Ketamine, psychedelic therapy, TED, TEDTalk, video

"It's time to make psychiatry more psychedelic", says psychiatrist Benjamin Lewis. Sharing results from his clinical trial on psychedelic-assisted therapy, he highlights how group therapy paired with the safe use of psilocybin, a compound found in magic mushrooms, has the potential to improve mental health conditions like depression and burnout. View Video Transcript Many of the mental health struggles that we see in our world come from a loss of connection, the loss of connection to ourselves, to each other, to our communities, to the Earth. This loss of connection is so profound that the United States Surgeon General has called it a public health crisis. Thich Nhat Hanh said, we are all connected. When you touch one thing, you are touching everything. Whatever we do has an effect on others. Therefore, we must learn to live mindfully, to touch the peace inside each of us. Psilocybin, the active ingredient in so-called "magic mushrooms," is an emerging treatment that is about reconnection. As a psychiatrist at the Huntsman Mental Health Institute, I have been running clinical trials with psilocybin-assisted therapy, working specifically with two groups: patients dealing with symptoms of depression associated with a cancer diagnosis; and frontline health-care workers experiencing burnout and depression related to the COVID-19 pandemic. These two groups appear very different on the surface, but their suffering is related to a loss of connection. Each person dealing with a cancer diagnosis is unique. However, patients face some common challenges: the uncertainty, the treatments, the impact on family and friends. This can result in symptoms of loss, grief, depression, anger, feelings of hopelessness and isolation. The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened burnout in frontline health care providers who feel disconnected from their work, disconnected from their patients and their suffering. They feel overwhelmed and inadequate. There are clear distinctions between these two groups, but there is overlap in this sense of disconnection. Psilocybin is considered a classic psychedelic, one of a group of chemicals that acts on the serotonin system in the brain. The term "psychedelic" comes from the combination of the Greek words psyche, or mind, and delos, to reveal or make manifest. So mind manifesting. Or expressing this idea that these chemicals can reveal aspects of the mind that we otherwise don't have access to. These chemicals cause significant changes to consciousness, including experiences that are referred to as mystical or spiritual in nature, experiences characterized by a deep sense of connection to one's self, to others, and to the world. And in recent years, there has been a renewed interest in the study of these compounds for therapeutic purposes. Using psilocybin in the context of a clinical trial looks quite different than it does in other settings, such as recreational use. For one thing, while classic psychedelics are remarkably safe from a medical standpoint and don't have the same potential for abuse as other substances, they nonetheless cause powerful changes to consciousness that can present risk. In particular, for people with a risk of psychosis or mania. This is not a treatment for everyone. Our studies employ a rigorous screening process to ensure that this is safe, both medically and psychiatrically. We also embed the dosing session within a therapeutic protocol with preparation and what we call integration sessions following. There are two qualities to this form of therapy that I'd like to emphasize that distinguish this intervention from anything else in psychiatry. The first is the importance of the experience itself. A reliable finding across multiple studies with psilocybin is that specific kinds of changes to consciousness, often with a single session, appear to be important for therapeutic changes. Patients report a sense of connection, or the interconnectedness of all things; a sense of preciousness or sacredness to the experience; and a deep sense that this reveals something true or fundamental about the nature of reality. The second quality is the combination of a drug administration with a therapeutic protocol. This is not simply about taking a pill and expecting a result. This is a form of assisted psychotherapy with specific preparation, support through the session itself and integration following. One's intentions matter. A patient's mental preparation going into a session can profoundly shape the impact of the experience. How these tools are employed is central to their effect. One current model for understanding brain changes with psychedelic drugs examines changes in connectivity between different brain regions. With administration of psilocybin, the brain temporarily enters a state of global increase in integration and interconnection across different neural networks that are normally compartmentalized. Simply put, brain regions that normally don't talk to each other are now conversing. Of course, this doesn't last, but as the brain cools from this experience, previously rigid patterns of neural connectivity related to the beliefs characteristic of, say, depression, are softened, given some wiggle room, some flexibility is introduced into the system. Current models of psilocybin-assisted therapy in clinical trials involve two therapists per person through a process that is generally 20 or more hours. Our research group at the University of Utah has naturally asked the question, can we do this in groups to expand the scale on which these promising treatments can be delivered? Now, in a way, this is nothing new. Psychedelics have been used in group context for millennia by Indigenous groups. This includes ceremonial use of psilocybe mushrooms, San Pedro cactus and ayahuasca, the dimethyltryptamine containing South and Central American brew. But when we look at modern studies, these have focused on individuals and individual sessions. But going deeper, group process is about connection and shared experience. If these forms of suffering we're looking at in our studies, depression associated with cancer, health care provider burnout, are characterized in part by a loss of connection, exploring these tools in supported shared experiences makes sense, potentially enhancing therapeutic aspects of group process that are already there. Last year, our research group completed the HOPE trial. This was a pilot study of group psilocybin-assisted therapy for 12 patients dealing with symptoms of depression associated with a cancer diagnosis. We ran groups of four participants at a time. Patients with cancer are a well-studied population with psilocybin in individual formats. These previous studies have shown significant and enduring therapeutic effects that have been sustained for years following even a single dosing session. Our study is the first modern trial to employ a full group format. All three of our preparatory sessions, our single eight-hour dosing session and our three integration sessions were run as groups. This was a small study designed to look at safety and feasibility, but we found a clear signal that the group format may amplify the sense of connection that we know is important in treating depressive symptoms. The group format requires thoughtful preparation. The neighbor on your right may be giggling uncontrollably while the neighbor on your left is sobbing. One mantra we use through this process is, all is welcome. All is welcome. We learned this mantra from Mary Cosimano, a mentor of ours at Johns Hopkins. This mantra is about saying, "Yes!" It is about opening up to whatever is coming up for you personally, but also what is coming up in the whole room. All is welcome. The processes of others around you are not a distraction. They are there for you, and you for them. In this spirit, our study used a communal music playlist played over speakers rather than individual headphones, to emphasize and add to this collective experience. I wonder what this would be like for all of you right now to fully welcome everything coming up in this space. Excitement for this event, social dynamics of a large crowd, your private joys and sorrows, your connection with a person on this stage. Maybe even your anxiety, "They might screw it up." All is welcome. Our study showed that this treatment can be safely and effectively administered in a group format. Our participants demonstrated significant improvement in depressive symptoms that was sustained to our final endpoint at six months. Furthermore, participants felt strongly that the group format was a critical component of their process. We are still in the early stages of understanding how to use psilocybin-assisted therapy as a tool in mental health care. The HOPE trial is a small step in the ongoing development of this field towards understanding how to harness and sustain the kinds of connectedness that patients experience, and towards expanding access for people suffering with difficult-to-treat conditions. What if, instead of trying to fit psychedelic-assisted therapy into psychiatry, we asked, how can we make psychiatry more psychedelic? Thank you very much. (Applause)The TED Talks channel features talks, performances and original series from the world's leading thinkers and doers. Visit the channel to see more »

Ketamine, podcast, psychedelic therapy, video, webinar

Therapist Kelly O’Horo is joined by Dr. Eddie Shahnaz to discuss the benefits of Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy. Together, they explore how ketamine, when used with therapeutic support, can help people facing treatment resistant depression, anxiety, and PTSD access deeper healing and emotional breakthroughs. Kelly brings over 15 years of experience as an EMDR therapist, consultant, and trainer, with a heartfelt belief in people’s resilience and capacity for growth. A mom, grandmother, and lifelong learner, she offers an honest and compassionate lens as they talk about trauma, connection, and how psychedelic therapy is opening new paths to mental wellness. View Video Transcript There is no transcript available for this video at this time, but captions can be enabled on the video in YouTubeAbout Kelly O'HoroBio from Kelly's YouTube channel: "I'm Kelly O'Horo, Attachment based EMDR Therapist, EMDRIA Consultant, and EMDR Trainer. I'm a mom of 5, Nonna of 5, wife, and a healer. I have the honor of spending my workdays walking along side people while they brave their healing journeys. I try to live with the generous assumption that we're all doing the best we can with what we know. Therapists are teachers for the "life stuff" and "emotional vocabulary" that may not have been learned due to gaps in our care givers capabilities. In the last 15 years I've learned that people are freaking amazing, resilient, and inspiring. Most importantly, we are hardwired for connection and for healing!I hope to bring an authentic, compassionate, and unpolished approach while we explore a variety of topics such as parenting, marriage, relationships, dating, trauma, attachment, adoption, depression, addiction, anxiety, and love! There's a why for all behaviors and an explanation that makes perfect sense as emotion is at the root of it all."

