The study includes 5 sessions in total (non-consecutive days), the first three of which are in person at UCL (1-19 Torrington Place).

Session 1 (UCL): You will have a health assessment, complete some questionnaires and two qualitative interviews, and attend an orientation session to prepare you for the MDMA experience.

Sessions 2 and 3 (UCL): You will be administered 80-120 mg of MDMA orally, a dose commonly employed in many clinical trials and in studies with healthy volunteers.

Sessions 4 and 5 (remote): You will take part in qualitative interviews and psychological questionnaires.

Finally, you will be invited to complete a remote journalling task: this should take no longer than 5 minutes per day, and usually last for about two weeks.

Session 1 (UCL) : 4-5 hours, in person.

Sessions 2 and 3 (UCL): 7 hours, in person.

Session 4 (remote): 3 hours, remote.

Session 5 (remote): 45 minutes, remote.

Journalling (remote): 2-5 minutes daily for 2-3 weeks.

There is good evidence that MDMA is safe, both from recent clinical trials and many studies with healthy volunteers. Australia now permits limited prescribing of MDMA for people with post-traumatic stress disorder. The MDMA used in this study is sourced from an approved pharmaceutical company (PharmAla Biotech) that adheres to the highest standards of manufacturing practices. The administration of MDMA will be closely monitored by our team of healthcare professionals and will take place at the UCL Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit, which holds a Home Office licence permitting the legal use of MDMA for research under controlled conditions.

Shortly after being administered MDMA, individuals may experience a range of effects, including:

• Increased feelings of empathy and bonding.
• Feelings of happiness or contentment.
• Decreased fear and anxiety.
• Enhanced appreciation of music and visual stimuli.
• Focused attention or introspection.
• Heightened emotional sensitivity.

Please note that individual experiences with MDMA can vary, and not all participants will experience all of the effects listed above. Note that, unlike classic psychedelics, MDMA does not usually produce pronounced shifts in perception and perspective.

MDMA is generally considered safe when administered in controlled settings. In a review of the literature on healthy participants, no serious adverse effects were reported. Nonetheless, some unexpected effects may occur. These can include an increasein blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature, as well as bruxism. Other common side effects include muscle tightness, sweating, dry mouth, decreased appetite, feeling nauseous, feeling unusually cold, restlessness, jitteriness, sadness, irritability, nervousness, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and heightened mental arousal or exhaustion in the hours after the main drug effects have stopped. You will be provided with written information about MDMA's safety profile a potensial side effects, and there will be several opportunities to discuss these with the research team ahead of you deciding to take part.

There will be a nominal compensation of £450 for your time, based on the university recommended rate for psychological studies. While there will be no other benefit for you individually, you will contribute to a study that will produce important findings in the field of psychotherapy.

You can access the online screening here to see if you eligible. If you are, a researcher in the team will contact you shortly.