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Review
. 2022 Oct;20(4):358-367.
doi: 10.1176/appi.focus.20220056. Epub 2022 Oct 25.

MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality Disorder

Jenna M Traynor  1 , Daniel E Roberts  1 , Stephen Ross  1 , Richard Zeifman  1 , Lois Choi-Kain  1
Affiliations
Review

MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality Disorder

Jenna M Traynor et al. Focus (Am Psychiatr Publ). 2022 Oct.

Abstract

Borderline personality disorder is a complex psychiatric disorder with limited treatment options that are associated with large heterogeneity in treatment response and high rates of dropout. New or complementary treatments for borderline personality disorder are needed that may be able to bolster treatment outcomes. In this review, the authors comment on the plausibility for research on 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) used in conjunction with psychotherapy for borderline personality disorder (i.e., MDMA-assisted psychotherapy [MDMA-AP]). On the basis of the promise of MDMA-AP in treating disorders overlapping with borderline personality disorder (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder), the authors speculate on initial treatment targets and hypothesized mechanisms of change that are grounded in prior literature and theory. Initial considerations for designing MDMA-AP clinical trials to investigate the safety, feasibility, and preliminary effects of MDMA-AP for borderline personality disorder are also presented.

Keywords: Borderline personality disorder; Drug treatment/psychopharmacology; MDMA-assisted psychotherapy; clinical trials; psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Dr. Traynor is a coinvestigator on a Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)-funded clinical trial of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted psychotherapy; she has also received compensation as an independent contractor for the role of study therapist on a MAPS-funded clinical trial of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. Dr. Roberts has received compensation as an independent contractor for his role as an assistant trainer from Fluence. Dr. Ross is a coinvestigator on the MAPS MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder phase 3 trials; he also reports research support from Usona and Reset Pharmaceuticals related to psilocybin research, two patents with Reset, and funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Mr. Zeifman has received compensation as an independent contractor for the role of study therapist on a MAPS-funded clinical trial of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. Dr. Choi-Kain receives book royalties from Springer Publishing and the American Psychiatric Association. None of the aforementioned organizations were involved in the design, execution, interpretation, or communication of findings of this publication.

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