Ketamine, MAPS, psychedelic therapy, video, webinar

This webinar from MAPS features MAPS leaders Kris Lotlikar, Ismail Ali, J.D., Allison Coker, Ph.D., and Betty Aldworth discussing the organization’s current strategies and future direction. After nearly four decades of pioneering psychedelic research and advocacy, MAPS reflects on its progress and explores what comes next. Topics include MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD and the anticipated FDA decision, ongoing efforts to support a post-prohibition future, and the influence of policy reform and cultural change on the psychedelic landscape. View Video Transcript Hello and welcome! We're grateful that you could join us on Zoom and YouTube live today for an in-depth conversation with MAPS leaders discussing how we're approaching this pivotal time following the FDA advisory committee hearing as we look toward August. My name is Bridget McKay, I'm one of MAPS' donor experience officers and I'm honored to be your moderator. I've been with MAPS for over two years serving our donor community and I'm passionate about alleviating the mental health crisis. We received hundreds of questions, thank you! These presentations today are prepared with your questions in mind and we'll get to more specific questions and themes at the end. Let's jump in. I'm thrilled to introduce you to our incredible speakers today Kris Lotlikar serves as the Executive Director of MAPS overseeing the financing and strategic direction of MAPS organizations globally. Kris was a leader in creating modern renewable markets and in defining the early cannabis industry as founder of Arcview market research. Kris maintains a lifelong commitment uh to changing drug and criminal justice laws starting as a founder of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. Kris believes confronting stigmas around mental health and drug users is key to unlocking the human potential for healing and happiness. Next is Betty Aldworth, Director of Communications and Post Prohibition Strategy. With the communications team, Betty works to share MAPS' story with our audiences and generate support for psychedelic research and reform through the media. Betty also works with colleagues and allies across the drug policy reform movement to illustrate the promise of a post-prohibition world through inspiring public education opportunities. We are also joined by Allison Coker, Director of Research. Allison brings a tremendous amount of experience to MAPS where she is laying the groundwork and planting seeds for the future of our research and international education programs. Prior to joining MAPS, she worked for several years as a regulatory scientist for Lykos Therapeutics and she continues to collaborate with cutting-edge psychedelic researchers at UCSF. She brings a commitment to scientific rigor and sensible healthcare reform that is essential to MAPS' mission. And last but certainly not least, Ismail Ali the Director of Policy and Advocacy. In his role, Ismail supports the design building and implementation of psychedelic policy reform across the country and world. He has been personally utilizing psychedelics and other substances in celebratory and spiritual contexts for over half his life and has been actively participating in the drug policy reform movement for a decade. Ismail co-founded and co-chairs the board of the Psychedelic Bar Association and is licensed to practice law in the state of California. Kris we'll start with you. Awesome, thank you, Bridget. Welcome all, thank you for joining us today and being champions and supporters of MAPS. We're so grateful for your support and especially you carving out some time and your busy lives to talk to us. um We'll talk about MAPS in a few minutes, but first off I'm uh eager here to talk about you're all eager to hear about which is MDMA assisted therapy for PTSD. We'll talk about the historic FDA advisory committee panel in a moment, but but I wanted to lay some groundwork for you about the research that MAPS has incubated for so many years. Over the past few years, MAPS has been working to fully spin out Lykos Therapeutics formerly MAPS Public Benefit Corporation as a separate organization with its own board of directors and management team. A key part of this has been them changing their name helping to illustrate the separation between our work as a nonprofit organization and their role as a pharmaceutical public benefit corporation. In the past year, Lykos has achieved some key milestones in this journey: they completed the phase three trials they published the study results from MAPP3 the with 71% of patients no longer qualifying with a PTSD diagnosis, and they submitted the New Drug Application currently under review by the FDA. On June 4th 2024, the FDA convened a meeting of the drug advisory committee to gain their perspective on the Lykos therapeutic New Drug Application for MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD. First and foremost, we applaud both the FDA and for Lykos for their diligent efforts in preparing and presenting at the meeting, and as as I'm sure you've all seen the headlines the panel made a non-binding recommendation against the safety and efficacy of this treatment. The FDA has set a target date for their decision in August of this year, but that date is also nonbinding. The reality is this reaction uh our initial reaction to this internally was a gut punch many of us have been working on this for a long time and it was a major setback and disheartening--but MAPS has suffered setbacks before and remains committed to supporting this work. First, the final decision has not been made. FDA's review of the New Drug Application for the first psychedelic-assisted therapy is ongoing and their decision will encompass a holistic review of the application and its safety data. Several of the non--several of the novel elements merit careful consideration: patient safety needs to be prioritized, critical feedback should be respected, and we appreciate the process that is being undertaken. MAPS supports Lykos in their continued work with the FDA to bring this first in class treatment to the patients who so desperately need it. MAPS is MAPS is confident that Lykos will be able to navigate the situation and how to work with the FDA on the new drug application. Lykos has completed two hase three trials with substantial signicance and clinically meaningful results. And the submission of the NDA for the first psychedelic-assisted therapy is a huge accomplishment worth separation. Before I turn it over to Betty I would like--celebration, Kris, celebration-- Before I turn it over to Betty who has led our Communications for MAPS for four years I want to acknowledge how difficult it's been to to navigate the last year where we have operated in parallel with Lykos who has a highly regulated pharma company. We are engaging in new and groundbreaking work in psychedelics and mental health. All of us at MAPS have done our best to keep our mission, and the individuals who will benefit our work at the top of our minds and our decision- making. I want to assure you that none of us at the nonprofit--not me, not Rick Doblin, not anyone--has a financial interest in Lykos. We do this because our role is to represent our supporters and our donors who have made this work possible. With your generosity and to ensure the incentives are aligned with public benefit, but I want to assure our supporters while we have handed the baton to Lykos to get this program across the line and to bring MDMA-assisted therapy to the public, whatever the results in August, we at MAPS are committed to seeing this through. Over to you, Betty. Thanks so much, Kris. Good afternoon, evening everyone. Thanks for joining us. Glad to see so many folks here. um First I I want to acknowledge that it did take quite some time for us to make a public statement or to reach out to you with an email or an update--um I know that that's been confusing especially since you've counted on us for incredibly frequent updates for so many years now. And as difficult as it's been to remain relatively quiet about the MDMA program and the FDA process, it's also necessary. I want to share a little bit about why um before we go on. So though MAPS PBC, now Lykos, was responsible for organizing the program since its inception, MAPS was still the sponsor and was sending out news about the trials in the FDA process. With the separation between MAPS, the nonprofit, and Lykos the public benefit corporation, Lykos now fully owns the drug development and regulatory program. The Lykos communications team is responsible for deciding what to announce and when. It's a complex thing, this relationship, uh between MAPS and Lykos, and many, many people remain confused about the differences between the two organizations. Drug development, clinical trials, and the FDA process are also their own very complex things. And so it's important that people are getting rock solid information directly from the experts who are most closely involved. When it comes to Lykos' work, that's Lykos. For those reasons to reduce the confusion and to make sure that the right information is coming from the right people, we haven't been communicating very much about Lykos, the FDA or MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD. I want to personally acknowledge that that's probably been confusing and and distressing to some of you, and and I apologize for that um we have um it's been hard for us in in different ways and um to to change some of those ways that we're talking to you. And and I know that for many of you that's also been you know confusing. um So of course many of you submitted questions today about the FDA, MDMA assisted therapy for PTSD, how to become a therapist, the drug development program, on and on and on and on--we simply won't be able to answer those. I'm hoping that you'll be able to find the answers you're looking for through some other resources; however there are many many people offering excellent analysis of the events and I am going to send out we're going to send a follow-up email with a list of some of those um that we recommend that you follow. I'll just briefly mention Lucid News, Josh Hardman at Psychedelic Alpha, Rachel Nuwer who's a freelance journalist, and an author of a book on MDMA. Matt Baggot of Tactogen, David Rabin, psychedelic report podcast; and then organizations who are standing up for rigorous science like the MDMA Alliance and Chacruna Institute. The news cycle of the past several months has highlighted just how important our work is actually we're still fighting a lot of deeply rooted stigmas about psychedelics and the people who use them for medical, spiritual wellness, or celebratory purposes. We also hear the misinformation and we see how easily false or inflated narratives have taken over the public conversation. You know we were founded almost 40 years ago because stigma interfered with science at that time and evidence-based psychedelic education, research, and policy reform are as critically needed today as they always have been. We have tremendous experience and demonstrated success in meeting that need over the past months. I've seen many people on our team and in our support network activated with a renewed and tangible understanding of just how important our work is to creating that future we hope to see. We see the potential for healing in the stories of people whose lives have been changed by psychedelic-assisted therapies whether through clinical trials or outside of those systems. We read the stories of reductions in unjust incarceration or of loved ones who survived opioid overdose with naloxone in places where compassionate drug policies are enacted. And we hear from so many of you--so many of you--who have become more educated about psychedelics through the resources we provide and then you've used that education to support your communities. As we navigate our way through the end of drug prohibition, so even during these challenging months we re excuse me we remain incredibly excited to have the opportunity to work on sharing our education, policy reform, and research with you and with the world. Thanks so much for being on this journey with us. All right a few of you have asked what's next for MAPS, but before we get to that, I want to be very clear that MAPS has agreed to take a more limited and strategic approach to the public discourse about MDMA assisted therapy because we hope that it's in the best interest of moving forward the issue. This cause and the movement is bigger than us and we want to keep the focus on the science. The big reason we're doing this webinar, or one of the big reasons, is to explain this decision to our supporters. It was not an easy call. No matter what happens in August, there's still monumental work to do--and with your support and advocacy, we can work together towards achieving this vision of a post-prohibition world where people have legal and equitable access to psychedelics for healing and personal growth. It is in these movements that remind me of a truth about doing world-changing work; it's that it's always perceived as being either inevitable or impossible and neither is ever true. Changing the world takes big ideas, but it also takes hard work and persistence which is how MAPS has built for so long towards our goals--and our work is not done. MAPS has always believed in a multidisciplinary approach--and not just to make our name hard to spell. Our three focus areas moving forward are going to be advancing research, changing policy, and shaping culture. All three of these areas will be heavily featured at the Psychedelic Science conference in 2025 when we'll all be returning to Denver for the world's largest gathering on psychedelics. We expect over 10,000 people to attend. Now you're going to hear from the folks who are closest to each of these areas of work beginning with Alison Coker to talk about research. Thank you, Kris. I'll talk a little bit now about MAPS' research. MAPS is dedicated to serving the public and advancing the responsible integration of psychedelics in a post-prrohibition context. In alignment with our values and in pursuit of this vision, MAPS spent nearly four decades initiating first-in-class psychedelic clinical trials to pave the way for the medicalization of psychedelic-assisted therapies. Clinical trials are critical to define the boundaries of the safety and efficacy of psychedelics for treating serious health conditions in a clinical context. Rigorous research on the risks and benefits of psychedelics in a medicalized context allows policies to be grounded in data and science rather than stigma, and they can help make psychedelics more accessible for these reasons and more. The medicalization of psychedelics is an important piece of the puzzle and the ecosystem is different than it was 40 years ago. When MAPS started pursuing a drug development pathway, there were essentially no psychedelic research organizations and certainly no psychedelic drug development companies. Since then, MAPS has incubated a pathway for medicalization, a pathway that will be taken by many drug developers pursuing research pipelines exploring the potential applications of psychedelics. However, medicalization is unlikely to answer all of the questions that we have about the best practices access and cultural adaptations for the use of these substances. As our collective knowledge expands, MAPS continues to serve as stewards of the psychedelic research landscape that we helped cultivate. MAPS' strength as a nonprofit is in our dedication to pursue research directions that prioritize public benefit. MAPS remains committed to fostering new research directions and setting new research precedents that expand our knowledge about the uses of these substances. MAPS also remains committed to supporting International researchers and practitioners as we utilize research as an important mechanism to expand the accessibility and cultural attunement of psychedelic-assisted therapy for communities that experience marginalization. MAPS intends to achieve these goals through our research accelerator program by incubating, informing, and inspiring research that advance our values in the ecosystem. We prioritize advancing research that does at least one of these three things: one, research that enables new investigative directions that serve the public interest; two, research that improves patient access and patient experience in the US and globally; and three, research that contributes to public knowledge and informs sensible drug policy and education. MAPS amplifies these values within the ecosystem to accelerate psychedelic research through several pathways. MAPS continues to initiate projects that open doors for future psychedelic research; for example, MAPS is challenging an FDA decision to prevent real world's research on smoked and vaporized cannabis, and we'll share our process and learnings with the community. MAPS also incubates research by collaborating with subject matter experts to develop unique projects that may not occur as part of a normal drug development pathway. For example, MAPS is pursuing qualitative research with partners to evaluate the best practices for psychedelic-assisted therapies in new populations. MAPS financially supports mission-aligned research through our grantmaking and fiscal sponsorship programs. We want to fund researchers worldwide to advance our collective understanding of the potential applications and risks associated with psychedelics, and to enable new clinical applications of well-studied treatments. For example, MAPS' grantees are currently evaluating psychedelic-assisted mass prolonged exposure therapy, and international grantees are assessing the feasibility of psychedelic-assisted therapy in refugee populations. We hope to increase our funding capacity in the coming year in order to continue to support more mission-aligned research. And finally, MAPS educates the community by hosting International therapist education programs to equip therapy providers with foundational knowledge and practical therapeutic skills in psychedelic-assisted therapies to increase awareness and activate potential research initiatives across the globe. In this program we work with local advocates to create a dual learning opportunities and wisdom sharing between the diverse therapists and maps to learn about the historical context and cultural adaptability of psychedelic-assisted therapy around the world as well, as build a community of global therapists who can support each other and connect on providing culturally informed care in their regions by diversifying our research focus. As we look forward we hope to initiate and support many research projects that serve the community and contribute to our collective understanding of psychedelics. Next we'll hear from Ismail Ali to talk about policy. All right all right! Hello everybody. Thank you, Bridget Kris, Betty, Allison for all the context, the info, putting this together. I want to appreciate the audience all--what is it--550 of y'all that are here! As said at the beginning, um there are a lot of things going on in the world. There's every reason to focus on any one of those other issues and I'm really grateful that we get a chance to have this conversation because we know it's been coming up a lot, it's something that we've been thinking about a lot, and I'm just grateful that the conversation is ongoing even though I understand that um the threats the concerns. Everything can feel really existential at times, we've been holding a lot, it can be challenging to understand what is to be transparent about, what to have discernment about, but the truth is that a lot of us have been working in the background on a lot of things that don't always get the benefit of media visibility, or the drama of public scrutiny for that matter. So I'm excited to share a bit more of that today. We got a bunch of questions with the RSVPs about MAPS' policy angle and future plans, so I'll touch on some of the big picture things now, and I think in the Q&A we'll get into a few more details, but hopefully this initial of spiel gets a little bit of big picture context for the direction what we've been doing, so far where we're going from here all of that. So let start with the basics: I don't know how many in the audience have gotten to take a close look at MAPS' seven principles, but my colleague Natalie Ginsberg and I drafted those with input from the rest of the organization and key allies some years ago. And I, of course, have a biased perspective but feel like they've been helpful to ground us in the last few years. And today I'm going to focus on the one that's most applicable to the policy department--which is this line that maybe all have heard or seen on the website or kind of we're touched on here--which is that MAPS envisions of post-prohibition future based on consciousness not criminalization. And as just maybe a fun kind of carrot, I'll share that we went back and forth a lot about whether or not the word there should be consciousness or compassion um and I think both work really well, but I'll explain what that means because consciousness is kind of a fuzzy word, and I don't think it actually means the same thing to everyone. But for me it's pretty simple: We should be conscious--that is aware about and responsible for--the impacts of drug policy approaches that we propose. Here at MAPS, we believe that the responsible drug policy frameworks that most accurately reflects reality requires that "consciousness"--reflection honesty, self-awareness--not only for individuals, all are valuable for a personal therapeutic process but also for society as whole. The second part is a little more straightforward, and essential grounding point: we reject the criminalization of people who grow, make, distribute or use drugs, which increases the criminalization that increases the risk of drug use and dangers of the drugs themselves, of the drug economies, and it doesn't actually keep people who use drugs or our families or communities any safer even if we thought that mistakenly 50 years ago 40 years ago even 30 years ago. We're now in a point where we can't pretend like that that's the case anymore we have to look with eyes more open than we have before. So with those two points, our goal is sort of to design a harmonious drug policy ecosystem that balances public health, individual liberty and choice, and equitable access across a variety of regulatory approaches. I know, I know: Consciousness, harmony--what the heck is this? Is this an eye gazing workshop or a think tank? Who are you people? I'll get to that, but first I want to reground us on what's going on here and why I'm using these words that might seem fluffy, but actually have an essential, essential part to play in where we go from here. A lot of you know this already: the cultivation use and trade of psychoactive substances including psychedelics has been a consistent aspect of human history, prohibition, criminalization, and militarization. And the oppression inherent in those systems has led to drastic consequences--and might I add that those first two points, prohibition and criminalization, are actually blips in the larger arc of human history as they as it relates to drugs. We've traded and used drugs for most of our species history, so we're really trying to reverse and change something that's relatively new in the longer arc so that modern ongoing Global War on Drugs has been justified by bad science, racism, fear. It's led to mass incarceration, the erosion of civil liberties, ecological damage, economic waste, and what I've heard described--which I appreciate even though it's kind of an aggressive way to think of it--but this public health poly crisis of adulteration, poisoning, overdose substance use disorders, and the various downstream effects of that--which by the way affect everybody regardless of your demographic, regardless of your race, regardless of where you are in the socioeconomic spectrum--doesn't really care about your politics. It's happening to everybody, and most of those far harmful effects have in fact disproportionately impacted the most vulnerable and there's an imperative to tend to and repair those harms. Again, most of you probably know this. Maybe that's why you're here. Maybe that's the first thing that interests you and psychedelics are just kind of the sparkly icing on the cake, and you're like "whoa, this is a bigger picture here" -- and we're tracking that. So our work at the policy department at MAPS is to advocate for drug policies that respond to that history in present in particular by supporting the dignity and rights of people who use psychedelics and other drugs free from fear and stigma. Because so much of this is not just the policy that we're navigating, but also these social dynamics that impact-- whether or not we can talk about this stuff to our families, whether or not we can talk about it at work, how we talk about it to our communities--so we work toward fostering a diverse psychedelic ecosystem, psychedelic policy is interconnected with many other elements of our society--economic, ecological, cultural aspects--to achieve equilibrium between these interlocking pieces. We try to intentionally pursue a variety of policy pathways in service to again bringing that word back a more compassionate post-prohibition world. Our approach utilizes stakeholder engagement, research, data analysis; we work with the departments that are being described here today; we work people internally and externally in service of advancing an evidence-based and equitable framework to create a world rooted in justice, health justice and health, and obviously we have not done this alone. Longstanding systemic and societal societal transformation that's taken--depending on who you ask--50 years, 15 years, 500 years to build requires a collective effort. So we' were strategically partnered with individuals and organizations across the field and really worldwide to build and maintain the movement. I'm really grateful to call friends and allies so many folks across the field who've been working sometimes for years and years and years to make something happen. Even in the face of the many challenges that have come in, we're also committed to freedom of choice, sometimes described as individual liberty by some folks because the reality is that people use psychedelics in different ways. Legal access to psychedelics for a wide range of individuals and communities across personal collective healing and spiritual contexts requires what we've been calling a multiple model ecosystem. That means medicalization, decriminalization, and different forms of regulated access, as well as state administered mechanisms to fund projects and gather more information like research grants and task forces. We need them all. We need to work to increase coherence between these mechanisms to increase points of access and implement appropriate oversight and accountability. Leads me to a really important point. We've talked a lot--for good reason--about accountability, responsibility, ethics, and the clinical trials and beyond. In a decriminalized environment, we don't remove accountability. In a legal state program, in a church environment, we don't remove accountability. What we're doing is looking at what are the types of frameworks that we use to apply to these different structures, and how are those appropriate for the type of regulation that's needed in that context. So I'm all about like multiple paths that work together. So since MAPS' Policy Department was founded in 2015, we're really proud to have provided advisory input technical advising public comment testimony for bills, committees, proposals, and task forces in Washington D.C., in states across the United States, and globally at the United Nations, and in countries around the world. Our efforts have advanced successful reforms are first of their kind proposals, and we're grateful to be part of increasing chorus of voices advancing policy change. Anytime I see anyone that really thinks that they know all the answers, I get suspicious, so what I'm trying to say here is like I don't know if I know them all, if we know them all, but we know them all together and that's really what we're going for here. How do we be in better coalition, in