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. 2025 Dec;16(1):2582303.
doi: 10.1080/20008066.2025.2582303. Epub 2025 Nov 12.

Psychedelics and collective trauma: multisystemic resilience and recovery pathways among Nova festival survivors - a qualitative study

Guy Simon  1   2   3 , Maya Gal-Birman  2   3 , Nir Tadmor  2   3 , Demian Halperin  2   3   4 , Ziv Ben-Zion  5   6
Affiliations

Psychedelics and collective trauma: multisystemic resilience and recovery pathways among Nova festival survivors - a qualitative study

Guy Simon et al. Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2025 Dec.

Abstract
in English, Spanish

Objective: On 7 October 2023, a mass-casualty attack at the Nova festival in Israel created an unprecedented convergence of collective trauma and altered states of consciousness. Many survivors were under the influence of psychedelics or other psychoactive substances at the time of the attack. This study explored how survivors made sense of and navigated recovery, with a focus on relational, community, and cultural processes.Method: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 45 Israeli survivors (25 male, 20 female), recruited through a nonprofit organization that provides trauma support. All participants had been under the influence of at least one psychoactive substance during the attack and were engaged in psychological support afterward. Data were analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clarke [2019]. Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 11(4), 589-597) with a phenomenological orientation to lived experience. Reflexivity was supported by journaling, peer debriefing, and a positionality statement.Results: Two interrelated recovery pathways emerged from survivors' narratives: (1) Interpersonal and Therapeutic Supports (psychotherapy, therapeutic alliance, and peer solidarity) and (2) Collective Healing Practices (grassroots initiatives, community rituals, and culturally meaningful commemorations).Conclusions: Recovery from the Nova attack appears to be rooted in multisystemic and culturally significant contexts. In fact, psychedelic experiences became part of survivors' trauma stories not in isolation but when supported by therapeutic, peer, and community frameworks. These findings underscore the importance of culturally sensitive, system-level approaches to collective trauma recovery and emphasize the need for trauma services that incorporate community-led care and nonjudgmental engagement with altered states of consciousness.

Objetivo: El 7 de octubre de 2023, un ataque con múltiples víctimas en el Festival Nova, en Israel, generó una convergencia sin precedentes entre trauma colectivo y estados alterados de conciencia. Muchos sobrevivientes se encontraban bajo los efectos de psicodélicos u otras sustancias psicoactivas al momento del ataque. Este estudio exploró cómo los sobrevivientes dieron sentido a su experiencia y afrontaron la recuperación, con especial énfasis en los procesos relacionales, comunitarios y culturales.

Método: Se realizaron entrevistas semiestructuradas con 45 sobrevivientes israelíes (25 hombres y 20 mujeres), reclutados a través de una organización sin fines de lucro de apoyo a víctimas de trauma. Todos los participantes habían estado bajo la influencia de al menos una sustancia psicoactiva durante el ataque y recibieron apoyo psicológico posterior. Los datos se analizaron mediante Análisis Temático Reflexivo (Braun y Clarke, 2019) con una orientación fenomenológica centrada en la experiencia vivida. La reflexividad se aseguró mediante el uso de diarios, sesiones de retroalimentación entre pares y una declaración de posicionamiento del equipo investigador.

Resultados: De los relatos de los sobrevivientes emergieron dos trayectorias interrelacionadas de recuperación: (1) apoyos relacionales —alianzas terapéuticas que validaron las experiencias en estados alterados y la solidaridad entre pares que brindó seguridad afectiva—; y (2) prácticas de sanación colectiva —retiros comunitarios, iniciativas terapéuticas de base y rituales que resignificaron las experiencias traumáticas dentro de marcos culturales con sentido.

Conclusiones: La recuperación tras el ataque del Festival Nova se desarrolló dentro de contextos multisistémicos y culturalmente significativos. Las experiencias psicodélicas pasaron a formar parte de las narrativas traumáticas de los sobrevivientes, no de manera aislada, sino integradas en marcos terapéuticos, de pares y comunitarios de apoyo. Estos hallazgos subrayan la importancia de intervenciones sistémicas culturalmente sensibles para la recuperación de traumas colectivos, así como la necesidad de servicios de trauma que integren el cuidado comunitario y una aproximación no juzgadora hacia los estados alterados de conciencia.

Keywords: Multisystemic resilience; Resiliencia multisistémica; collective trauma; community healing; psicodélicos; psychedelic-informed therapy; psychedelics; sanación comunitaria; trauma colectivo.

Plain language summary

Recovery after the Nova attack unfolded through multisystemic processes rather than individual coping alone, with Interpersonal and Therapeutic Supports (psychotherapy, therapeutic alliance, and peer solidarity) and Collective Healing Practices (grassroots initiatives, community rituals, and culturally meaningful commemorations) being central to adaptation.Psychedelic experiences were integrated, not isolated; they gained therapeutic meaning when held within supportive, culturally resonant contexts.Implications: trauma services should engage peer/community resources and adopt non-judgmental, psychedelic-informed practices where relevant.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

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