As MAPS approaches a decision by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD as soon as mid-2024, we explore the context of the MDMA prohibition that occurred in the 80’, as well as the possibility of a world of net-zero trauma by 2070.

• You are one the Godfather of the Psychedelic Renaissance, how does it feel to see your life’s work being recognised? 
• Live from Geneva at the ALPS Conference 2023, what was the importance of Switzerland in 1986 when you founded the MAPS Association ?
• What are the most promising regions of the world in terms of psychedelics for therapeutic use ?
• How can drugs reinforce the spiritual experience?

Rick Doblin, Ph.D., is the founder and president of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). He received his doctorate in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where he wrote his dissertation on the regulation of the medical uses of psychedelics and marijuana and his Master’s thesis on a survey of oncologists about smoked marijuana vs. the oral THC pill in nausea control for cancer patients. His undergraduate thesis at New College of Florida was a 25-year follow-up to the classic Good Friday Experiment, which evaluated the potential of psychedelic drugs to catalyze religious experiences. 

He also conducted a thirty-four year follow-up study to Timothy Leary’s Concord Prison Experiment. Rick studied with Dr. Stanislav Grof and was among the first to be certified as a Holotropic Breathwork practitioner. His professional goal is to help develop legal contexts for the beneficial uses of psychedelics and marijuana, primarily as prescription medicines but also for personal growth for otherwise healthy people, and eventually to become a legally licensed psychedelic therapist. He founded MAPS in 1986, and currently resides in Boston with his wife and puppy, with three empty rooms from his children who have all graduated college and begun their life journeys. 

This interview was recorded during the Alps Conference 2023 on psychedelic research in Geneva, Switzerland on 27.10.2022. More info on the Alps Conference here

Meditation and (Mind) Medicine are two ways or technologies of investigating the mystery of life and consciousness. Both have their relative strengths and their weaknesses, and the combination of them seems to be a promising approach to the big question of "Who am I ?‘.

• Where did your interest in psychedelics start? 
• The NZZ called your the most dangerous man in Switzerland. Why is that ? Here the article Der gefährlichste Mann der Schweiz 
• How is the use of psychedelics in harmony with being a Zen monk? 
• Spirituality and psychedelics are trying to answer the same question: Who am I ? Do they eventually share the same quest?
• What is Mind Medicine ?
• What are your hopes for the future ? 

Vanja Palmers was born in Austria and grew up in Switzerland. His career as a student at the University of Zürich and as the founder of a successful business start up came to a sudden halt when he ingested a few micrograms of a certain fungi derivative aka LSD. After a few years of being  a Hippie and a Yogi, he ended up becoming a Zen person, specializing in being nobody special, making effort towards effortless, traceless praxis….  with mediocre success - Felsentor and Puregg (two meditation centers) as well as some animal rights campaigns and institutions have materialized. 

Being grateful for being able to be part of the movement to bring psychedelics out of the demonized closet back into research, medical, recreational and spiritual contexts, he lives now on a little organic farm on Mt. Rigi in Central Switzerland.

This interview was recorded during the Alps Conference 2023 on psychedelic research in Geneva, Switzerland on 27.10.2022. More info on the Alps Conference here

• What are the main adverse effects expected from psychedelics ? 
• What is the chance of getting a bad trip with MDMA or LSD ? Can you provide some kind of probability based on your research ?  
• And what would be the least risky psychedelic after your research ?
• During a psychedelic experience, How could we distinguish an hallucination from an insight ?
• How can psychedelics influence people’s values ? Changing people’s values … this is where marketing or even education failed!

Abigail Calder is a PhD candidate at the University in Fribourg, Switzerland, where she heads a research project on the effects of LSD on neuroplasticity in healthy people. She also conducts research into the adverse effects of psychedelics and their underlying causes, as well as psychedelics’ effects on people’s values and well-being, and she recently joined the ALPS Foundation as its research coordinator. She completed her Master’s degree in neuroscience at the University of Bonn and holds a Bachelor’s in psychology from TU Dresden.

This interview was recorded during the Alps Conference 2023 on psychedelic research in Geneva, Switzerland on 27.10.2022. More info on the Alps Conference here

In this episode, syde welcomes Sam Candy, PhD ecologist, independent researcher, consultant and science writer.

Dr. Gandy has varied experience of working within the psychedelic field, as a past scientific assistant to the director of the Beckley Foundation, as a research assistant with the Synthesis Institute, and as a consultant for PsiClone. He is a certified Shinrin Yoku forest bathing practitioner and also leads fungi growing workshops on occasion. He is also collaborating with the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London, researching on the capacity of psychedelics to influence human relationships with nature.

Questions asked to Sam:

• What is the link between nature and psychedelics ? 
• Are there psychedelics that have more impact on how we see and perceive Nature ?
• You mentioned ‘setting’. It is true that sometimes we talk about setting in a clinical way. The setting in nature could be also a way to consume psychedelics. Can you explain your thoughts on that?
• The are theories saying that coming from nature, these substances - such as psilocybin - could be a message from nature for us to take care of it. What would be your opinion on that ? 
• How do you see the future of your researches ?

More info on Sam : https://www.instagram.com/samwisegandy https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sam-Gandy-4

This interview was recorded during the Alps Conference 2022 on psychedelic research in Bern, Switzerland on 28.10.2022. More info on the Alps Conference here

In this episode, syde welcomes Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes, Research Fellow and Lecturer at University of Exeter.

Dr. Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes is a philosopher of mind and metaphysics who specializes in the thought of Spinoza, Nietzsche and Whitehead, and in fields pertaining to altered and panpsychological states of consciousness. He has co-founded the Philosophy of Psychedelics Exeter Research Group.