better conversation, so that we can actually iterate and improve as we go. So last, but not least, we strive with all of this to look at policies and to prioritize policies that are reparative and generative that incorporate measures that repair the war the harms of the war on drugs and lay the groundwork for criminal justice and drug policy reform even beyond psychedelics. Our work is inherently political, but it's also beyond that. We also seek to understand the spiritual, social, amd global aspects of this resurgence of interest in psychedelics to help us craft policy that repairs instead of reproduces the failed logic of drug prohibition. I'm going to close with just a couple examples of those projects because I do feel like it gives a little bit of context for exactly what we mean by reparative justice. People are like, why, what are all these words. So one big one that I'm really really proud of is reforming drug sentencing guidelines. We've been working with the coalition to alleviate some of the socioeconomic harms of the war on drugs and we just wrapped up a multi-org campaign to help influence the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review the drug conversion tables. If you don't know what those are, keep your eyes open to our socials for more info. We're going to be publishing our public comment as well as some more information about that soon. I feel like that's really critical because it's one of those things that gets left behind when all of the hype focuses on a particular area of the research or something else. We've also been working on a project to ensure that people impacted by the criminal legal system aren't excluded as psychedelics interact with the mainstream. So we've initiated a project, including a literature review and hopefully other resources, to explore the legal ethical and practical considerations related to offering psychedelic-assisted care to system impacted people, broadly defined as people who've been impacted by the U.S. criminal legal system. And, of course, I need to highlight and remind folks that for the last five plus years we've been working toward increasing health equity within the psychedelic ecosystem in part by producing and curating panels talks workshops and events that really integrate and acknowledge existing racial other imbalances and access to psychedelic care education or training. And, if you haven't already check out the Virtual Trip, we have amazing, amazing content from the Psychedelic Science conference last year, um both in the policy uh the policy stage, as well as the culture stage, as well as others, that really gets into like what does it mean to be trying to create legal access within the system. So overall, I hope that this and we hope this approach will help cultivate what again I like to call a harmonious ecosystem. One in which we do our best to lay groundwork for future broad all drug policy reform, even while strategically advancing reforms for single drugs or limited categories of drugs. We strive to predict the rights of and reduce the negative impacts on people plants or practices that have histories of use in indigenous or underground settings. That topic alone could be its own webinar because there's so much to say about how to work with Native American tribes registered and people who are not registered under federal uh systems. Indigeneity people across the world, central and South America, underground and traditional, and hybrid and mestizo context. There's a lot of different ways that people use psychedelics and there is simply no one size fits all approach. We think a lot about what are the ways to avoid those secondary impacts down the line. We see clarity about the origins, preparations, and ecological sources of psychedelic substances, including plants, animals (people like to forget about the animals) and synthetics ,which I understand the suspish round, but also maybe have a part to play in shifting the ecological reality of the system as it exists. And we commit as I mentioned to including reparative measures whenever we can like protections for those historical and ongoing traditional and community use and relationships. We've been quietly working on this, and so much more, for years. And regardless of whatever happens next month, um I and we intend to keep staying laser focused on the big picture: setting the groundwork and the guardrails for a conscious transition to a safer, more responsible, and more compassionate post-prohibition world. Again, appreciate everyone's time and questions. I'm going to pass it back to Betty to talk about talk a little bit about culture, and then I think we'll have some time for a deeper Q&A at the end. Thanks, everybody. Thanks, Iz. Why do I sign myself up for going after Izzy? Terrible choice. You know, Izzy, you said there that this could be its whole its own whole webinar. I think that there are many things here that could be. And one of the things that I'm very excited about as we're moving into this fall is really much more actively communicatingum about the MAPS initiatives we've been working so hard on. Some of this behind the scenes work that is he's been talking about both for our legacy programs and for new programs that we're going to be able to start talking to you about more soon. So you know you'll be seeing some updates on our website and some new content on social and that sort of thing that where you can follow along on all of this. So education and culture, if you'll indulge me, I would like to share why why I believe no have lived that education and public perception change are as elemental and instrumental to our work as the research and policy reform. in 2009, I started my work in the drug policy reform movement with educating patients doctors and caregivers and lawmakers in Colorado about cannabis science. In 2009, believe it or not, almost no one had heard of CBD. I had to explain what CBD was. Now you like raise your hand if you can if you can hit a CBD store if you threw a rock out your window. Right now right, I'm not suggesting that that's a great model, but what I am saying is that a lot can change in 15 years. For 15 years, I've seen that evidence-based public education, honest storytelling and people's lived experiences uh always overcome the status quo eventually or should. I've seen it happen many many times despite many many setbacks and so I have no doubt that our collective perseverance and the facts will bring us through to this post- probation society that Izzy described so beautifully. Our collective knowledge about psychedelics is growing so quickly every day. Yes, of course, we are learning about their safety and their efficacy for the treatment of serious conditions in Western medicine and within these structures that are mandated by various regulatory bodies. And that is incredibly important, but as you've heard from Izzy and Allison, there's so much more to learn together and share with each other across so many disciplines and within our various circles of varying sizes. The potential of psychedelics for healing and personal growth is vast, but the risks are also very real. For psychedelics to be most safely integrated into our societies, we need to be honest about the potential benefits and the risks the risks of personal use, of course, but also of the systems that we're creating. The the potential benefits and the risks of of the systems that we're creating, how we choose to set our priorities, the values that we bring to the work, the principles, and, of course, of the impacts of the systems we are building that we might not be able to see clearly today. We really recognize the importance of developing a comprehensive understanding of psychedelics the entirety of psychedelia teaching people how to navigate altered states of consciousness, yes, but also how policies and and practices and choices impact individuals and communities. In order for our movement to be successful and for as many people as possible to benefit from psychedelics, information is key--not just for the people who use drugs, but for medical professionals, legislators, health systems, pharmacies, families, and communities. So I'm here today to talk about our educational and some of our our cultural programs. We have a a couple of professional psychedelic education programs that I'm very excited about. Some of you may have heard about our First Responder training in Denver. That's the shorthand name for it, but the idea is that by providing First Responders in places--both with reformed psychedelic policies and those without--with specific comprehensive training on psychedelic crisis assessment and intervention, we can equip First Responders to be more competent when responding to a psychedelic emergency psychedelic related emergency or crisis. And we can provide for people who are experiencing those emergencies or crises a very different kind of experience. The experience of interacting with law enforcement or EMTs when experiencing that sort of event can be very damaging or jarring or disruptive, but if you are able to give everyone a little more information and a little more training in order to respond in a way that is more conducive to quickly moving out of any sort of crisis state, you can have much much better outcomes for the person who is experiencing the crisis and even for the responders. The dangers of of that are reduced across the board. So I'm very excited about this, in part, because we've actually already heard from someone who experienced such a crisis was able to interact with people with EMTs who had had the training and who has come out of that feeling like that training that was received by the EMTs was pivotal and moving her through her difficult time more quickly and allowing her to reenter. So that's it's just a very exciting thing to know that just in a few months we've already started to hear feedback from the community about about positive experiences. As Allison mentioned, we do um also have an international therapy education program. We got a lot of questions about therapist education in the Q&A and and I will point you to that or somebody will drop in the chat some information about that program. And there are many different U.S.-based programs that can provide some excellent information about psychedelic therapy, theoretical fundamentals, and and some of the skills that might be needed for such things. In order to become a provider the inter the international program is particularly focused on ensuring that we are meeting our goal of increasing access to people who need it most but might be least likely to be able to um where the systems are are are least able to attend to that need. And I'm very excited to say that at the last education program we had we were able to host 10 Palestinians and nine other Arabic speaking therapists alongside folks from the Ukraine. We also have a publications arm. I'm sure you all are familiar with the MAPS Bulletin, one of the longest running publications covering psychedelic science, policy, and culture. Psychonauts from the counterculture all the way to the most established scientists have written original pieces for the MAPS Bulletin. And over the last several years, we've been honored to use the Bulletin to platform voices that are less frequently heard in mainstream psychedelia. And we publish books for more than 20 years coming from a time when psychedelic book books weren't often published in the mainstream press, MAPS has maintained a publishing arm. Last year we printed our 22nd title a Journal for Psychedelic Science 2023. And this year I'll be eager to receive your proposals from authors looking for a press for their manuscripts, and we'll send a call for submissions out later this summer. We also have loads of online learning, such as the integration station, which we launched earlier this year, and the Virtual Trip, which is a library of access to all of the Psychedelic Science 2023 sessions that were properly recorded. There are a few technical difficulties as there always will be. And then upcoming, of course, Psychedelic Science 2025, which Kris already mentioned. If you simply visit psychedelicscience.org you can find both of those information about both the Virtual Trip and the 2025 event. And I really hope that we'll have the chance to see you there. But for the moment I'll turn it back over to Bridget to moderate our Q&A. Thank you so much to all of our speakers for those detailed insights into Maps work today um now we'll answer questions that came through with your RSVPs there were hundreds from the very detailed to the very broad because of that we likely won't be able to address any new questions that come through today but we are reviewing them all even if we can't get to your questions it's incredibly helpful to know what they are as we're thinking about articles for the bulletin topics for social media sessions for psychedelic science 2025 and even our policy and research questions so one of the most common questions that we had is what happens after August approval date for the FDA Chris take it away well um the honest and unsatisfying answer here is that we don't know obviously we are hoping for approval and then Leos moving to the next step which would be rescheduling with the DEA but there's a range of scenarios which would play out if there's a delay um as we've talked a bunch you know during this webinar lyos is handling the Direct Communications with the FDA and will make public any news as soon as they can and listen I understand that this period of waiting and wondering is tough It's hard for us especially for so many of you who have stood with us all these years and the reality that August is just one milestone in the long long road of ups and Downs that have got us here but Maps as an organization is defined by our perseverance so whatever the outcome uh we're just going to press forward and do whatever we can to make this happen you know we talked today on the webinar about what Maps is going to be doing hakas here at the nonprofit and we're still confident that we're going to get this across the finish line thank you so much Chris so the next H question is that people asked me about many different psychedelics to help with many different conditions from Clinic diagnoses to systemic issues um Allison this question is really for you what advice would you give to someone seeking to learn more about psychedelic research uh thanks so much that's a great question you know despite the current excitement on the scale of what we can really say is known or has been truly demonstrated in clinical research the Psychedelic field is practically in its infancy so we are seeing new research initiated on an ongoing basis for many conditions um and for us to be able to determine if one substance is more effective than another for specific conditions we expect significantly more research to come in as these different interests and findings acrew um because there are you know so many endless questions to address we hope through our research accelerator program that we can help Advance research on our Collective understanding of these potential applications and risks associated with psychedelics I also want to note that you know because this is getting so popular we know the internet is filled with all kinds of information much of it is anecdotal or downright inaccurate so we always recommend getting information from reliable and trusted sources so if you can't find what you're looking for AT maps.org check out University centers like the Berkeley center for the science of psychedelics is an excellent resource with a lot of public facing information um and psychedelics support also has a search aggregator for clinical trials for psychedelics that are under investigation and these include both those in people with conditions and some in healthy volunteers if you're looking to get involved in a trial thank you so much Alison I know even us here at Maps uh trying to stay on top of all of the research that's happening today is tough it's a it's a an entire job right there um this next question is for you Izzy many people asked questions about what we expect medical legal State regulated or other access systems to look like and when we expect policies to change or very substances to be rescheduled okay um well I'm going to give the usual waffly unhelpful lawyer answer which is it depends um but what I'll start is saying with is with saying that as I kind of mentioned in the share earlier there's a lot of different types of policy reform that have been proposed over the last few years the ones that have gotten the most visibility are the um citizen Le initiatives that were passed in or in Colorado uh measure 109 and proposition 122 respectively um and for good reason those are in some ways the most um like the biggest steps from where things were by creating legal State regulated programs and and as of now we have not yet seen a program like that passed through a state legislature so we are in interesting environment where we know that certain types of policy reform are viable when presented to a populace or to this the voter of a state but we're still very much in the early stages of understanding what it takes to pass something through a legislature we really learned that lesson in California over the last few years where we've been working um to we've tried I think three or four different approaches now here in the state um all of which were limited shot down or stopped for a variety of reasons but the point I'm trying to get at here is that different jurisdictions have basically like a different list of what's viable in that place so I've heard critiques of States like Minnesota or Connecticut or Hawaii that passed task forces they're like oh a task force just delays more substantive change and my question back to that would be like have you tried to do more substantive change in some of these places I think that in some some environments like a task force or like an ongoing conversation among experts within the state is actually the thing that's most viable and in other places like there's other states where we can see where other options like legal regulated access or state funding for research might actually be on the table so again I know that that's probably not a satisfying answer but different facts different Environ kind of give us a different analysis I will say that we're seeing increasing year aftere interest in sensible reforms and my favorite part is like the slight iteration as we go in other words everything that I've seen get introduced often takes some lesson learned from either something that's already been attempted and failed or attempted in past because as I'm sure folks in Oregon and Colorado know like we're learning lessons in those States like literally every day so there's a certain level where the iteration that we're getting out of that information means that more and more is coming out that is also better informed um we actually just published like I think earlier this week or last week a legislative wrap-up um about I think we highlight four bills that we've been really excited about and working on or at least adjacent to and having being conversation about I want to say it's Utah Massachusetts New York and Washington um and we have a recap about California coming out really soon uh as well as some other materials that I'm really excited about that kind of go into some of this like what exact is the different kind of strategic approach that can be taken we're currently talking to folks across the country in a number of states um about exactly this which is like what's possible here so um I do hope to see novel approaches to decriminalization Community use adult use and different kinds of regulated access to show up in other states um and the reality is we are intensely learning as we go which I think is actually an exciting time and I I I like being able to be in that Honesty of saying like Hey we're really learning as we go um maybe the last thing I'll say just to flag this because I think that this comes up I don't know if specific questions came up about this but I know that they have over the last couple months um but while there are certain aspects of global change both at the UN and the who level as well as with specific countries that hinges on an FDA decision there's a lot of efforts that are going on simultaneously that do not and I won't go into this now because I don't think we have time but there is a lot happening at the international level broadly about drug control drug in criminalization medical access research and so on so I do feel like we're in this very interesting place where a lot of pieces are slowly moving at the same time in different directions and I hope that that means that in the 2025 26 seasons and legislative sessions we see again a little bit more iteration a little bit more courage on the part of represent elected representatives and then the willingness to attempt iterate gather the data and keep it moving as we kind of build from there so again there's a lot more to say about that but I think that I don't want to take up the rest of the time so I'll pause there than thank you well I love it Izzy thank you I know I'm really interested as somebody who lives in Washington state now for what's happening there so I appreciate it uh Betty uh question for you will Maps continue to provide harm reduction education about psychedelics if those psychedelics are approved for therapy oh yes yes yes yes yes yes um frankly I wish that we had better harm reduction education about the most popular drugs in America caffeine and alcohol neither of those are are um scheduled right so um regardless of a Drug's regulatory status whether it's FDA approved or not for specific conditions we all know that people are using these substances and will continue to use them always have used them outside of those legal systems and so the need for harm reduction education is just as great as it was you know 38 years ago as it is today and in fact probably more so we have been seeing increasing use rates of psychedelics um amongst um uh the population for a handful of years now and and some very smart people have posited that even after any of these substances are approved it's entirely possible that they will be used more in non-clinical settings post approval um as that as compared to how often they're used within clinical settings right so the need is not any lessened it is in fact I would say greater now than ever before and so the harm reduction education is is more important than ever before to make sure that people are able to make the most well-informed choices possible if they do elect to use drugs or support a family member who's doing so or you know a loved one who's doing so so that being said um you know we are no longer providing by ourselves uh direct service harm reduction um so we are no longer providing peer support through the Zeno project the Zeno project is doing that on their own um and they became an independent 501c3 last year if I remember correctly um so really what we're focusing on now is a laser focus on harm reduction education how do we move that that throughout our not just our community but communities at large how do we make that information accessible well beyond people who might say tomorrow oh perhaps I'll use psychadelic someday thank you so much Betty um and so this will really kind of be our final part of the question and it was a really big question and it's one that we very much appreciate um is people asking how do they help there were so many questions um from our supporters our followers um people who are are following this with much care of how they can help um to increase support for the treatment and progress in psychedelics and I'd really love to hear your thoughts on this subject Chris all right thank you Bridget well um obviously lyos is doing a big part of the heavy lift here but the most important thing that we are asking people do is to educate people within their Circles of influence if there's something that's interesting from today please send some of the links that we share with some of your skeptical friends if you're on social media share the content that is supportive if you're a therapist a researcher or a person who could benefit from psychedelic therapies we ask you to submit a local opad to your local paper um and think about your own sphere of influence and how you can bring this information about the potential psychedelics of the people you interact with we can't climb this mountain on our own but at Maps we are going to look Beyond August and recommit ourselves to addressing the fundamental drug war stigmas and miseducation that is influencing the conversation so if you heard something in the strategy section you're excited about make sure you're on our email list and watch our website for more information um you know before we wrap up here today I just do want to share sort of a personal story of why I'm so committed to this work um whenever we would go to the beach growing up my mom would tell me this story about a woman on the beach who sees a man throwing starfish back into the ocean and uh she watches him for an hour as he walks down the beach starfish after starfish eventually she approaches him and asks him what he's doing and she looks to her left and right and sees thousands of other starfish remaining and he says you know I'm helping save the starfish and she says well why does that matter you can't save them all and he picks up another starfish and he throws it into the ocean he says because it matters to that starfish and uh as you guys heard from my bio I've like always enjoyed working and whine to do big things and work on world changing work and one of the things that just so satisfying at being at Maps is we get to do this work with all these amazing people who you're seeing on this webinar and our staff and supporters and we really do have a chance to like change human history and redefine you know how we can help people how we can really create a movement for Mass mental health but all along this journey we're also helping heal people and helping people find personal growth and the amazing thing for maps for me is we can shoot for the stars and if we just help the people along the way that's pretty good too so when you're thinking about supporting Maps think about how our mission you know has this sort of multi-level approach that we make incremental change with world changing potential thank you appreciate you all joining today thank you so much Chris um I share I share your comments this is incredibly critical right now um to have the support of of all in our community Maps is really on the front line of this movement because of our foundational work in the MDMA research under review we've always been able to do this work thanks to a community that believes in our shared mission of healing um in in the mission of helping each of those individuals donations from our community underpin all of our work reducing stigma providing science-based education and exploring every Avenue that we can to bring psychedelic healing to as many humans as possible um I want to let you know that we'll share a QR code um to support Maps um financially in just a moment um but as as Chris said tell your circle as well about this um if they aren't involved get involved today read an article today this is really the time to join this movement um so thank you all again for joining us today if you're called to support this Mission you'll find the QR code on the screen um you'll also receive a follow-up email from us with key actions including some of these links that we've mentioned um to share out to your communities uh keep an eye out for news from maps and all the movement leading work we're doing to build a post- Prohibition world through August 11th and Beyond um and I think to some of our other colleagues who've been helping out behind the scenes want to come off and just say hello and thank all of you for joining us this evening um we're grateful for an hour of your time um getting to know us a little bit better thanks everyone thanks everyone and shout out to the team that have made this possible Kevin Hela henna Alita Grace and everybody just really appreciate it's really truly a whole a whole crew that makes this possible so thanks all so much thanks ev

