Podcast appearances and mentions of roland griffiths

A cutting-edge exploration of the role of psychedelics in the end-of-life experience• Outlines 10 steps for dying gracefully with the help of psychedelics, including how to navigate the complex legal landscape and find the right guide and therapy• Looks at clinical studies of psychedelics from UCLA, Johns Hopkins, and NYU School of Medicine that show dramatic lessening of end-of-life anxiety in terminally ill patients• Shares wisdom from experts on psychedelic research and palliative care, including Roland Griffiths, Katherine MacLean, Ira Byock, and Anthony BossisExamining the evolving landscape that is found around end-of-life psychedelic care, Dr. Richard Louis Miller, a clinical psychologist for more than half a century, looks at how LSD, MDMA, psilocybin, and ayahuasca can be vital tools in allowing individuals in all stages of life to confront fears of dying and, in so doing, lead richer lives.Miller shares wisdom from experts on the frontiers of psychedelic research and palliative care—including Roland Griffiths, Katherine MacLean, Ira Byock, and Anthony Bossis—and examines cutting-edge studies from Johns Hopkins, UCLA, and NYU School of Medicine that show dramatically decreased anxiety in terminally ill patients through the use of psychedelics. He explores how different substances can help the dying overcome their end-of-life distress. He also provides testimony from researchers and patients participating in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy that helps convey the experience of ego death at the heart of the psychedelic experience.Miller outlines 10 steps for dying gracefully, without fear, with the help of psychedelics. He examines how to navigate the complex legal landscape and find the right guide, dose, and therapy. He also includes reflections from key figures in the psychedelic community as well as some of his own psychedelically informed mystical and near-death experiences.Revealing psychedelics as a portal of transformation, Miller shows how they are singularly valuable in helping individuals face the end of life with courage and serenity.Richard Louis Miller, M.A., Ph.D., has been a clinical psychologist for more than 60 years. He is host of the internet radio broadcast Mind Body Health & Politics, the founder of the internationally acclaimed Cokenders Alcohol and Drug Program, and creator of the Health Sanctuary at Wilbur Hot Springs. He has been a faculty member at the University of Michigan and Stanford University and an advisor on the President's Commission on Mental Health. He lives in Fort Bragg and Wilbur Hot Springs, California.https://www.drrichardlouismiller.com/Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/earth-ancients--2790919/support.

Show notes: (0:50) Manoj Doss and his research (4:34) Alcohol: Retrograde facilitation and memory (9:04) Exploring psychedelics and memory systems (17:44) Psychedelics and belief formation (19:47) Risks associated with psychedelic use, including psychosis and persistent perception issues (27:40) Ketamine addiction concerns and safety (33:13) Cannabis: Benefits and Downsides (39:28) Psychedelics' potential for trauma healing and creative insights (45:24) MDMA's role in enhancing social interactions and trauma therapy (54:50) Where to find Manoj (56:03) Outro Who is Manoj Doss?   Manoj Doss, Ph.D., completed his doctorate at the University of Chicago with professors David Gallo and Harriet de Wit investigating the acute effects of psychoactive drugs on emotional episodic memory and memory distortion. He then worked as a postdoctoral scholar at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine with professors Frederick Barrett and Roland Griffiths investigating the acute and persisting effects of psychedelic drugs on cognition and brain function.   Doss utilizes complex cognitive paradigms, neuroimaging and computational modeling to explore what makes psychedelic drugs unique compared to other classes of psychoactive drugs in terms of their basic effects and their therapeutic mechanisms. Connect with Manoj: Website: https://dellmed.utexas.edu/directory/manoj-doss X: https://twitter.com/manojdoss Links and Resources: Peak Performance Life Peak Performance on Facebook Peak Performance on Instagram  

