Advisor(s)

Peter Hendricks

Committee Member(s)

Christopher Henrich
David Yaden
J Copes
Jarred Younger

Document Type

Dissertation

Date of Award

6-1-2026

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

School

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Abstract

Somatic phenomena, including shaking, spontaneous movement, vocalization, and purging, are commonly reported during psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT). However, despite their perceived importance to some users, their role in the therapeutic process has remained largely unexamined. This mixed-methods study provides the first systematic investigation of these experiences during therapeutic psychedelic use, with particular attention to observable bodily responses (OBRs) and release-like somatic experiences (RLSEs), defined as a subset characterized by sensations of physical discharge. An online retrospective survey (N = 286) assessed the prevalence of OBRs and RLSEs, and their relationships with body awareness, bodily dissociation, emotional breakthrough, and perceived therapeutic benefit. Semi-structured interviews (n = 30) explored these experiences in depth. Nearly three-quarters of participants (74.1%) reported OBRs during therapeutic sessions, and among those, over three-quarters (76.4%) endorsed accompanying sensations of release. The majority (71.3%) rated these experiences as therapeutically beneficial. OBR frequency predicted body awareness (β = .16) but was attenuated by somatic practice controls, and OBR status predicted emotional breakthrough (β = .15) but did not survive controls for session intensity. In contrast, RLSEs independently predicted higher body awareness (β = .23), lower dissociation (β = -.19), greater perceived benefit (β = .42), and emotional breakthrough (β = .49), with all effects robust across sensitivity analyses adjusting for covariates. In interviews, participants reported a wide range of somatic phenomena including trembling, involuntary movement, vocalization, and purging, characterized by altered bodily agency and epistemic tension between embodied knowing and cognitive uncertainty. Qualitative analysis identified four narrative threads capturing how participants described the function of these responses—System Response, Release-Like Somatic Experience, Embodied Meaning-Making, and Ecstatic Expression—shaped by contextual influences including facilitator interventions, personal history, and somatic practice backgrounds. These phenomena strongly converged with energy-like somatic experiences reported by Buddhist and Abrahamic contemplative practitioners, suggesting a broader class of experiences accessible through multiple routes to altered states. Findings indicate that somatic processes—particularly RLSEs—may constitute a therapeutically relevant dimension of psychedelic experience that current models, measurement approaches, and clinical protocols have underweighted.

Keywords

embodiment;mixed methods;psychedelic therapy;somatic experiences;somatic release

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