At a Glance "The Harvard Psychedelics Project at Harvard Divinity School, a student organization, presented this conference to gather faculty, researchers, and students from across Harvard University to explore their diverse, interdisciplinary, and promising research on psychedelics. Speakers came from across the University’s Schools, units, and departments, including the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Business School, Harvard College, Harvard Divinity School, Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, and POPLAR at the Petrie-Flom Center. This second series of talks featured Franklin King, Yvan Beaussant, Grant Jones, Fernando Espi Forcen, Stephen J. Haggarty, Jeffrey Breau, and Paul Gillis-Smith."

View Video Transcript [Music] I'm a researcher and I work out of a laboratory at the University of British Columbia in Canada. We focus on drugs like cannabis and some psychedelics like LSD and psilocybin mushrooms. I've been really curious how people use these substances to improve their health, so over the past three years, I've teamed up with an international team of scientists to launch the largest study of microdosing. I'm really pumped to be here to tell you what microdosing is, why people are doing it, and a little bit about if it works. Before I jump into that, I want to acknowledge that my University and home, where most of this research has been conducted, is located on the unseated territory of the Silk Okanagan people. If we're talking about using psychedelics as a tool for healing, it's important that we recognize the indigenous people have been the knowledge keepers of these traditions for thousands of years and are the true pioneers in the field. In the timeline of psychedelics, it's only been a pretty small amount of time that Western culture has been around for, but that said, a lot has happened in the past 70 something years. The mind-altering effects of psychedelics helped to shape the counterculture movement of the 1960s, and now scientists are exploring the use of large doses of psychedelics as a tool for curing some really hard-to-treat disorders like post-traumatic stress, depression, and anxiety. If there's one word that characterizes all these different uses of psychedelics, it's big. Big doses are used to create big effects—for a patient going through psychedelic treatment or even your friend on their way to a Grateful Dead concert. Doses are usually big enough to create some sort of trip—you know, colors looking richer, a mystical connection with the universe, or maybe a sprinkling of colors behind closed eyelids. But what I'm here to talk to you about today is not big. In fact, for most psychedelic microdosers, the ideal effects wouldn't create any sort of trip. They'd actually be small enough that they could go about their day doing whatever needs to be done. But even without the trip, psychedelic microdoses appear to be making a real difference in the lives of people taking them. The press is picking up on stories of microdosers who say that the practice has helped with the management of illness or has saved their marriage. Tech gurus in Silicon Valley testify to the productivity boost they get from microdosing, and comedians, musicians, and artists use the practice as part of their creative ritual. True believers are eager to share the wonder of microdosing with the world, but they recognize that the average person wants a scientific stamp of approval before popping LSD on a workday. That said, the microdosing community has gone above and beyond to bring attention to the topic, including roping researchers like myself into it. We've now published two papers that collectively have been downloaded over six hundred thousand times, and it's all thanks to the microdosing community that called out for research and volunteered their time to push science forward. With all the enthusiasm, it's hard not to get swept up into the excitement of microdosing. But still, I like to wade into these topics with some genuine curiosity because there's a lot we don't know. So let's start with what we do know. Our study recruited over 12,000 microdosing participants and thousands more that weren't microdosing so that we could compare the two groups to find out who is microdosing, what they're doing, why they're doing it, and how it's working out for them. Microdosers joined in from across the world, but the majority came from North America, Europe, and Australia. In general, they didn't look all that different from the people that weren't microdosing, except for maybe being a little bit older and from urban areas. As for what it is, people in our study were microdosing with a few different things, including what are sometimes lovingly referred to as magic mushrooms, which contain the psychedelic ingredient psilocybin, and some other psychedelics like LSD, MDMA, ketamine, and MDMA. But for the most part, people were using either LSD or psilocybin mushrooms. Microdosers have a few different ways of going about their practice, but most commonly, people are taking these psychedelic substances in small doses. Now, even from what I told you, you could tell that the way people are using these substances is very different from what we normally think of as drug use and really better fits with how someone might take a vitamin or a supplement. In our study, microdosers mostly said they started the practice for health reasons, like to reduce stress or to improve cognition, like the computer programmer that takes a dose at the start of the day to improve their focus. Interestingly, the number one reason our participants said they got into the practice was for mindfulness, which really helps to point to this kind of shared wellness intention across all microdoses. For many, this practice is used as an aid for managing mental health. In fact, one study found that some microdosers reported that it was even more effective than conventional treatments for things like depression and anxiety. So when we designed our study, it was really important that we build in a focus on mental health. And microdosing is a practice that happens over weeks, not days, so we tracked things like depression, anxiety, and stress over the span of a month. So how do microdoses mental health change over the course of our study? To answer this question, we took a look at just the people that were microdosing with psilocybin mushrooms. What we found is that over the span of a month, microdosers were in a better mood, were less depressed, less anxious, and less stressed than the people that weren't engaging in the practice. Now, with so many people microdosing for cognitive enhancement and brain health, we felt it's important that we took a look at this area as well. So what we did is we included some measures of cognitive ability, one of which is called the fingertap test. And yes, it's exactly what it sounds like—we asked participants to tap their fingers onto their phone. As simple as it is, this test makes a pretty good proxy for brain health and has been used to spot diseases like Parkinson's. We gave this tap test to everyone in our study, but our brains really change as we get older, so we are sure to look at younger and older people separately. What we found is the same pattern as with mental health—microdosers' tap scores grew more over the course of the study than people that weren't microdosing. But interestingly, this was especially true for the people that were over the age of 55, which really helps to point to the potential of microdosing to be making its biggest impact as we age. I mentioned earlier that microdosers tend to have a few different ways of going about their practice. Well, one thing that we picked up on in our study is that more than half of our microdosing participants said that they were combining their psychedelic substances with other non-psychedelic substances in a process called stacking. So what were people mixing together? Well, mostly it was natural products with corresponding health benefits, like cacao (the raw version of chocolate), which is mixed in for mood and mental health, or Lion's Mane mushrooms that are often put into the mix because they've been suggested to help protect our brains. With all these different combinations appearing, how do we know that what we found is related to the psychedelics and not due to these additional stack substances? So what we did is we compared our microdosers that were using only psilocybin mushrooms to the ones that stacked with the popular combination consisting of Lion's Mane mushrooms and niacin. And although all microdoses, stacked and non, were related to more improvement than doing nothing, the stack combination came out on top for top score improvement over the month of our study. So from what it looks like here, the stack combination may have actually been helping to boost some of these microdosing benefits. These are just the first things to come out of our study, but many questions remain. At the forefront of these is how expectations might be playing into our findings. Our studies show that microdosers were doing better over time, but is that mostly due to the fact that they thought they were going to get better when they started the study? We didn't tell anyone in the study to start microdosing or to not, so anyone that did probably started because they thought it was going to work. So how much of this mental health and cognition boost that we found is really related to microdosing, and how much of it is due to a placebo effect, where our participants started doing better because they expected to? Future studies are on their way to unpacking these questions, and the ones that are emerging are working closely with the microdosing community to develop new ways to approach the placebo effect in this context. For me, as a clinical scientist, it's not my job to say whether microdosing is good or bad but rather to find ways to walk alongside this group as they find their path to wellness. Our study asked the question: why are you microdosing? The resounding response from participants was to be more mindful, and I think the same applies here. Every day, people are becoming increasingly more mindful of their health decisions. Those of you that are empowered to be more thoughtful about your wellness and your approach to scientific information are bridging the gap that separates science from the public. That will hopefully bring us into a future where researchers and the public can work alongside each other to identify and solve problems. Thank you. [Applause] At a Glance Thousands of people around the world have begun to the practice of microdosing psychedelics, like LSD and psilocybin, for its proposed health benefits. Clinical Scientist, Joseph Rootman, collaborated with an international team of researchers to deploy the largest study of psychedelic microdosing to date. He will guide listeners through the findings of this study and introduce them to the who, what, and why of this new and interesting practice. Joseph Rootman is a PhD candidate in the clinical Psychology program at the University of British Columbia. He works under the supervision of Dr. Zach Walsh as part of the Therapeutic, Recreational, and Problematic Substance use lab with a research focus in the therapeutic potential of cannabis and psychedelics such as psilocybin, LSD and Ketamine. Joseph is lead author on two recent publications in Nature: Scientific Reports which highlight the potential therapeutic benefits of psychedelic microdosing on mood, mental health, and cognition. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. TEDxLimassol TEDxLimassol hosted a talk highlighting the therapeutic potential of psychedelics in treating mental health conditions, emphasizing their ability to induce profound and lasting changes in patients. These discussions are crucial as they challenge traditional views on mental health treatment and pave the way for innovative approaches that offer hope to those who have found little relief from conventional therapies. TEDxLimassol's platform amplifies research findings and personal testimonies, fostering broader awareness and acceptance of psychedelics as a viable option in modern medicine.