Dr. Richard Miller is my special guest tonight to discuss how top researchers were carrying out experiments with psychedelic drugs under the direction of the government.  Embracing the revival of psychedelic research and the discovery of new therapeutic uses, clinical psychologist Dr. Richard Louis Miller discusses what is happening today in psychedelic medicine--and what will happen in the future--with top researchers and thinkers in this field, including Rick Doblin, Stanislav Grof, James Fadiman, Julie Holland, Dennis McKenna, David Nichols, Charles Grob, Phil Wolfson, Michael and Annie Mithoefer, Roland Griffiths, Katherine MacLean, and Robert Whitaker.  Dr. Miller and his contributors cover the tumultuous history of early psychedelic research brought to a halt 50 years ago by the U.S. government as well as offering non-technical summaries of the most recent studies with MDMA, psilocybin, LSD, and ayahuasca. They explore the biochemistry of consciousness and the use of psychedelics for self-discovery and healing. They discuss the use of psilocybin for releasing fear in the terminally ill and the potential for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in the treatment of PTSD. They examine Dr. Charles Grob's research on the indigenous use and therapeutic properties of ayahuasca and Dr. Gabor Mate's attempt to transport this plant medicine to a clinical setting with the help of Canada's Department of National Health.  Dr. Miller and his contributors explore the ongoing efforts to restore psychedelic therapies to the health field, the growing threat of overmedication by the pharmaceutical industry, and the links between psychiatric drugs and mental illness. They also discuss the newly shifting political climate and the push for new research, offering hope for an end to the War on Drugs and a potential renaissance of research into psychedelic medicines around the world.Follow Our Other ShowsFollow UFO WitnessesFollow Crime Watch WeeklyFollow Paranormal FearsFollow Seven: Disturbing Chronicle StoriesJoin our Patreon for ad-free listening and more bonus content.Follow us on Instagram @mysteriousradioFollow us on TikTok mysteriousradioTikTok Follow us on Twitter @mysteriousradio Follow us on Pinterest pinterest.com/mysteriousradio Like us on Facebook Facebook.com/mysteriousradio

Dr. Matthew Johnson joins Whiz for an explosive podcast covering some of the recent controversy in the psychedelic space surrounding clinical trials and potential bias. Dr. Johnson and Whiz met a couple years ago speaking at the Psychedelic Medicine Coalition along with Tim Ferris and Rick Doblin. Dr. Johnson is one of the world's leading and most published scientists on the human effects of psychedelics and has conducted seminal research in the behavioral economics of drug use, addiction, and risk behavior. Dr. Johnson led critical research at Johns Hopkins, along with Dr. Roland Griffiths, into the healing potential of psilocybin. He and Whiz dig dip into how personal bias can creep into studies, potentially impacting the outcome, when it's not needed to impact positive results. They also discuss how negative results can only help the cause by having an open and honest debate about data, not feelings. BYOB – bring your own Budda if you want – but don't be steered by researchers. Whiz shares how God, religion and spirituality were not part of his ‘pre-trip' prep, but that was the result he experienced.

Welcome to our journey into the essence of spirituality and the transformative power of psychedelics. In this video, DaeEss 1Drea opens up about the profound questions that have been stirring the soul: What is spirituality? How does our spiritual development unfold, and in what ways can psychedelics serve as a catalyst for deep, personal insight and connection? But this conversation isn't just one-way. I'm here to invite you, yes, YOU, to join in this exploration. How do you define spirituality? Have psychedelics played a role in your spiritual journey? Your stories, your insights, and your questions are what will make this journey rich and full of depth. In the coming videos, we'll dive into the wisdom of William James, Walter Stace, and Roland Griffiths, and explore how their understanding of mystical experiences and consciousness can enlighten our paths. This is more than just a series; it's a community dialogue, a space for us to share, learn, and grow together.

In the first episode of "Luminous," our series about the philosophy and the future of psychedelics, how can psilocybin ease our fears about dying? And how can psychedelics change the way we approach the end of life? Original Air Date: April 08, 2023 Interviews In This Hour: How a pioneering psychedelic researcher 'leaned in' to his terminal cancer diagnosis — Dying without fear: How psychedelics can ease the anxiety of terminal illness — The terror and the ecstasy of psychedelics Guests: Roland Griffiths, Lou Lukas, Anthony Bossis Editorial note: Roland Griffiths passed away on Oct. 16, 2023. The conversation with him in this episode took place in January 2023. Never want to miss an episode? Subscribe to the podcast. Want to hear more from us, including extended interviews and favorites from the archive? Subscribe to our newsletter.

The staff at Everyone Dies is taking a much-needed break this December, so we will be re-publishing some of our greatest hits with updated topical information as an introduction. This week we talk about the use of psychedelic drugs from the perspective of the scientist who legitimized the study of these drugs at Johns Hopkins University.In this Episode:00:00 – Dr. Roland Griffiths on his psychedelic inquiry with terminal cancer06:35 – Intro (Episode is a re-run from S3E28)10:38 – Five Little-Known Facts about Psychedelics17:18 – Entheogens and Psychedelics39:39 – Willie Nelson – "Dusty Bottles"42:54 – OutroFollow us on Facebook | Instagram | Email us at mail@every1dies.orgClick on this link to Rate and Review our podcast!

