The therapy forms are developed through a synthesis of academic research and practice. The latest research is always taken into account. However, academic research alone is not sufficient to practice a therapy.
Therefore, the Institute for Substance-Assisted Therapy essentially draws on two roots:
1. The experience and tradition of therapists established in the West since the 1940s, who used psychoactive substances in therapy until the substances used were banned. The founder of the IST was able to learn from one of the pioneers from the 1960s, Ralf Metzner.
2. Another cornerstone is indigenous traditions, which have been using psychoactive substances for healing purposes for centuries. The IST pursues an intercultural approach and, among other things, works on integrating both approaches. Integration here does not mean simply copying, but rather interweaving different things to create something new.