving through similar processes. This relational dynamic can awaken empathy, trust, and a sense of belonging — capacities often eroded by trauma itself.

Dr Stauffer described this approach as both innovative and ancient: the use of community, ritual, and shared vulnerability to restore wholeness.

The Roots of MDMA-Assisted Group Therapy

Dr Stauffer’s research at OHSU and the Portland VA explores how MDMA-assisted psychotherapy might be adapted for group formats, focusing on veterans living with PTSD.

His background blends psychodynamic and relational therapy with mindfulness, somatic awareness, and community-based approaches — a foundation that informs his interest in the group process as a vehicle for healing.

This model builds on findings from MAPS-sponsored MDMA trials, which consistently show that MDMA increases feelings of trust, connection, and openness — essential ingredients for therapeutic alliance. In a group, those same effects amplify the collective container. Participants often report that witnessing others’ healing journeys deepens their own.

Inside the Group Model

So what does MDMA-assisted group therapy look like in practice? Dr Stauffer outlined a structured yet flexible framework designed to balance safety, autonomy, and cohesion.

The pilot study included groups of four to six participants, supported by two co-facilitators, with a treatment arc unfolding across several stages:

• Preparation sessions — building trust, setting intentions, and creating group agreements.
• MDMA sessions — held in a shared space, where participants journey inward while remaining aware of the group’s collective presence.
• Integration sessions — sharing and grounding experiences through dialogue, art, or somatic practice.

Facilitators maintain both individual and group awareness, holding emotional safety while allowing organic interaction.

“It’s not about processing each person’s story in the moment,” Dr Stauffer said. “It’s about feeling witnessed, held, and connected as the medicine works through the group field.”

The Power of Witnessing

One of the most striking themes to emerge from Dr Stauffer’s work is mutual witnessing — the profound healing that occurs when people are seen in their vulnerability without judgment.

Veterans in the study reported that hearing others speak their truth helped normalize their own experiences. Many described a sense of kinship that felt deeper than years of therapy.

MDMA’s empathogenic effects seem to amplify this quality of presence. Participants often express compassion not only toward others but toward themselves — a key marker of trauma resolution.

“The medicine helps us remember that we’re not broken,” Dr Stauffer reflected. “It reconnects us with our innate capacity for relationship.”

What the Research Shows

Preliminary findings from the Portland VA study show promising outcomes. Participants demonstrated significant reductions in PTSD symptom severity, alongside improvements in emotional regulation and social functioning.

Beyond quantitative results, qualitative interviews revealed transformations that extended beyond the therapy room: improved communication with family, renewed purpose, and reduced isolation.

Dr Stauffer emphasized that group MDMA therapy is not about lowering costs or scaling faster — though those may be benefits. The motivation is fundamentally therapeutic: to integrate the social dimension of healing.

“Connection itself is medicine,” he said. “When combined with MDMA’s neurobiological and psychological effects, it can open pathways that individual therapy alone might not reach.”

“Healing in isolation only goes so far. When we heal together, we remind each other that belonging is part of being human.”

— Chris Stauffer, MD

Implications for Practitioners

For clinicians and facilitators, this work calls for a shift in mindset. The therapist’s role becomes less about directing and more about holding a dynamic relational field.

Dr Stauffer noted that practitioners must cultivate comfort with uncertainty, humility, and trust in the group process. It’s about creating conditions for emergence rather than control.

The model also underscores the importance of therapist embodiment: how facilitators regulate their own nervous systems, model presence, and support collective emotional safety.

While this format requires advanced training and strong ethics, it holds tremendous potential — not only for trauma treatment but for reimagining how psychedelic care can foster community resilience.

From Clinical Trials to Real-World Healing

Dr Stauffer acknowledged the practical and regulatory hurdles still ahead. MDMA remains a controlled substance, and group delivery introduces complex safety and consent considerations. But as the field matures, such models could help address access barriers while enriching therapeutic depth.

He also stressed the importance of integration communities — spaces where the relational healing that begins in the group can continue afterward. Integration becomes both personal and collective: a way of re-entering the world with new awareness of interconnection.

“Healing in isolation only goes so far,” he said. “When we heal together, we remind each other that belonging is part of being human.”

Closing Reflection

Dr Stauffer’s work invites us to expand our vision of what psychedelic therapy can be. By bringing MDMA into a group context, he re-centers connection as the core medicine — reminding us that healing is both an inner and shared experience.

In a world marked by fragmentation, this approach offers a simple but radical truth: we heal best when we heal together.

Watch the full replay: https://youtu.be/nYbkUZ6w5Lg

About Christopher Stauffer, MD

Chris Stauffer, MD, is dual board-certified in Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine. He serves as Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) and Director of the Social Neuroscience & Psychotherapy Lab at the Portland VA Medical Center.

Clinically, he specializes in the treatment of substance use disorders and PTSD. His research focuses on combining social psychopharmacology (e.g., oxytocin, MDMA, psilocybin) with psychotherapy to treat PTSD and addiction, including several group therapy trials.

Dr Stauffer was lead therapist for a MAPS Phase 3 trial of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD and co-led a psilocybin study for psychological distress in long-term HIV/AIDS survivors at UCSF.

He is an MDMA-assisted therapy supervisor, trainer, and educator, and a founding member of the Open Psychedelic Evaluation Nexus. He is currently conducting observational research on Oregon’s psilocybin services and consults for federal agencies on psychedelic therapy.

Find him at ChrisStaufferMD.com and on LinkedIn.

Resources from the Webinar

🌐 Connect with Chris Stauffer:

• Connect with Dr Stauffer on LinkedIn
• Check out his website at chrisstauffermd.com
• Check out the Open Psychedelic Evaluation Nexus
• Find out more about the Portland VA Medical Center

📚 Books & Links From the Webinar:

• American Group Psychotherapy Association
• Psilocybin Group Therapy Publication: Psilocybin-Assisted Group Therapy for Demoralized Older Long-Term AIDS Survivor Men: An Open-Label Safety and Feasibility Pilot Study
• Peter Gasser Publication: Using a MDMA- and LSD-Group Therapy Model in Clinical Practice in Switzerland and Highlighting the Treatment of Trauma-Related Disorders
• Irvin Yalom’s Book: The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy
• ClinicalTrials.gov Record: Group MDMA-therapy for Veterans With PTSD (Group-MVP)

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