What do you think about psychedelics? Does your mind wander to late-60's Beatles tunes? What colors do you see? Have you heard about their therapeutic uses in medicine? Seems like hippy-dippy fringe medicine stuff, right? We're talking magic mushrooms, LSD, and ketamine (among other substances) here! Can you guess which academic research institution has the most robust psychedelic research department in the US? It's the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research! A recent (11/16/23) Johns Hopkins Congressional Briefing, titled “What's Next for Psychedelics” featured a panel of experts discussing psychedelics in medicine, and Your Doctor Friends think the future looks PROMISING! Their discussion centered on the potential cost-saving benefits of utilization of psychedelics in treatment of a variety of conditions, including addiction, anxiety, depression (including that associated with Alzheimer's disease), eating disorders, OCD, and post-treatment Lyme disease. Are you ready to break on through to the other side and talk medicinal psychedelics with us?? Also, we end with a little dessert from Jeremy highlighting recent data recommending the benefits of routing iron level screening, given new data on the high prevalence of iron deficiency, and why you might want to bring it up to your healthcare provider! Resources for today's episode include: The Johns Hopkins Congressional Briefing Series page, with link to the 43-minute panel presentation titled "What's Next For Psychedelics". A New York Times article about Johns Hopkins psychiatrist Dr. Roland Griffiths, titled "A Psychedelics Pioneer Takes the Ultimate Trip". The FDA Draft Guidance document titled "Psychedelic Drugs: Considerations for Clinical Investigations. Guidance for Industry." A Johns Hopkins Magazine article titled "Preparing for a new era of psychedelic treatment". A New York Times article titled "More Than a Third of Women Under 50 are Iron-Deficient". For more episodes, limited edition merch, or to become a Friend of Your Doctor Friends (and more), follow this link! This includes the famous "Advice from the last generation of doctors that inhaled lead" shirt :) Also, CHECK OUT AMAZING HEALTH PODCASTS on The Health Podcast Network   Find us at: Website: yourdoctorfriendspodcast.com  Email: yourdoctorfriendspodcast@gmail.com  Connect with us: @your_doctor_friends (IG) Send/DM us a voice memo/question and we might play it on the show! @yourdoctorfriendspodcast1013 (YouTube) @JeremyAllandMD (IG, FB, Twitter) @JuliaBrueneMD (IG) @HealthPodNet (IG)

In this riveting episode, Mariah converses with the insightful Alex Patterson, based in Charlottesville, Virginia, who shares his fascinating life journey.  Alex's life took a transformative turn in 2013, when he was prompted to advocate for the legalization of hemp in his home state. He recounts the pivotal encounter with esteemed research scientist Roland Griffiths, exposing him to the intriguing world of psilocybin and plant medicine. The discussion touches on the importance of indigenous perspectives in the evolving landscape of psychedelics, the trials of blending the ancient wisdom of plant medicine into our modern society, and the growing demand for practiced professionals in the field of psychedelic therapy. Underlining the profound influence plant medicines have conferred on his self-development, relationships, and overall life quality, Alex's discourse provides valuable insights. Alex and Mariah further discuss the path to legal protection and freedom for use of yagé, Colombian Ayahuasca, The necessity for legal safeguards and the responsible use of these potent plant medicines for ensuing generations is also keenly emphasized. This episode emerges as an enlightening probe into the realms of plant medicine, spirituality, and the underlying interconnectedness of all life. Listeners can look forward to deep insights and fresh perspectives from Alex's incredible experiences and profound wisdom. In This Episode: Alex Patterson |  ambiwasi.org Mariah Gannessa | @mariahgannessa This podcast is brought to you by Four Visions Website | fourvisions.com Instagram| @fourvisionstribe Facebook | Four Visions Youtube | Four Visions Nominate a podcast guest! Intro Music created from music by Juan David Muñoz | @jdmusicesencia Subscribe to the FVM Podcast and leave us a review! iTunes | Spotify | Google Podcasts  