Questions asked to Peter:

• Listening to your talk, how would you differentiate metaphysics and spirituality ?
• You also used the word ‘mysticism’ in your talk. How does that fit to metaphysics ?
• In your talk, you mentioned metaphysical experiences such as time distortion and connection with nature. Do psychedelics allow us to see anything else than hallucinations ?
• Could you explain why you wouldn’t integrate metaphysics in psychedelics research ?
• We see a lot of people involved in neuroscience, psychiatrists or psychologists interested in the psychedelics field. Why ?

More info on Peter : ted.com/talks/peter_sjostedt_h_understanding_consciousness_through_psychedelics alpsconference.com/speakers/peter-sjostedt   philosopher.eu 

This interview was recorded during the Alps Conference 2022 on psychedelic research in Bern, Switzerland on 28.10.2022. More info on the Alps Conference here

In this episode, syde welcomes Helena Aicher, PhD candidate at University of Zurich (UZH).

With a main academic background in Psychology, Helena Aicher has been working in the last years in the Psychedelic Research and Therapy Development team at the UZH. Her research focuses on the neurophysiological and subjective effects of ayahuasca & analogues on therapy-relevant processes. 

More info on Helena’s work :

• https://www.dppp.uzh.ch/en/researchgroups/juniorresearchgroups/psychedelic-research-therapy-development.html
• https://reconnect-foundation.us19.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=1364c8d642790198e402d60d1&id=d6912cd14b

Questions asked to Helena:

• Can you tell a bit more about your research ?
• Why such an interest for ayahuasca amongst other psychedelics? 
• What differences do you make between ‘ayahuasca’ and ‘ayahuasca analogues’ ?
• Tell us a bit more about the dilemma lived in Western countries with ayahuasca.
• What kind of clinical studies about ayahuasca do exist ?

This interview was recorded during the Alps Conference 2022 on psychedelic research in Bern, Switzerland on 28.10.2022. More info on the Alps Conference here

In this episode, @syde welcomes Peter Gasser, DR. MD, psychiatrist and psychotherapist working in his own practice in Solothurn (Switzerland).

Peter was trained in psychodynamic methods as well as in psychedelic therapy. He has been a member of the Swiss Medical Society for Psycholytic Therapy (SAePT) since 1992 and its president since 1996. After 2007, he conducted two studies on LSD-assisted therapy with patients suffering from anxiety, due to life-threatening illnesses. Since then he has held individual licences from the Swiss Government Office for Public Health (BAG) for therapy with mind-altering substances.

Questions asked to Peter:

• How did you start on this journey ? Why?
• What are the key findings of all your studies ?
• What are your experiences working with the Swiss government ?
• What are your hopes for the future in psychedelic research ?

Photo by Merlin Lightpainting

Dans cet épisode, @syde & @WarcoBrienza accueillent Vincent Verroust, doctorant en histoire des sciences en France et consultant à l'hôpital Paul Brousse pour la reprise des essais cliniques sur les substances contrôlées. Il est aussi enseignant et membre fondateur de la société française de psychédélisme.

Le professeur Roger Heim (1900 - 1979) a été invité par les Wasson à participer à une étude multidisciplinaire sur les champignons divinatoires mexicains, redécouverts au début des années 50. Après avoir mené des expériences sur lui-même, il a travaillé sur un film documentaire au sujet des champignons hallucinogènes à la fin des années 50, en collaboration avec le Dr Thévenard de l'Institut Pasteur. Vincent Verroust a justement retrouvé ce film et projeté à ALPS conference les expériences menées sur des volontaires sains qui ont accepté de consommer du Psilocybes mexicana devant une caméra, à Paris, en 1959, avec un suivi quatre ans plus tard.

Questions posées à Vincent:

• Qu’est-ce qui a retenu votre attention en visionnant ces vidéos d’époque?
• La psilocybine permet-elle de découvrir des talents comme le dessin ? Quel(s) autre(s) talent(s) pourrait être révélé
• L’un des patients évoque sa “lucidité relative” a posteriori, l’autre une “lucidité nouvelle”. La lucidité ne semble pourtant pas de mise dans les images visionnées … d’où provient cette perception partagée ?
• En termes de contexte, qu’est-ce qui séparent les expériences conduites en 1959 des vôtres ?
• Quelles sont les tendances actuelles de la recherche psychédélique en France ?

Photo by cottonbro

In this episode, @syde & @WarcoBrienza welcome Peter Oehen, MD, Psychiatrist at University of Basel, SÄPT member, Head researcher for the Swiss MAPS program.

After 2014 it became possible to treat patients in Switzerland in an out-patient setting with case-by-case licenses for MDMA, LSD and psilocybin. These licenses are issued by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health based on the Swiss Narcotics Act which allows for a restricted medical use of scheduled psychotropic drugs.

After initially using these substances in a one-to-one setting, a group model was developed which includes up to 12 patients and 3 therapists within a 3-day format. His presentation at the ALPS conference 2021 described this substance-assisted group psychotherapy model, the requirements for therapists and patients, methodological and therapeutic challenges, patient characteristics, outcomes and observations made from 2014 - 2020.

Questions asked to Peter:

• You are a pioneer in MDMA assisted therapy - I saw some videos already from 2010. When did it all start for you and why ? 
• Switzerland is known for its use of psychotropic drugs for medical purposes. Could you put this use in a historical context ? 
• Why is it easier to begin with MDMA assisted therapy before moving on to other therapeutic processes like LSD ?
• What makes a good therapist ?
• What are your hopes for the next five years ?

Photo by Fiona Art