Psychedelics Today

Psychedelics Today
Psychedelics Today

Psychedelics Today is the planetary leader in psychedelic education, media, and advocacy. Covering up-to-the-minute developments and diving deep into crucial topics bridging the scientific, academic, philosophical, societal, and cultural, Psychedelics Today is leading the discussion in this rapidly evolving ecosystem.

  1. PT565 – From Individualism to Connection: How Psychedelics and Group Therapy Can Heal Our Collective Crisis, with Geoff Bathje, Ph.D.

    4 DAYS AGO

    PT565 – From Individualism to Connection: How Psychedelics and Group Therapy Can Heal Our Collective Crisis, with Geoff Bathje, Ph.D.

    In this episode, Kyle interviews Geoff Bathje, Ph.D.: licensed psychologist, researcher, former Full Professor, and co-founder of Sana Healing Collective, a Chicago-based non-profit focusing on ketamine-assisted therapy and psychedelic integration. He talks about what he feels is one of the largest factors in our mental health crisis: the individualistic and neoliberal lens Western culture has placed on mental health and how it neglects the massive systemic and relational factors that are affecting us all. He digs into how we got so alienated and how psychedelics and non-ordinary states of consciousness can not only help us think critically and solve problems, but also move us out of this individualistic framework of healing and more into a collective one. How do we use psychedelics to fix our relationships and find our community? He discusses: The challenge of knowing when to work for relationships and when to just end them, especially in the afterglow of a big experience Group ketamine experience vs. individual, how groups can help facilitators find patterns, and how ketamine works with somatic therapy His paper, “Psychedelic integration: An analysis of the concept and its practice” and his visual model of integration showing the different domains of our personal experience What he thinks will happen next in drug development: Will therapy be left out after Lykos’ failure with MDMA? The importance of moving beyond aggressive criticism and moving into world building and more!  For links, head to the show notes page.

    1h 9m
  2. PT564 – How Safe is Ibogaine Therapy? The Delicate Balance of Risk and Efficacy, with Thomas Feegel

    11 NOV

    PT564 – How Safe is Ibogaine Therapy? The Delicate Balance of Risk and Efficacy, with Thomas Feegel

    In this episode, Joe interviews Thomas Feegel: co-founder of Beond Ibogaine, an ibogaine treatment and research facility in Cancún, Mexico. When Feegel first heard of ibogaine 16 years ago, he found that people were having great success, but nobody could recommend where to go for treatment. So he worked to create what was needed: a combination of a hospital, mental health treatment facility, retreat center, and resort, with the proper infrastructure in place, employees with ICU experience, exhaustive HIPAA-compliant admission criteria, regular data collection, and a major focus on safety. Addressing the recent Rolling Stone article about the tragic death of a patient at Beond in 2022 (interestingly, 2 days after his initial dose), he discusses what he feels was inaccurate, largely related to what could be perceived as a suggestion that there wasn’t enough screening or that corners were cut. With no official reason given for the patient’s death, it brings into question just how safe one can be, especially with people whose bodies and hearts have been through so much. How much hidden harm is created by the stress of PTSD and addiction? He discusses: The complexity of journalism and drawing conclusions from limited information The limitations of conventional addiction treatments and the sad numbers around how many people stick with rehab The importance of collecting as much data as possible about each patient, at regular intervals, prior to, during, and after the experience The need for a regulating group to create standards around admission and administration procedures for ibogaine and more!  We’re releasing this episode on Veterans Day because Beond’s program was co-developed by veterans, military medical personnel, and active-duty law enforcement officers who have seen how much ibogaine can help. If you know a vet who is struggling, be sure to let them know what's possible with psychedelic therapy.  For links, head to the show notes page.

    1h 9m
  3. PT562 – Ketamine-Assisted Therapy at Work? The Future of Employee Benefits, with Jessica Tracy

    5 NOV

    PT562 – Ketamine-Assisted Therapy at Work? The Future of Employee Benefits, with Jessica Tracy

    In this episode, Joe interviews Jessica Tracy: head of sales & partnerships at Enthea, a company that works with employers, unions, and employee assistance programs to be able to offer ketamine-assisted therapy (and psilocybin where it’s legal) to employees. She talks about her path to psychedelics and how the shifts in her life led her to want to help others, finding Enthea and using her 15 years of experience in healthcare to make an immediate difference. She explains how the process works for an employee of a company Enthea works with, and the importance of evidence-based medical policy and rigorous screening to make sure people are getting the best intervention possible. One of Enthea’s largest clients is Dr. Bronner’s, who reported incredible improvements after employees used the benefit, with a 65% improvement in depression scores and an 86% improvement in PTSD. She also discusses: How psychedelics bring awareness to what we need to work on Less-discussed treatment modalities, like electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and stellate ganglion block (SGB) The inefficiency of traditional talk therapy: 50% of people only see really good benefits after 20 sessions The importance of viewing mental health as individualized care: What else can we offer to people who haven’t been helped by traditional methods? The research that she wants to see, like measures in how present or productive people are before and after experiences and more! For links, head to the show notes page.

