Approved for PTSD by the Therapeutic Goods Administration in July last year, a Sydney clinic has become the first in the state to use medical-grade MDMA on clients outside of a clinical trial.

A patient is given a dose of MDMA in a clinic with a psychiatrist

The drug releases ‘feel-good’ hormones like dopamine and serotonin that boost emotions like self-awareness and empathy, setting the scene for sufferers to discuss difficult emotions without being re-traumatised.

Patients like Shannon Foster have struggled with PTSD resulting from childhood and intergenerational family trauma.

After a decade of seeing a psychotherapist, earlier this month Shannon tried the new therapy.

Shannon told The Project it was a “very physical experience”.

“You get this sense, this feeling of just complete calm over your entire body and you're not numb or paralysed but your body is pain free and have no idea how heavy our human body is and 

it's euphoric and beautiful,” she said.

Shannon said it was a “different experience to the party drug”, and said it was a “medical experience”. “(It’s) an experience where it was very well managed. I had to make sure I had a whole lot of different health checks and I was with therapists I had been working with for over 10 years,” she said.”

Shannon said it was “quite powerful” in helping her heal.

“It's on a whole other sort of plane, an express and intention version but brings you to places and spaces with closure and clarity that 10 years of therapy can sometimes not quite get you there,” Shannon said. “It's when you're very stuck and there's just that block there that you just can't quite get yourself through, particularly with trauma.”