View Video Transcript [Music] [Applause] When I say things like ayahuasca, LSD, or magic mushrooms, what comes to your mind? You might think about vibrant neon colors, visual distortions, wild partying, and if you're my age—I see a few people in the audience who are—you might think of flower power, the '60s, and you might even remember the song "White Rabbit." "One pill makes you larger and one pill makes you small." I actually wanted to sing that but I don't want to ruin your afternoon, so I'll just say it out loud. You may have heard stories about people jumping out of buildings or running around naked in the streets, but maybe at the end of the day, I can convince you that psychedelics have a way more important role to play. They may actually hold the key to helping a lot of people who are suffering from mental health conditions. We are living in an era of a mental health crisis. I think, like you, you see it all around you—I see it all around me in my friends, my family, my colleagues, and increasingly at the university where I work. I see it in my students as well. They have great difficulty in coping with the demands and expectations that are put onto them. A recent report from the World Health Organization stated that 1.3 billion people in the world are suffering from mental health conditions. Research at the World Economic Forum has calculated that the total cost of mental health, nowadays, by 2030 is estimated to rise to $6 trillion. To put it in perspective, that is more than the cost for cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory illnesses combined. So, it's clearly a huge problem in our society. Take my friend Sam, for example, who I've known since he was a child. Ever since adolescence, he has been suffering from depression, which basically means that every day is a struggle for him to get through life. He has difficulty sleeping, trouble waking up, he hardly ever eats, and when he does, it's usually not very healthy. Basically, his whole life revolves around the depression—he hardly has any joy, and everything he does feels like a chore. In a way, you could say he looks at the world through a glass darkly. He told me one of his biggest problems is what he calls his inner critic—a voice in his head that he has known since childhood and continuously criticizes and puts him down. He said the only way he can deal with that is by avoiding anything that is remotely challenging or out of the ordinary, just trying to get on with the day. You probably have such people in your environment as well, in your family or friends. So, why is it that mental health conditions put such a burden on patients, their loved ones, and society as a whole? Well, one of the main reasons is that we have not very good tools to help those patients and to treat them. Sam, for example, has been treated with all kinds of different antidepressants for at least 10 years, and it doesn't really help him much. Sam is not alone; conservative estimates suggest that about 30 to 40% of all patients do not respond properly to antidepressant treatment. For those who do, we know that it takes 6 to 8 weeks when you start therapy before you see any meaningful improvement. When you do, you will have to take the medication basically for the rest of your life—if you don't, then in most patients, the depression will come back with a vengeance once you stop taking the medication. Okay, so why do we think that psychedelics may make any meaningful improvement, and what are psychedelics anyway? Well, the word psychedelic comes from the Greek word psyche, meaning soul or mind, and deloun, which means to manifest. The idea is, and it implies, that psychedelics can manifest or unfold hitherto unexpected potential of your mind. In a way, you could say it might allow you to see the world through a glass less darkly, more transparent. Now, psychedelics have been around for a long period of time, probably since thousands of years. Psychedelic plants like psychedelic mushrooms and peyote cactuses have been used in ceremonial settings. But research into the effect of psychedelics in the Western world started in the 1950s, the last century. Unfortunately, due to a number of different reasons that we don't have time to go into, in the 1960s, the political climate changed, and as a result, in 1968, the possession of psilocybin and psychedelics in general was made illegal, and all research came to a screeching halt. That is until about 15 years ago when several different groups of researchers started to become interested in the therapeutic potential of psychedelics again. Typically, what those procedures are, it is a combination of one or maybe two doses of a psychedelic drug, typically psilocybin but sometimes LSD, together with psychological support. Psychological support before you take the drug, while you're taking the drug, and after it—a concept that we call psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. The results so far have been intriguing and, I dare to say, baffling. For example, a very famous study that was done at Imperial College in London where they took 20 patients who, like Sam, were what we call therapy-resistant—so they had been given three or four different antidepressant drugs and nothing helped. They were given two doses of psilocybin, one with a one-week interval between them, and their depressive symptoms were evaluated throughout the study. What the study showed was that within a week, the symptoms were dramatically reduced. Both the clinicians and the patients themselves said the symptoms were dramatically reduced. But more impressive, at least for me, was that the study lasted for 6 months. After 6 months, at the end of the study, the symptoms were still dramatically reduced—6 months after the drug was taken. So, how is it possible that symptoms can have such a long-term beneficial effect long after the drug has disappeared from the body? But before we can answer that question, we first have to make sure that is actually replicable. It could be just a one-off. So, let me show you one more study. This was a study done at New York University in New York City, and what they did here was they looked at depressive and anxiety symptoms in patients with life-threatening illnesses. Many were suffering from terminal cancer. The format was very simple, very similar to the previous study, except that they only got one dose of psilocybin, and they followed those patients. Within a day, depression and actually anxiety symptoms were dramatically reduced, and again, it lasted for 6 months. Actually, it lasted longer; the same patients were followed up several years later, and as you can see here, 4 and a half years later, after this one dose of psilocybin, the patients still had a 60% reduction in anxiety and depressive symptoms. How is that possible? Well, the short answer is we don't know. Sorry, but I'll try and make it a little longer. It's not so surprising, you know, how complicated the brain is. But what we have learned about the brain in the last 10 or 15 years has been quite amazing, and it's very has changed our view of the brain. What we now know is that the brain is way more dynamic than we ever thought it to be. Actually, by the time you go home today, your brain will be different from what it was this morning. Your heart, your liver, your lung will all be the same, but your brain will be different. That's easy to explain because let's say next week, for instance, you might see me on the street, and hopefully, you'll recognize me. That's because your brain cells are now making new connections, and with a bit of luck, you might even remember something about psychedelics and how interesting they can be. Because that means they did a good job. So, your brain cells are continuously changing and continuously changing the way they talk with each other. And that has led to the idea that our behavior is determined by functional connections between different brain regions that we call networks—functional connections within the network and between those networks. And we have a number of different networks. One of them that I am very interested in is what is called the salience network. That's basically the network that allows you to direct your attention to what is important. And again, you can imagine that that must be very flexible because now, hopefully, you will pay attention to me because I'm important—well, a little bit. But in an hour's time, you'll get hungry, and you'll be paying much more attention to the restaurants around you. So, you see how these cells continuously have to change their connectivity and the way they talk with each other. Now, the most intriguing of those networks is what we call the default mode network. That's the network that's active when we are awake but at rest—so, we're not doing anything. And we think that that network allows us to think about ourselves and reflect upon ourselves and our world. So, how do psychedelics influence that? I'll try to explain that with a diagram. The different colors here are the different networks, so we have a number of different networks, and the thickness of the line tells you how well those cells within the network communicate with each other. Under normal conditions, you see a lot of activity within networks, but not so much activity between networks. Now, if you give psilocybin, you see a completely different picture. First of all, the connections within the network become weaker, but the connections between the networks become a lot stronger. Interestingly, especially within the default mode network, that network becomes much less active. The salience network and the visual network—those networks become more active, and the communication between those networks becomes much stronger. So, we think that the drug actually shifts the connectivity between different networks and thereby allows you to see the world in a different way, through a glass less darkly and more transparent. And it's not only our idea; the patients who have gone through this therapy say exactly the same. They say, "I don't know what happened to me, but I have the feeling I'm not stuck anymore in my old way of thinking. I have the feeling I can look at the world in a different way and move on." And that brings me back to Sam. Sam is in the process of getting a different kind of therapy now, a trial, a clinical trial with psychedelics. And he told me, "You know, for the first time in years, I have the feeling there is light at the end of the tunnel. For the first time in years, I can actually imagine how my life could be different. I don't have the feeling anymore that I'm completely on my own with this problem, but I have the feeling that together, we can solve it." And that, for me, is a very powerful testimony of the therapeutic potential of psychedelics. Thank you. [Applause] At a Glance In a world where mental health problems are on the rise, Dr. Bart Ellenbroek is exploring how psychedelic drugs may revolutionise the way we think about mental disorders and the brain. In this talk at TEDxMount Victoria (https://www.tedxmountvictoria.com), he shares the results of various studies and why psychedelic drugs is a promising area of research. Born in the Netherlands and having lived and worked in Saudi Arabia and Germany, Dr. Ellenbroek is a neuroscientist and Professor at Victoria University of Wellington. Fascinated by the brain and its flexibility, he has been working in behavioural neuroscience for over 35 years. His research primarily focuses on the development of mental health problems and how genes, adverse childhood experiences, and drugs shape both our brains and behaviours. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. TEDxMount Victoria TEDxMount Victoria is significant in exploring the potential of psychedelics in medicine, emphasizing their transformative effects on mental health and personal growth. This platform fosters dialogue on novel treatment approaches, highlighting promising research from leading institutions. It aims to challenge stigma and accelerate understanding of psychedelics' therapeutic potential, shaping future healthcare paradigms.

