Although the early findings are promising, the therapy remains experimental. It has not yet been approved by either Israel’s Ministry of Health or the US Food and Drug Administration
Coral (last name withheld) had lost hope.
A mother and a veteran of the Second Lebanon War, Coral said she felt like a fraud, like a bad mother, and was sad all the time. Although she had tried standard talk therapy and medication, nothing relieved the symptoms of the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) she developed after serving in the war until a friend told her about a methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) clinical trial at Clalit Health Services’ HaEmek Medical Center.
MDMA is a synthetic psychoactive compound created in a laboratory setting that researchers are studying as a potential aid to psychotherapy under strict medical supervision. It is also known recreationally as Ecstasy or Molly, although products sold under those names may not contain pure MDMA and can include other substances.
Coral applied to the study and was accepted into the program. She recently completed it and said it changed her life for the better.
“I tried many things,” she told The Media Line. “I went to a psychiatrist, I got medication, but it did not help. It just numbed the pain. I wasn’t happy anymore.”
Today, she said, “I feel like something that was stuck deep inside me for many years has come out. I feel so much better.”
I feel like something that was stuck deep inside me for many years has come out. I feel so much better.
According to clinical psychologist Ronen Sidi, a former special forces soldier in an elite unit who co-led the study with Dr. Alon Reshef, director of psychiatry at Clalit HaEmek Medical Center, around 15% of combat soldiers exposed to severe battlefield trauma may develop chronic PTSD.
“These are often highly resilient, dedicated individuals who find it difficult to seek help or speak openly about fear, guilt, or helplessness,” Sidi said. “The goal of treatment is not to erase traumatic memories, but to help patients safely process them.”
According to data from Israel’s healthcare system, PTSD diagnoses have increased by approximately 70%, particularly in the wake of the October 7 attacks and the subsequent war.
Researchers at HaEmek’s Psychedelic Research Center for Veterans with PTSD are testing whether MDMA-assisted psychotherapy can safely help soldiers with PTSD. Early results suggest that roughly four out of five participants who completed the treatment saw a meaningful reduction in their symptoms.
Although the early findings are promising, the therapy remains experimental. It has not yet been approved by either Israel’s Ministry of Health or the US Food and Drug Administration. In Australia, authorized psychiatrists have been permitted, since July 2023, to prescribe MDMA for PTSD under tightly regulated conditions.
Participants undergo a structured 13-session treatment program centered on psychotherapy. Three of those sessions incorporate MDMA under close medical supervision. The MDMA sessions last up to eight hours and are conducted in specially designed treatment rooms inside the hospital. Two trained clinicians remain with each participant throughout every session, providing support and monitoring from beginning to end. The clinicians include psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers with specialized training in trauma care.
The researchers stressed that MDMA itself is not the treatment but rather a therapeutic catalyst. “This is an intensive psychotherapeutic process in which MDMA serves as a therapeutic tool that facilitates the work,” Reshef said. “It is not a miracle cure, nor is it something that should ever be used independently. On the contrary, unsupervised use may be ineffective and could even be harmful.”
The drug creates what researchers describe as a temporary “window of opportunity,” allowing patients to revisit traumatic memories while feeling safer, more emotionally regulated, and more trusting of the therapeutic process.
Dr. Guy Schusheim. (Clalit-HaEmek Spokesperson Office)
Dr. Guy Schusheim, head of the child and adolescent psychiatric unit at HaEmek, said the therapeutic state induced by MDMA helps patients access deeply rooted emotions.
“There are a lot of possibilities for change because it induces a kind of plasticity in the brain,” he told The Media Line. “It puts you in the right place, makes you more empathetic toward yourself and your environment. It allows you to be in touch with different feelings and memories related to your trauma.”
He added that it also strengthens the body-mind connection through what he called “somatic feelings,” creating another pathway for healing PTSD symptoms such as insomnia, hypervigilance, poor concentration, and anxiety that can become trapped in the body.
According to Schusheim, the team at HaEmek envisioned the study around five years ago, even before the October 7 Hamas attack and the subsequent war. However, it took time to secure funding, receive regulatory approval, and recruit patients. After the war began, the study became even more urgent.
So far, 26 patients have taken part in the study, and more are expected to join. Schusheim said participants must be carefully screened to confirm they have PTSD without other mental health or medical conditions that could make the treatment dangerous.
Coral described what it was like when she went to HaEmek for her sessions, saying she entered a quiet room that was calming and conducive to therapy. The MDMA was administered in pill form, and she said it took about 90 minutes to take effect. There were always two professionals in the room, so if one stepped out briefly, the other remained with her.
“I wasn’t really sure it would be good for me,” Coral admitted. “But the doctors were also there to help, and I knew that I was in a safe space in the hospital, which made me feel calm.”
She said that once the MDMA started working, she was able to talk about things.
“They were just there and started to come up and come out,” Coral recalled.
She said the MDMA did not make her hallucinate or forget anything. Everything she talked about while under its influence could be processed or discussed again after the drug wore off.
“You feel like your body is saying things and your mind is listening to them,” Coral said, trying to explain the experience. “It feels very good to let these things out. It is like when you are nauseous. No one likes to throw up, but when you vomit, it is relieving, and you feel better. You feel like something really deep that was stuck inside you for many years comes out.”
She said the treatment remained in her system for several days, and sometimes she needed time to recover at home after leaving therapy. She said it is “not a hard process, but it is very deep.”
“I really wanted my life to improve, but I didn’t know how to do it,” Coral told The Media Line. “It was also painful to speak about these things after not talking about them for so many years. The MDMA helped.”
It was also painful to speak about these things after not talking about them for so many years. The MDMA helped.
The HaEmek study is one of a handful taking place in Israel. Through the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies Israel MAPS researchers are examining whether MDMA-assisted psychotherapy delivered in a group setting can increase the number of people who can be treated while maintaining, or even enhancing, the treatment’s effectiveness. If the results are positive, researchers say the approach could offer a scalable solution at a time when demand for trauma care far exceeds available resources. They also say the Israeli study will be the first of its kind worldwide to examine MDMA-assisted psychotherapy using a postwar group therapy model
Using two clinicians for every patient can be expensive, but Schusheim said the cost of not treating PTSD is far higher. Long-term therapy and medication often take longer to work, and many people with PTSD do not respond adequately to existing treatments.
“MDMA treatment is worthwhile and cost-effective,” Schusheim said. “We hope that it will be approved soon and that HaEmek will become one of the leading centers in Israel to administer it.”
This report is part of Traumatech, a series developed and created by Maayan Hoffman and debuting on The Media Line. The series explores how Israel is building and exporting breakthrough mental health technologies that can transform life at home and bring hope to communities worldwide.
