Psilocybin Therapy Playlists

Bill Richards has been curating music for psychedelic research since 1967 — first at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center with Walter Pahnke and music therapist Helen Bonny, then at Johns Hopkins with Roland Griffiths. His playlist, published in his book Sacred Knowledge, was used in the landmark JAMA Psychiatry study that found psilocybin effective for major depression. Nearly 8 hours, structured in segments: background/arrival, onset, ascent, peak, post-peak, and welcome back. Heavily classical — Górecki, Bach, Barber, Pärt, Vivaldi, Brahms.

Richards describes the music as "a nonverbal support system, sort of like the net for a trapeze artist. If all is going well, you're not even aware that the net is there — you don't even hear the music — but if you start getting anxious, or if you need it, it's immediately there to provide structure."

Neuroscientist Mendel Kaelen created these playlists for the groundbreaking psilocybin-for-depression study at Imperial College London. His 2018 research was the first to demonstrate that the quality of the music experience during psychedelic therapy significantly predicted reductions in depression — more than the drug intensity itself. Kaelen went on to found Wavepaths, an adaptive music platform for psychedelic therapy that generates responsive music rather than using fixed playlists.

Three numbered therapy playlists plus a large collection playlist (612 tracks) for building your own selections. The ambient and neo-classical aesthetic is distinct from Richards's more classical approach.

Psychedelic pharmacologist Kelan Thomas (PharmD, MS, BCPP, BCPS) created these playlists for the Chacruna Institute. He describes his approach as "decolonizing" — incorporating post-rock (Sigur Rós, Mogwai, Dirty Three), indie, and ambient alongside neo-classical, rather than relying exclusively on the Western classical canon. Thomas completed the Certificate in Psychedelic Therapies and Research at CIIS and helped coordinate the playlist for the UCSF study on psychedelic-assisted group therapy for demoralization in long-term AIDS survivors.

His playlists follow the Bonny-Pahnke multiphase model but with multiple peaks and valleys rather than a single sustained plateau — creating a sense of ebb and flow with built-in periods of relief.

Matthew Baldwin, a fellow student of Kelan Thomas in the CIIS Certificate in Psychedelic Therapies and Research, created this playlist with an emphasis on organic (non-sequenced electronic) music. Baldwin presented on the art of creating musical playlists for psychedelic work at Beyond Psychedelics.