View Video Transcript Do you wonder what treatments physicians use and prescribe today that will one day be perceived as outdated with the lens and perspective of the future? Who here has heard of Ignaz Semmelweis? Semmelweis was a German-Hungarian scientist and physician in the 1840s who maintained some pretty controversial theories and ideas for his era. His wild idea? That microscopic organisms, unseen by the naked eye, could serve as the source of spreading infection. He was committed to an insane asylum by his colleagues for his radical ideas, where he was beaten and ultimately died before Louis Pasteur was able to confirm germ theory shortly thereafter. Now, we are all well aware how hand-washing and sterilization techniques can limit the spread of infection. It begs the question: what sorts of treatments and medical discoveries exist today that are being dismissed and overlooked? What sorts of treatments do we currently accept as appropriate that will one day be rendered ineffective or even harmful? With current and modern perspective, many medical treatments of the past seem primitive and, in some cases, even barbaric. From the Neolithic era, trepanation was an act of drilling a hole in the skull, exposing the brain to air so that evil spirits could escape. Five centuries ago, barbers were serving as surgeons, performing bloodletting, for which the well-recognized red and white barber pole that we see today derives its symbolism, representing blood and bandages. As recent as the 1940s, lobotomies were considered cutting-edge treatment for mental illness, in which the founding physician earned a Nobel Prize. This was a procedure in which an ice pick was inserted into the eye socket with the aid of a hammer to separate connections in the brain. Early in my career as a neurologist, I was struck by how common it is for patients to present with functional symptoms of disease without any clear underlying cause to suggest a diagnosis. I would consult with patients complaining of weakness, numbness, vision changes, difficulty walking, and complex pain syndromes. Yet the batteries of testing, dedicated neuroimaging, and even spinal taps all result as normal. There is a phenomenon well-published in the medical literature called conversion, in which, if a patient suffers and then suppresses emotional, sexual, or otherwise mental trauma, real physical symptoms can manifest out of the control of the affected individual. Often, these patients' symptoms will improve with talk therapy and antidepressant medication, rather than providing them antibiotics or subjecting them to unnecessary surgeries. Thoughts are powerful. They can serve as the seed and root of many of our problems and, ironically, may have the potential to serve as the cure. Is electroconvulsive therapy, essentially electrocution, really the best option we have at our disposal for tough-to-treat depression? Is there any other instance in medicine, outside of the psychiatry realm, where we invite the patient to commit to months and years of a particular treatment plan, with only some having complete resolution and healing from that trauma? That standard isn't acceptable when we think about treating and promoting healing for a physical wound or injury, and yet, we expect psychiatric patients to commit to years of cognitive behavioral therapy in the hopes that benefit is obtained. Talk therapy has been proven to break bad patterns of thought that lead to problems and to learn new ways of thinking to solve problems and promote healing. But progress is slow. Imagine if we could harness the power of cognitive behavioral therapy but accelerate the process and expedite results. As a doctor, I find it puzzling that modern medicine separates neurology and psychiatry into separate disciplines, as if the brain is not one organ. We’ve learned so much about the body and other organ systems, and yet the brain serves as the final frontier. What will it take for society to consider mental health as a part of whole health? There’s a new treatment avenue currently gaining a lot of attention, with tons of novel dedicated research starting to enter the mainstream. Some perceive this medicine as controversial, while others regard it as pioneering. Regardless of where you stand with your initial impressions or preconceived notions, there is mounting evidence to support this group of therapeutics as having profound and long-lasting benefits for our mental health. Let’s talk about psychedelics. It was during World War II in Basel, Switzerland, when Alfred Hofmann, the chemist who synthesized LSD in his lab, imbibed a dose to experience the first proverbial acid trip. LSD is chemically very similar to the serotonin molecule, the feel-good hormone. In the coming years, scientists would discover similar compounds that exist within nature, such as mescaline in the peyote cactus and DMT, found within tropical plants used in the psychoactive drink ayahuasca. It was ten years from Hofmann’s discovery that R. Gordon Wasson identified strains of psilocybin in the mountains of Mexico that would be recognized as the active chemical in magic mushrooms. These compounds, when ingested, can have effects on our brain for anywhere between 3 to 12 hours, depending on the drug and dose. It wouldn’t be until the 1960s that psychology researchers at Harvard, Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert, would establish the foundation for psychedelics as potential treatment for mental health disease states. With the backdrop of the Vietnam War and widespread anti-war protests, Richard Nixon deemed psychedelics to be part of a counterculture movement that was a threat to his administration. That forced all research investigating psychedelics to shut down, rendering mescaline, psilocybin, DMT, and LSD as illegal Schedule I drugs. It wasn’t until 2006 that Roland Griffiths and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins University penned the seminal paper titled "Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance." That is quite a provocative title for medical literature standards and re-ignited an entire field of study devoted to investigating a group of restricted therapeutics in the psychedelics class. From this point forward, what was once considered taboo may now serve as one of the most promising and impactful methods of treatment for mental health disease states. Novel safety data has demonstrated that psychedelics, contrary to 1960s reports, do not carry toxicity nor lead to physical dependence. In Griffiths' study, he and his colleagues recruited a group of healthy volunteers to ingest one dose of psilocybin. From this study, the majority of participants enrolled rated their experience a year later as being among one of the most spiritually significant or personally meaningful experiences in their entire lifetime. People were able to change their perceptions and create powerful new ways of thinking. An important and interesting discovery was regarding intention. In the psychedelic experience, the journey is heavily influenced by set and setting, that is, one’s mindset and the physical setting that they are in. For this reason, it is often that there is a shaman or a guide to assist with the curation of the psychedelic experience. Ground control, so to speak. Guides will often provide music and encourage the use of blindfolds to minimize external stimuli and allow the patient to turn their focus inward. Since the Hopkins study, researchers at some of the most preeminent academic institutions in the world are now researching and studying psychedelics. Oxford, NYU, Harvard Mass General, Baylor, UCSF, and Johns Hopkins are just some of these institutions looking at MDMA, the active component in ecstasy, as well as psilocybin, DMT, and LSD as potential treatments for states of anxiety, addiction, depression, and PTSD. Quite dissimilar from the way in which these drugs were used in the '60s and '70s, there is now a more targeted approach and a way in which to offer these medications in a controlled clinical setting. In one study, psilocybin helped two-thirds of smokers enrolled quit smoking cigarettes for at least a year. That is the most successful smoking cessation treatment ever studied. In 2014, a network was identified in the brain as the default mode network. These regions make up what psychologists refer to as the ego or sense of self. These interconnected areas are very active in states of anxiety and depression, yet temporarily are inhibited when under the influence of psychedelics. A dedicated meditation practice can also tap into and inhibit the default mode network, in which mindfulness allows for personal discovery and promotes growth. Think of your mind as a snow-covered hill in which your thoughts are sleds. Over time, the grooves are dug deeper and deeper, making it difficult to escape the paths that are created. These paths are representative of our internal dialogue, which then become ingrained. Psychedelics allow for a fresh round of snow, so to speak, to be laid so that new paths, thoughts, connections, and interpretations can be made. Perhaps this is the reason why psychedelics are so effective at treating the ruminating thoughts that are commonly seen in states of anxiety, addiction, and depression. Imagine if we could harness the power of our thoughts to promote healing, rather than allowing them to instill harm. Please, join me in raising your hand if you have suffered anxiety or depression in your own life. Integration is a critical component to maximizing the potential benefit garnered by the psychedelic experience. Once consciousness returns to its baseline state, the patient must work to understand and interpret what was encountered on the journey. The real homework starts then to try to apply what was learned and discovered to day-to-day life. The preliminary results from these drugs are fascinating and that the effects from just one dose can be so profound and long-lasting. Patients are given an opportunity to have an experience in which their mind is open to possibility. The chance to work through a prior trauma or see something with new light. That is very different from the current standard of care for treating mental health, which implements daily medication regimens and necessitates years of intense cognitive behavioral therapy. There is still much work to be done. These medications are not without risk and are not for everyone. Certain screening measures should be put into place to identify those who may be at risk of developing psychosis or other adverse reactions when taking these drugs. While the field of research is promising, it is still early, and so for this reason, we need more high-quality randomized controlled trials. If the early and preliminary results are indicative of the potential impact that these medications have, we need to accelerate the process and offer treatment to those who are suffering from states of mental health. So, I leave you with this: if given the opportunity, would you ever try psychedelics for any reason? Why or why not? At a Glance "Psychedelics as medicine to treat mental health disease has had a recent resurgence of attention and dedicated research, with encouraging results. Could this class of drugs serve as a paradigm shift in the way mindfulness therapy and mental health is approached? Compounds like LSD, DMT, psilocybin, and MDMA are investigated as treatments for states of anxiety, depression, PTSD, and addiction. Listeners are challenged to question their preconceived notions and judgements as it pertains to this group of restricted therapeutics in the psychedelic class. Burton J. Tabaac, MD FAHABurton is an associate professor of neurology at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, dedicated to the cutting-edge treatment and prevention of cerebrovascular diseases. He is a graduate of the fellowship program in vascular neurology at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore, MD (2019). After graduating from AUC School of Medicine, where he earned his MD (2014), Tabaac completed a neurology residency at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson in New Brunswick, NJ. There, he was humbled to have been selected as a three-time recipient of The Arnold P. Gold Foundation’s Humanism and Excellence in Teaching Award (2016, 2017, and 2018). This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community." TEDxUCLA TEDxUCLA is an independently organized TED event hosted by the University of California, Los Angeles, featuring a diverse range of speakers and topics. It is important to psychedelic medicine as it provides a platform for experts to share groundbreaking research and insights into the therapeutic potential of psychedelics, helping to foster public awareness and acceptance. By highlighting scientific advancements and personal stories, TEDxUCLA contributes to the growing discourse on integrating psychedelic therapies into mainstream healthcare.

View Video Transcript Seven thousand years ago, a painter entered a cave in the Sahara Desert in the southern part of Algeria and painted a shaman with a bee head and mushrooms growing out of the body. Those mushrooms are psilocybin mushrooms, or what we call magic mushrooms. This painting is early evidence of the use of that medicine, starting in the Sahara Desert. Amazingly, as archaeologists continue to look throughout Asia, Africa, and southern Europe, they saw similar versions of that painting throughout those parts of the world. I bring this up not because this is old history and interesting, but because we owe a great debt of gratitude going back seven millennia to those early healers whose inheritance we were given. Today, as we explore the potential use of psychedelic or natural medicines for mental health care, three streams of reality are coming together, bringing us to a place where this investigation can be raised up as it has been in the last decade or so. One stream is the increasing mental health crisis. Several reasons contribute to this crisis. One is inequitable access to care, which is a social policy issue that has not yet been addressed. Additionally, there are few treatment options that significantly transform a person struggling with mental illness, so their suffering and struggle can dissolve in a meaningful way. Due to the intractable number of mental health conditions, such as depression, PTSD, eating disorders, and other struggles, there is motivation to look for other ways to provide help and support to people in this situation. The second stream is the fact that, over the last decade, a new wave of interest in how psychedelic medicines could serve a role in creating a healing environment for struggling people has emerged. This interest grew due to the persistence of a few researchers and scientists, which has now expanded to a significantly larger number. The third stream of activity is the incredibly quick move toward legalizing the use of these psychedelic medicines in various ways. Psilocybin, used to treat depression, will be legal in Oregon starting January 2024 and in Colorado about a year after that. MDMA, known to many as ecstasy, is now in its phase three clinical trials around the world. These trials, approved by the Food and Drug Administration, showed great promise in working with PTSD. Two visionary researchers at the Veterans Administration in the Bronx, New York, convinced the FDA to allow these trials to address PTSD, something traditional therapies were not effectively addressing. Due to the VA's influence, these trials were undertaken. However, there are 20 million people in the United States with a PTSD diagnosis, most of whom did not serve in the military, highlighting the significant need for support for this population. This is not a miracle without risk or uncertainty, but the promise of the impact of these medicines is significant. A high percentage of people who used MDMA in these clinical trials, as opposed to those who used a placebo, do not have diagnosable PTSD symptoms following the trial therapy. This is a remarkable result worth investigating further. This is a complex topic with much controversy, concern, and fear. We must get it right this time. Sixty-five years ago, when Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert (known as Ram Dass) at Harvard were working with LSD, there was great promise. However, Dr. Leary went too far in evangelizing the use of LSD, and his phrase "tune in, turn on, drop out" was not the best way to discuss serious scientific study. Now, we are working with substances like psilocybin and MDMA, and for many millions of people, these substances are either a joke or something to be feared due to past difficult reactions or observations of others' experiences. In this ecosystem of research, we must treat the research as seriously as possible, with clear science and metrics. While the move toward legalization and acceptance is quick, we must be deliberate. One way to be deliberate is to ensure a level of humility surrounds the research, recognizing that our ancestors began exploring the impact of these medicines 7,000 years ago. We must be open to learning from the oral traditions of indigenous communities worldwide. Historically, it was common for medical practitioners and spiritual healers to be the same person. Only in the last 200 years have the sciences of medicine and the mystery of the spiritual experience separated. Now, there is an opportunity for these to come back together. Researchers are doing traditional science research, adjusting molecules, and hoping to create substances with a particular impact. However, we are also talking about a healing journey, much like a spiritual journey, requiring set and setting. Set refers to the mindset, where clinicians work with patients well before the medicine journey to set expectations and prepare for the experience. Setting refers to the physical space, which should be nurturing and calming, not like a typical exam room. Clinicians must be present, dropping preconceptions and entering the situation with an open mind. Patients may have varied experiences during the medicine journey, and clinicians must be able to hold the space and support the patient. With the success of MDMA trials, it's likely that MDMA will be federally approved for use across the country within a year. The state-by-state legalization of psilocybin is progressing slowly. Once MDMA can be prescribed, we will have an opportunity to create an ecosystem of healing. However, this requires equitable access to medicine, sufficient training opportunities for clinical practitioners, and a distributed model of care. We must also respect and learn from the wisdom of indigenous communities, ensuring we are allies and not appropriators. There is tremendous risk and opportunity in this new frontier. Everyone can share in this work, whether directly in the healing process, policy process, or ensuring the sacred and science come together again. In Colorado, we are at the epicenter of this work, making mistakes and having successes, providing an opportunity for all of us to take advantage of this new frontier. Thank you. At a Glance "Charles Lief's TEDxBoulder talk delves into the historical roots of psychedelic medicine, tracing back 7,000 years to ancient healers depicted in cave paintings using substances like psilocybin mushrooms. He emphasizes the convergence of three contemporary factors: a growing mental health crisis, a resurgence in psychedelic medicine research, and the movement towards legalization. Lief discusses promising results from clinical trials, especially with MDMA in treating PTSD, and highlights the need for a balanced and cautious approach, drawing on the wisdom of indigenous communities and ensuring equitable access. Charles Lief became the 7th president of Naropa University in 2012, and has been an active member of the Naropa Community since its founding in 1974 – as lawyer, member, and chair of the Board of Trustees. He has led some of the country’s most innovative and successful organizations providing integrated social enterprises and social services, including the Greyston Foundation, the AIDS HMO Amida Care, and the Hartland Group, which together provided essential housing, health care, and employment to thousands of low-income people in the Northeast. He has served in leadership capacities on the boards of the Social Enterprise Alliance, Lion’s Roar Magazine, Bridge House, the Intervale Center, the Vermont Community Loan Fund, the New York State Governor’s task force on AIDS, and many others. He earned a BA from Brandeis University and a JD from the University of Colorado School of Law. Under his leadership Naropa University, established on a model that infuses contemplative pedagogy and compassion training across the curriculum, has developed strategic partnerships to deepen its impact on its students and on the world by offering bachelor and master degrees. Naropa’s Graduate School of Counseling Psychology matriculates more Master’s level counseling psychologists than any other university in Colorado. Naropa also offers certificates and professional development credentials including Mindfulness Instructor training, compassion training, chaplaincy, and most recently through the creation of the Naropa Center for Psychedelic Studies. Chuck’s TEDxBoulder talk focuses on the emerging ecosystem of natural medicines (psychedelics) as increasingly proven vehicles to address the mental health crisis, and the intersection of therapeutic use with the millennia of sacred uses by indigenous societies around the globe. His wife Judy Lief is an internationally known Buddhist teacher and author. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community." TEDxBoulder TEDxBoulder is an independently organized TED event held in Boulder, Colorado, featuring a diverse array of speakers who share innovative ideas across various fields. The event is important to psychedelic medicine because it provides a platform for researchers and advocates to present groundbreaking studies and developments in the use of psychedelics for mental health treatment. These presentations help raise awareness, reduce stigma, and promote informed discussions about the potential benefits of psychedelic therapies.

This video is from the ABC News YouTube Channel, posted February 21st, 2024. For more videos from this channel, click here: https://www.youtube.com/@ABCNe... Description: "The Therapeutic Goods Administration made a ground-breaking medical decision when Australia became the first country in the world to allow the therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs. But the decision has so far had little practical effect in our health system. Peter McCutcheon reports." For more in depth news videos from ABC News, visit the YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@ABCNe...

