Developing chemsex intervention services: Guidance for psychological care provision

This briefing document outlines how practitioner psychologists could contribute to the development, delivery, and evaluation of services for men who engage in chemsex. These are generally gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM), who use drugs to enhance sexual experiences, often referred to as chemsex, a term coined by David Stuart. We will provide an overview of the relevant chemsex literature in relation to GBMSM and how psychologists can work alongside existing teams meet the varying needs of this population, both directly (one-to-one work with service users) and indirectly (supporting teams to deliver psychologically informed care). The paper also includes information from interviews with people with lived experience of chemsex and service providers (sexual health advisors).