    46 min
  4. PT561 – Psychedelics Lately – Massachusetts' Question 4 and Updates in Psychedelics and Chronic Pain, with Joe Moore & Kyle Buller

    1 NOV

    PT561 – Psychedelics Lately – Massachusetts' Question 4 and Updates in Psychedelics and Chronic Pain, with Joe Moore & Kyle Buller

    In this episode, Joe and Kyle finally meet up again for the first episode of Psychedelics Lately: the updated version of the much-missed Psychedelics Weekly, where they’ll meet each month to talk about the most interesting stories in psychedelics. The main story this month is the fate of Massachusetts’ Question 4: Regulated Access to Psychedelic Substances Initiative (The Natural Psychedelic Substances Act). They discuss what they like about the bill, its opposition, and its support, including actress Eliza Dushku Palandjian, who went from a diagnosis of PTSD and an in-the-psychedelic-closet underground experience to becoming a very public, soon-to-be certified psychedelic facilitator. If you live in Massachusetts, make sure to read about the bill and get out and vote this Tuesday (or now, if you’re registered for early voting). They also discuss: Joe’s recent east coast travels to Harvard and the PhilaDelic conference Alfred North Whitehead and Process Philosophy The Psychedelics and Pain Association, and Court Wing’s involvement in the first published case report of complex regional pain syndrome being treated with psilocybin The scientific community needing to embrace more experientially-based approaches and practices The challenge of making meaning out of the mystical and more!  For links, head to the show notes page.

    55 min
  5. PT560 – Philosophy and Psychedelics: Can Metaphysics Bring Meaning to Non-Ordinary States?, with Dr. Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes

    29 OCT

    PT560 – Philosophy and Psychedelics: Can Metaphysics Bring Meaning to Non-Ordinary States?, with Dr. Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes

    In this episode, Joe interviews Dr. Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes: philosopher, lecturer at the University of Exeter, co-director of the Breaking Convention conference, and author who most recently co-edited Philosophy and Psychedelics: Frameworks for Exceptional Experience. He discusses how the work of William James and an early psilocybin experience led him to an interest in philosophy and psychedelics, and he dives deep into several philosophical concepts: panpsychism, pantheism, ethical pluralism, teleology, process theology, Whitehead’s fallacy of misplaced concreteness, and more. He believes that science has lost touch with metaphysics – the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality – and that studying metaphysics will lead to more beneficial experiences with the non-ordinary: If you can understand and frame the experience, you’ll have a much better chance of being able to integrate its lessons. He discusses: The complexity of ethics and the need to ask more philosophical questions His book, Neo-Nihilism, which argued that there are no shared objective morals The West’s’ obsession with scientism and believing only what can be reducible to matter: Is science honest if it ignores the ineffable? The connections between philosophical frameworks and religion: Would studying comparative religion help us better understand each other? The need for more experiential research and more!  Sjöstedt-Hughes is the co-lead on Exeter’s 12-month postgraduate certificate course, “Psychedelics: Mind, Medicine, and Culture,” and is finalizing his next book, a manual on psychedelics and metaphysics. For links, head to the show notes page.

    1h 2m
  6. PT559 – The Penn Psychedelics Collaborative and the Power of Interdisciplinary Connections, with Taylor Andrews Flatt, PMHNP, Victor Pablo Acero, Ph.D., Jackie Tileston, and Michael Baime, MD

    25 OCT

    PT559 – The Penn Psychedelics Collaborative and the Power of Interdisciplinary Connections, with Taylor Andrews Flatt, PMHNP, Victor Pablo Acero, Ph.D., Jackie Tileston, and Michael Baime, MD

    In this episode, Joe interviews 4 members of the Penn Psychedelics Collaborative: Co-Founder, Taylor Andrews Flatt, PMHNP; Associate Director, Victor Pablo Acero, Ph.D.; Professor in Fine Arts and Co-Director of the Weitzman School of Design, Jackie Tileston; and Executive Director and Director of the Penn Program for Mindfulness, Michael Baime, MD. Recorded earlier this month at the PhilaDelic conference – one of the primary initiatives of the PPC – they discuss their paths to psychedelics and why this transdisciplinary collection of faculty, researchers, and clinicians at the University of Pennsylvania was so necessary. Viewing psychedelics from different perspectives (Flatt from nursing, Acero from bioengineering, Tileston from the art and mysticism side of things, and Baime from a more mindfulness point of view), their group is a case study in collaboration – a place where connections can be catalyzed and shared goals can be addressed from different angles. How far can we go when different groups start working together? They discuss: The concept of psychedelics not just being used to treat conditions, but to make us healthier Psychedelic art and the idea of the art itself being psychoactive rather than just representations of trips The work of David Glowacki and bringing about non-ordinary states of consciousness through VR Research into salvia being used to alleviate stroke symptoms How a lack of funding can really create focus and more!  For links, head to the show notes page.

    41 min

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Psychedelics Today is the planetary leader in psychedelic education, media, and advocacy. Covering up-to-the-minute developments and diving deep into crucial topics bridging the scientific, academic, philosophical, societal, and cultural, Psychedelics Today is leading the discussion in this rapidly evolving ecosystem.

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