Video is from the UC Davis YouTube Channel, from the Psychedelic Summit in 2023 which can be accessed here: https://www.youtube.com/@UCDav... Description: Dr. David Lubarsky, UC Davis Health's CEO and chancellor of Human Health Sciences, kicks off the 2023 Psychedelic Summit by discussing the promise of psychedelics in medicine. The UC Davis Psychedelic Summit brought together national experts to explore what the rapidly evolving field of psychedelics and neurotherapeutics may mean for neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. These new treatment types may hold promise for anxiety, depression, substance use, obsessive-compulsive and post-traumatic stress disorders, among others. The event was hosted by the UC Davis Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, the UC Davis Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics, and the UC Davis Behavioral Health Center for Excellence. To watch more recordings from this conference, visit the UC Davis Psychedelic Summit playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playli...

Video is from the UC Davis YouTube Channel, from the Psychedelic Summit in 2023 which can be accessed here: https://www.youtube.com/@UCDav... Description: Fred Barrett, Ph.D., Associate Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research, discusses "The Cognitive Neuroscience of Psychedelic Drugs." The lecture was recorded March 23, 2023, at the Psychedelic Summit on the UC Davis Health campus in Sacramento, California. The UC Davis Psychedelic Summit brought together national experts to explore what the rapidly evolving field of psychedelics and neurotherapeutics may mean for neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. These new treatment types may hold promise for anxiety, depression, substance use, obsessive-compulsive and post-traumatic stress disorders, among others. The event was hosted by the UC Davis Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, the UC Davis Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics, and the UC Davis Behavioral Health Center for Excellence.To watch more recordings from this conference, visit the UC Davis Psychedelic Summit playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playli...

Video is from the nature video YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... Description:  "In a recent study, volunteers were given psychedelic drugs and had their brains scanned in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine. The scientists conducting the research wanted to gain a better understanding of consciousness and find out what the brain is actually doing when it experiences consciousness.By disrupting the way the brain perceives and models the world while we're awake with psychedelic drugs such as DMT, researchers can try to understand how the conscious brain works.Studying the effects of psychedelics might be key not only to understand how consciousness works, but also to treat some of the problems that can affect our waking lives, with psychedelics being proposed as treatments for depression, anxiety and addiction."For more videos from this creator, visit the nature video YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@Natur...

Description from the Psychedelic Support YouTube Channel: "Psychedelic Support hosted this conversation on May 13th, 2022 with integrative mental health professional and psychedelic facilitator, Dr. Erica Zelfand. We explored the the interplay between antidepressant medications and psilocybin. We reviewed the pharmacology of these substances and consider new research on how clinicians can understand and utilize modern psychedelic research to assist clients."

Description from the Psychedelic Support YouTube Channel: "Psychedelic Support hosted this conversation on May 13th, 2022 with integrative mental health professional and psychedelic facilitator, Dr. Erica Zelfand. We explored the the interplay between antidepressant medications and psilocybin. We reviewed the pharmacology of these substances and consider new research on how clinicians can understand and utilize modern psychedelic research to assist clients."

This video is from the UC Davis Psychedelic Summit in 2023. Description from the UC Davis Health YouTube channel: "Dhakshin Ramanathan, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor in residency for psychiatry at @UCSanDiego, discusses "Beyond Psychedelics: Augmenting Mood Enhancing Effects with Personalized Plasticity-Based Interventions." The lecture was recorded March 23, 2023, at the Psychedelic Summit on the UC Davis Health campus in Sacramento, California. The UC Davis Psychedelic Summit brought together national experts to explore what the rapidly evolving field of psychedelics and neurotherapeutics may mean for neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. These new treatment types may hold promise for anxiety, depression, substance use, obsessive-compulsive and post-traumatic stress disorders, among others. The event was hosted by the UC Davis Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, the UC Davis Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics, and the UC Davis Behavioral Health Center for Excellence." Click Here for the Full Series of Recordings

This video is from the UC Davis Psychedelic Summit in 2023. Description from the UC Davis Health YouTube channel: "Harriet De Wit, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at the University of Chicago (@UChicago), discusses "Microdosing: Fact or Fiction." The lecture was recorded March 23, 2023, at the Psychedelic Summit on the UC Davis Health campus in Sacramento, California. The UC Davis Psychedelic Summit brought together national experts to explore what the rapidly evolving field of psychedelics and neurotherapeutics may mean for neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. These new treatment types may hold promise for anxiety, depression, substance use, obsessive-compulsive and post-traumatic stress disorders, among others. The event was hosted by the UC Davis Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, the UC Davis Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics, and the UC Davis Behavioral Health Center for Excellence."Click Here for the Full Series of Recordings

This video is from the UC Davis Psychedelic Summit in 2023. Description from the UC Davis Health YouTube channel: "Josh Woolley, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at UC San Francisco (@ucsf), discusses the topic "Researching Psilocybin Therapy: Current Challenges and Future Prospects." The lecture was recorded March 23, 2023, at the Psychedelic Summit on the UC Davis Health campus in Sacramento, California. The UC Davis Psychedelic Summit brought together national experts to explore what the rapidly evolving field of psychedelics and neurotherapeutics may mean for neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. These new treatment types may hold promise for anxiety, depression, substance use, obsessive-compulsive and post-traumatic stress disorders, among others. The event was hosted by the UC Davis Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, the UC Davis Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics, and the UC Davis Behavioral Health Center for Excellence." Click Here for the Full Series of Recordings

This video is from the UC Davis Psychedelic Summit in 2023. Description from the UC Davis Health YouTube channel: "Mark Geyer, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Neurosciences Emeritus at @UCSanDiego, discusses the topic "Neuropsychedelia: From Psychotomimetic to Psychotherapeutics." The lecture was recorded March 23, 2023, at the Psychedelic Summit on the UC Davis Health campus in Sacramento, California. The UC Davis Psychedelic Summit brought together national experts to explore what the rapidly evolving field of psychedelics and neurotherapeutics may mean for neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. These new treatment types may hold promise for anxiety, depression, substance use, obsessive compulsive and post-traumatic stress disorders, among others. The event was hosted by the UC Davis Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, the UC Davis Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics, and the UC Davis Behavioral Health Center for Excellence."Click Here for the Full Series of Recordings

This video is from the UC Davis Psychedelic Summit in 2023. Description from the UC Davis Health YouTube channel: "David Olson, Ph.D., Director of the UC Davis Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics, discusses "Psychedelics and Plasticity-Promoting Neurotherapeutics." The lecture was recorded March 23, 2023, at the Psychedelic Summit on the UC Davis Health campus in Sacramento, California. The UC Davis Psychedelic Summit brought together national experts to explore what the rapidly evolving field of psychedelics and neurotherapeutics may mean for neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. These new treatment types may hold promise for anxiety, depression, substance use, obsessive-compulsive and post-traumatic stress disorders, among others. The event was hosted by the UC Davis Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, the UC Davis Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics, and the UC Davis Behavioral Health Center for Excellence."Click Here for the Full Series of Recordings

Video description from CBS News: The National YouTube channel: "A handful of Canadians have legally used magic mushrooms, or psilocybin, to treat mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression and cope with dying. Advocates say it could revolutionize mental health treatment, but researchers want to find out whether a psychedelic trip is needed to see benefits from the treatment."

Description from the Harvard Law School YouTube Channel: "In "Psychedelics Legislation and Regulation," panelists discussed emerging state and federal psychedelics legislation, drug policy reform, and the oversight of psychedelics research and development by administrative agencies. Dr. Mason Marks, senior fellow and project lead of POPLAR at the Petrie-Flom Center, moderated the panel which included; Senator Scott Wiener, California Senate District 11; David Shurtleff, deputy director and acting scientific director, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), National Institutes of Health (NIH); Sharan Sidhu, science officer and general manager, Numinous Inc.; and Graham Boyd, co-founder and executive director, Psychedelic Science Funders Collaborative. The panel was part of an Oct. 6 conference commemorating the launch of a new research initiative, the Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation (POPLAR), at the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School."

Video and description from the Psychedelica Lex: "Author and host, Gary Michael Smith, Esq., is a decades-experienced, AV rated, attorney, American Arbitration Association panelist, founding director of the Arizona Cannabis Bar Association, board member of the Arizona Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, and general counsel to the nation's oldest federally recognized, 501C3, multi-racial peyote church."

Video and description from the Psychedelica Lex: "Author and host, Gary Michael Smith, Esq., is a decades-experienced, AV rated, attorney, American Arbitration Association panelist, founding director of the Arizona Cannabis Bar Association, board member of the Arizona Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, and general counsel to the nation's oldest federally recognized, 501C3, multi-racial peyote church."

Description from the Psychedelica Lex YouTube channel: "Author and host, Gary Michael Smith, Esq., is a decades-experienced, AV rated, attorney, American Arbitration Association panelist, founding director of the Arizona Cannabis Bar Association, board member of the Arizona Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, and general counsel to the nation's oldest federally recognized, 501C3, multi-racial peyote church."

Description from the SXSW Youtube Channel: "Modern research on psychedelics is turning the "turn-on, tune-in, and drop-out" culture of the 1960's upside down. What was once considered a recreational activity is now an evidence-based treatment for psychiatric disease. But how can psychedelics be widely used to alleviate human suffering through clinician-guided treatment of illnesses such as depression, PTSD, and addiction? Do mystical-type and insightful-type experiences associated with these substances improve overall well-being in patients and in healthy individuals? How can investors make psychedelic medicine accessible by financing academic research and for-profit companies and clinics? What is next for the 21st century renaissance of psychedelic medicine as it becomes an established treatment and wellness aid? Learn more in this panel discussion organized by the New York Academy of Sciences for SXSW 2022."

" "Jaden Smith brings an underground topic to the Table: magic mushrooms! What was once done in secret and thought of as a dangerous drug, top doctors now say may be the miracle treatment for mental health. Jada reveals how plant medicine helped her overcome debilitating depression, GoDaddy founder Bob Parsons shares his "life changing" psychedelic journey, investigative journalist Lisa Ling and her husband, oncologist Paul Song, tell how psychedelics helped their marriage, and best-selling author Harvard Professor, Michael Pollan, breaks down the risks and benefits of these mystical plants."

" "Jaden Smith brings an underground topic to the Table: magic mushrooms! What was once done in secret and thought of as a dangerous drug, top doctors now say may be the miracle treatment for mental health. Jada reveals how plant medicine helped her overcome debilitating depression, GoDaddy founder Bob Parsons shares his "life changing" psychedelic journey, investigative journalist Lisa Ling and her husband, oncologist Paul Song, tell how psychedelics helped their marriage, and best-selling author Harvard Professor, Michael Pollan, breaks down the risks and benefits of these mystical plants."

""Jaden Smith brings an underground topic to the Table: magic mushrooms! What was once done in secret and thought of as a dangerous drug, top doctors now say may be the miracle treatment for mental health. Jada reveals how plant medicine helped her overcome debilitating depression, GoDaddy founder Bob Parsons shares his "life changing" psychedelic journey, investigative journalist Lisa Ling and her husband, oncologist Paul Song, tell how psychedelics helped their marriage, and best-selling author Harvard Professor, Michael Pollan, breaks down the risks and benefits of these mystical plants."

This is a video from a livestream on February 28, 2023. The description is from Medical Secrets YouTube channel: "What is ketamine and how can it heal anxiety? Can ketamine reduce the need for anxiety meds? Learn how ketamine infusion therapy can give you more control over your health and mood - and hear the answers to your questions LIVE!"

This is a video from a livestream on February 28, 2023. The description is from Medical Secrets YouTube channel: "What is ketamine and how can it heal anxiety? Can ketamine reduce the need for anxiety meds? Learn how ketamine infusion therapy can give you more control over your health and mood - and hear the answers to your questions LIVE!"

From the Wall Street Journal, "Hundreds of clinics specializing in ketamine treatment for depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder have popped up in the U.S. in recent years. Some investors are even throwing hundreds of millions of dollars into ketamine startups. How big could the market for psychedelic treatment get?"

This video of a workshop from the MAPS Youtube channel, provides an overview of Psychedelic Medicines, including Iboga, Ketamine, Psilocybin, Ayahuasca, and MDMA

Cost Effective, MAPS, MDMA, Psychotherapy, PTSD, Trauma

This video from MAPS, reviews the research article "The cost-effectiveness of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of chronic, treatment-resistant PTSD" published on October 14, 2020 by: Elliott Marseille James G. Kahn Berra Yazar-Klosinski Rick Doblin Click Here to Read the Article

PTSD, Trauma

"Some service members and others suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) have had little relief from traditional anti-depressants used in conjunction with psychotherapy. Now, a recent FDA-approved trial using a psychedelic drug called MDMA - better known by its street name, ecstasy - has shown promising results. CBS News national security correspondent David Martin talks with a former Marine whose two tours in Iraq presaged twelve years of nightmares, panic attacks and failed relationships - and who now finds hope."

MDMA, MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy, MDMA-Assisted Therapy, PTSD

Video and description from ALPS Awareness Lectures on Psychedelic Science  Rick Doblin, Ph.D., Founder and Executive Director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), explores how potential FDA, EMA, and global regulatory approval of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD may contribute to a post-prohibition future.

MDMA, PTSD, Trauma

Video and description from the YouTube channel of ABC10"A retired first responder at a mass shooting 20 years ago says the psychedelic drug MDMA "cured" his PTSD."

EMDR, MDMA, Trauma

Video and description from the How To Academy Mindset YouTube Channel"Bessel van der Kolk is a one of the world's foremost experts on traumatic stress - his global bestseller The Body Keeps The Score showed us that the terror and isolation at the core of trauma literally reshape both brain and body, and demonstrated a new approach to recovery, moving away from standard talking and drug therapies to heal mind, brain and body. In this exclusive conversation with psychotherapist and author of The Invisible Lion, Benjamin Fry, Bessel fuses insights from the cutting-edge of neuroscience with the weight of decades of experience as an active therapist, and discusses how both adults and children can reclaim ownership of their bodies and their lives."

CBT, depression, ketermine

Video from the Ketamine & Related Compounds International Journal Club & Ketamine 2021 - Virtual Conference March 25th-26th 2021 Click Here to Visit this YouTube Channel

adolescents, depression, Ketamine

Ketamine & Related Compounds International Journal Club & Ketamine2021 - Virtual Conference March 25th-26th 2021. Click Here to Visit this YouTube Channel

depression, Ketamine, suicidality, suicide

Video from Ketamine & Related Compounds International Journal Club & Ketamine2021 - Virtual Conference March 25th-26th 2021. Click Here to Visit this YouTube Channel

addiction, MDMA, MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy, MDMA-Assisted Therapy

Video and description from the Charles River Labs YouTube Channel "The mental health epidemic, including substance use disorders and addictions, is a global issue. Innovations in the range of medicines currently used in conjunction with psychotherapy have had little to no progress over the last two decades, however, the use of psychedelic therapy changed this paradigm. With increased preclinical research and clinical trials illustrating the beneficial effects of first-generation psychedelics, a wave of second-generation therapeutics is now emerging. This video features Alisson Feduccia, PhD, neuropharmacologist, psychedelic researcher and educator, and Co-founder of Psychedelic Support and Project New Day."

addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, KAP, Ketamine

From a video by F. Perry Wilson, MD, "Ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic, has been used recreationally since the 70s. But since 2000, it's therapeutic value in psychiatric illness has been increasingly noted. A new study appearing in the American Journal of Psychiatry suggests ketamine may have a role to play in alcohol use disorder."

 Video from Ketamine & Related Compounds International Journal Club & Ketamine2021 - Virtual Conference March 25th-26th 2021.

Cost Effective, MAPS, MDMA, Psychotherapy, PTSD, Study, Trauma

This video, from MAPS, reviews the research article "The cost-effectiveness of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of chronic, treatment-resistant PTSD" published on October 14, 2020 by: Elliott Marseille James G. Kahn Berra Yazar-Klosinski Rick Doblin Click Here to Read the Article

MDMA, MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy, MDMA-Assisted Therapy, PTSD, Trauma

Video and description from ALPS Awareness Lectures on Psychedelic Science Rick Doblin, Ph.D., Founder and Executive Director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), explores how potential FDA, EMA, and global regulatory approval of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD may contribute to a post-prohibition future.

addiction, MDMA, MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy, MDMA-Assisted Therapy

Video and description from the Charles River Labs YouTube Channel"The mental health epidemic, including substance use disorders and addictions, is a global issue. Innovations in the range of medicines currently used in conjunction with psychotherapy have had little to no progress over the last two decades, however, the use of psychedelic therapy changed this paradigm. With increased preclinical research and clinical trials illustrating the beneficial effects of first-generation psychedelics, a wave of second-generation therapeutics is now emerging. This video features Alisson Feduccia, PhD, neuropharmacologist, psychedelic researcher and educator, and Co-founder of Psychedelic Support and Project New Day."

MDMA, MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy, MDMA-Assisted Therapy

Video and description from the Psychotherapy Networker YouTube channel"Psychedelic-assisted therapy is changing the landscape of our field and as more clients experience profound breakthroughs with this unique form of treatment, demand only continues to grow, leaving many scrambling to find the right program for the latest insight and guidance...Join Networker's Clinical Director, Anna Lock, in conversation with Michael Mithoefer, MD, researcher and Senior Medical Director for the world's leading organization on psychedelic research and education on Thursday, January 26 at 3 PM CST!Anna and Dr. Mithoefer will chat about MDMA and psychedelic therapy, their accessibility challenges, as well as what you can expect from his new online course with Networker."

MDMA, MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy, MDMA-Assisted Therapy

Video and description from the Psychotherapy Networker YouTube channel"In the following interview with Networker Senior Writer Lauren Dockett, licensed professional counselor Marcela Ot'alora G. discusses her work in MDMA-assisted therapy."

MDMA, PTSD, Trauma

Video and description from the YouTube channel of ABC10"A retired first responder at a mass shooting 20 years ago says the psychedelic drug MDMA "cured" his PTSD."

Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy, TED

Video and description from the TED YouTube Channel"Could psychedelics help us heal from trauma and mental illnesses? Researcher Rick Doblin has spent the past three decades investigating this question, and the results are promising. In this fascinating dive into the science of psychedelics, he explains how drugs like LSD, psilocybin and MDMA affect your brain -- and shows how, when paired with psychotherapy, they could change the way we treat PTSD, depression, substance abuse and more."

Ketamine

"TW: Today we're exploring a topic that may be triggering to some listeners. While ketamine-assisted therapy can be a great option for treating depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, and even postpartum depression, this discussion may be triggering if you've struggled with substance use in the past. I want to make sure that everyone is prepared before we dive in -- if there's even a chance that this topic could trigger you, skip it, and we'll reconnect on the next episode.Is ketamine-assisted therapy safe? Can everyone benefit from ketamine treatments? In this episode, Lana talks with Dr. Kate Daly, the Medical Director of Plus by APN. They discuss the combat origins of ketamine therapy, how ketamine has evolved to treat depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, pain, trauma, and more, plus possible side effects and common misconceptions. They clarify the differences between ketamine as a drug of misuse versus therapeutic applications in a clinical environment and share more about the treatment options and what to expect from ketamine-assisted therapy."

Ketamine, Psychiatric

Video from Ketamine & Related Compounds International Journal Club & Ketamine2021 - Virtual Conference March 25th-26th 2021:

Video and description from the VICE News YouTube Channel"PTSD affects millions of Americans, including 20% of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and up to 30% of first responders. Despite this, available treatment is limited, resulting in long-term suffering and, in many cases, suicide. But a new set of trials using MDMA-assisted therapy has achieved remarkable results. VICE's Ben Anderson, who has been covering conflict for almost two decades and was diagnosed himself over a year ago, decided to try the treatment himself."

Video and description from the VICE News YouTube Channel"PTSD affects millions of Americans, including 20% of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and up to 30% of first responders. Despite this, available treatment is limited, resulting in long-term suffering and, in many cases, suicide. But a new set of trials using MDMA-assisted therapy has achieved remarkable results. VICE's Ben Anderson, who has been covering conflict for almost two decades and was diagnosed himself over a year ago, decided to try the treatment himself."

Video from the Medscape YouTube Channel

Video from the Medscape YouTube Channel

This video, from the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology YouTube channel, features Tracy Young, MSNA, MBA, CRNA. 

This video, from the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology YouTube channel, features Tracy Young, MSNA, MBA, CRNA. 

Video and description by Medscape, from the Medscape YouTube Channel Three psychiatrists discuss the data and what role the drug has in psychiatry

Video and description by Medscape, from the Medscape YouTube ChannelThree psychiatrists discuss the data and what role the drug has in psychiatry

Video and description from the MedCircle YouTube channelHow does ketamine actually work? In this interview, Dr. Dom explains what you need to know:1. How ketamine works in the brain2. How ketamine works for depression3. Why ketamine has been looked down upon4. Why ketamine is so fast-acting5. Why ketamine works for other mental health disorders

Description and Video by PBS News, from PBS.orgNew uses for psychedelic drugs offer potential breakthroughs for patients with post-traumatic stress, working with trained therapists to guide the experience and open perspectives into a patient's state of mind.

Video and description from the LastWeekTonight YouTube channel"John Oliver discusses psychedelic assisted therapy: its history, its potential, and what it has to do with A$AP Rocky's relationship to rainbows."

Video and description from the GBH News YouTube Channel"The cities of Cambridge and Somerville have taken steps this year toward decriminalizing psychedelics, as some medical experts point to evidence that such substances may provide relief from certain mental health conditions when used under medical direction. Where does the science stand on this? In for Jim Braude, Adam Reilly was joined by Dr. Jerry Rosenbaum, the director of both the Center for Anxiety and Traumatic Stress Disorders at Massachusetts General Hospital and the hospital's new Center for the Neuroscience of Psychedelics; and Bertha Madras, professor of psychobiology at Harvard University, director of McLean Hospital's Laboratory of Addiction Neurobiology, and a former deputy drug czar in the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy."

MDMA, Psychotherapy, PTSD, TEDx Talk, Trauma

"Rethinking the role of psychedelic drugs and how they can help to improve the lives of our country's military personnel and others suffering from PTSD." Description and Video from TEDx Talks

MDMA, Psychotherapy, PTSD, TEDxTalk

"Rethinking the role of psychedelic drugs and how they can help to improve the lives of our country's military personnel and others suffering from PTSD."Description and Video from TEDx Talks

MAPS, MDMA, psilocybin

"Abstract: Highlighting the results of two fMRI studies and one MEG study with psilocybin and an fMRI study with MDMA, Carhart-Harris will report the effects of both drugs on regional brain activity and brain network organization. Additionally, he will report the effects of both drugs on brain and subjective responses to personal autobiographical memory cues. A general theory will be presented on how psychedelics alter brain activity to alter consciousness and the implications of these brain imaging results for therapeutic applications of psychedelics will be discussed.A general theory will be presented on how psychedelics alter brain activity to alter consciousness and the implications of these brain imaging results for therapeutic applications of psychedelics will be discussed.Robin Carhart-Harris completed his doctorate in psychopharmacology at the University of Bristol in 2009 after which he moved to Imperial College London to continue his fMRI research with the classic psychedelic drug psilocybin. In the last few years, Carhart-Harris & Professor David Nutt have built up a programme of research with psychedelics that includes fMRI and MEG imaging with psilocybin, fMRI with MDMA and soon an MRC-sponsored clinical trial to assess the efficacy of psilocybin as a treatment for major depression. Carhart-Harris has a review article published in Brain on the neurobiology of Freudian constructs and his work with psilocybin is now published in PNAS, the British Journal of Psychiatry, and Schizophrenia Bulletin. Carhart-Harris has been supported by the Beckley Foundation, the Neuropsychoanalysis Foundation, the Heffter Foundation, and MAPS." Video and description from MAPS Youtube Channel. Video from the 2013 Psychedelic Science Conference 

MAPS, MDMA, psilocybin

"Abstract: Highlighting the results of two fMRI studies and one MEG study with psilocybin and an fMRI study with MDMA, Carhart-Harris will report the effects of both drugs on regional brain activity and brain network organization. Additionally, he will report the effects of both drugs on brain and subjective responses to personal autobiographical memory cues. A general theory will be presented on how psychedelics alter brain activity to alter consciousness and the implications of these brain imaging results for therapeutic applications of psychedelics will be discussed.A general theory will be presented on how psychedelics alter brain activity to alter consciousness and the implications of these brain imaging results for therapeutic applications of psychedelics will be discussed.Robin Carhart-Harris completed his doctorate in psychopharmacology at the University of Bristol in 2009 after which he moved to Imperial College London to continue his fMRI research with the classic psychedelic drug psilocybin. In the last few years, Carhart-Harris & Professor David Nutt have built up a programme of research with psychedelics that includes fMRI and MEG imaging with psilocybin, fMRI with MDMA and soon an MRC-sponsored clinical trial to assess the efficacy of psilocybin as a treatment for major depression. Carhart-Harris has a review article published in Brain on the neurobiology of Freudian constructs and his work with psilocybin is now published in PNAS, the British Journal of Psychiatry, and Schizophrenia Bulletin. Carhart-Harris has been supported by the Beckley Foundation, the Neuropsychoanalysis Foundation, the Heffter Foundation, and MAPS." Video and description from MAPS Youtube Channel. Video from the 2013 Psychedelic Science Conference 

Description and Video From MAPS, from the Psychedelic Science Summit: Austin, Texas (November 1-3, 2019)Speakers: Andrea Turnipseed, LCSW-S, and Brent Turnipseed, M.D."Ketamine is a controversial yet effective treatment in psychiatry, and it arrives at a much needed time as depression and suicide rates have reached crisis levels in the United States. Learn about the origins of ketamine in medicine and how it has become one of the hottest topics today in mental health. Andrea Turnipseed, LCSW-S, has training and background in adult mental health. She has worked with clients in acute inpatient and outpatient psychiatric settings, facilitating both group and individual therapy. She has a particular interest in working with individuals who experience mood disorders such as anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder. She also helps clients through various life challenges such as grief and loss, relationship issues, parenting, and school and career stress. Andrea assesses each individual to guide the direction of therapy. Andrea has been formally trained in Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) and she also utilizes techniques from psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral (CBT), acceptance and commitment (ACT), solution-focused, and strengths-based therapy models to help identify the resources within the client to move past negative thoughts and behaviors. Andrea provides a non-judgmental space for clients to share events and difficulties. She asks questions and makes observations to help elicit positive change and growth. As Executive Director, Andrea is responsible for the overall health and well-being of Roots Behavioral Health. Brent Turnipseed, M.D., is a co-founder and the Medical Director of Roots Behavioral Health. He is an affiliate member of the Center for Transformational Psychotherapy, and a trainer for the Ketamine Training Center. He lectures, researches, and teaches frequently on therapeutic uses of ketamine."

depression, mushrooms, psilobybin

"A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that psychedelic mushrooms could be used to help treat depression symptoms. Dr. Scott Aaronson, one of the study's authors, and the chief science officer at the Institute for Advanced Diagnostics and Therapeutics at Sheppard Pratt, joined Weijia Jiang to discuss the results."

depression, mushrooms, psilocybin

"A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that psychedelic mushrooms could be used to help treat depression symptoms. Dr. Scott Aaronson, one of the study's authors, and the chief science officer at the Institute for Advanced Diagnostics and Therapeutics at Sheppard Pratt, joined Weijia Jiang to discuss the results."

addiction

Two doses of psilocybin pills, along with psychotherapy, helped people with alcohol use disorder reduce drinking for at least eight months after their first treatments, results from the largest clinical trial of its kind show. The theory is that psilocybin makes the brain more malleable. NBC News' Harry Smith spoke with a few people who participated in the study about their experience.