 Many people who struggle with a mental illness or disorder may not know that clinical research data suggests that new treatment options may be just around the corner. On this episode of Mind Dive Podcast, board-certified psychiatrist, physician-investigator with Segal Trials, and assistant professor at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Dr. David Mathai, joins hosts Dr. Bob Boland and Dr. Kerry Horrell to discuss the importance of understanding the cultural and historical context of psychedelic drugs and why the first FDA-approved psychedelic drug therapy could come as soon as 2024.Dr. Mathai simplifies the definition of psychedelics as "drugs, whose most prominent subjective effects often involve dramatic changes in thought, in mood and cognition." He says that, historically, these substances have been used in different cultural traditions across the globe for the purpose of healing and connection. He further explained that the  earliest wave of research surrounding psychedelics was focused on  LSD, which was discovered in the 1940s. “Realizing some of the therapeutic qualities such as LSD treatment for alcohol use disorder, anxiety and depression related with end-of-life illness...all of that was bubbling up,” said Dr. Mathai. But the Vietnam War would serve as a gateway to dismantle that research. For example, Dr. Mathai says there became a “complicated” social association between psychedelic drugs and  counterculture, particularly with American protestors  of the U.S. involvement with the war, often referred to as “hippies.” Dr. Mathai suggests this clash of cultures led to a growing animosity between proponents of  psychedelic use, like American psychologist Timothy Leary,  and politicians who were overseeing studies and held different views.These opposing views, along with cases of reckless use of psychedelics, eventually led to the federal government's effort to combat illegal drug use in the 1970s, which Dr. Mathis credits with “shattering” psychedelic research for several decades -- until the early 2000s.The resurgence of psychogenic research is often credited to a paper on psilocybin (a hallucinogen in certain types of mushrooms) written by Dr. Mathai's mentor, the late American neuroscientist, Roland Griffiths. The research shows that users of psilocybin reported their experiences as among the most meaningful or spiritually significant experiences of their life. Dr. Mathai was involved with trials of psilocybin at Johns Hopkins for people who wanted to quit smoking, which resulted in a 60% to 70% success rate of participants cutting down on tobacco use. Similar results were found in treating individuals with alcohol use disorder. But it's the optimism surrounding the drug MDMA that could mean big changes for psychedelic-inFollow The Menninger Clinic on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn to stay up to date on new Mind Dive episodes. To submit a topic for discussion, email podcast@menninger.edu. If you are a new or regular listener, please leave us a review on your favorite listening platform! Visit www.menningerclinic.org to learn more about The Menninger Clinic's research and leadership role in mental health.

In this episode Dr. Dave Rabin had the privilege of speaking with the late Dr. Roland Griffiths, a renowned figure in the field of psychedelic science and medicine. Dr. Griffiths, who passed away on October 16, 2023, was a pioneer in the study of consciousness and the therapeutic potential of psychedelic medicines. Dr. Griffiths was the Director of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, shares his journey into the field, driven by his interest in meditation and altered states of consciousness. His groundbreaking research on psilocybin, the active compound in magic mushrooms, is discussed, highlighting the profound effects it induces, including mystical experiences and psychological insights. Dr. Griffiths underscores the need for further research into the variations among different strains of psilocybin mushrooms and the future of psychedelic therapy, which may involve novel compounds and therapeutic approaches. This episode provides valuable insights into the potential of psilocybin mushrooms for depression treatment and the ongoing advancements in psychedelic medicine.Web: https://hopkinspsychedelic.org/griffithsTwitter: https://twitter.com/DrDavidRabinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/drdavidrabinWeb: https://www.drdave.io/

Megyn Kelly is joined by Sen. Ted Cruz, author of "Unwoke,” to discuss the deep dissatisfaction with President Biden's current policies that show him losing support in key swing states, Biden's poll numbers tanking compared to Trump for the 2024 election, whether the Democratic Party leaders may try to swap in Michelle Obama next year, shocking demographic shifts that show Trump gaining support with Hispanics and Black Americans, what Trump trials may do to Trump's poll numbers, the “woke” infection in colleges across the U.S., the chilling and radical anti-Israel riot in Washington D.C., cultural Marxism on college campuses and in Congress, why Donald Trump “broke” the corporate media, how the American media have became Hamas propagandists since the terror group attacked Israel, former President Barack Obama's recent comments about Israel's “occupation” of Gaza and why we are all "complicit" in the conflict, how the Obama administration empowered Iran and Hamas, terror threat warnings at the border, and more. Then Jordan Belfort, author of "The Wolf of Investing," joins to discuss how everyday Americans can invest like the rich and finance experts, the importance of not gambling when investing, why you should ignore advice from Jim Cramer and others on CNBC, how to overcome the terrible economy under the Biden presidency through the right investing decisions, the pros and cons of Trump, using psychedelics to help his addiction, and more. And Megyn remembers Dr. Roland Griffiths, who told his story on The Megyn Kelly Show in January about his psychedelic research and cancer diagnosis, who passed away last month.Cruz: http://UnwokeBook.comBelfort: https://jb.online/Follow The Megyn Kelly Show on all social platforms: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MegynKellyTwitter: http://Twitter.com/MegynKellyShowInstagram: http://Instagram.com/MegynKellyShowFacebook: http://Facebook.com/MegynKellyShow Find out more information at: https://www.devilmaycaremedia.com/megynkellyshow

In this episode of The Mushroom Show, we're trying to answer the age old question- how many species of mushrooms are there? It's a lot more difficult to answer than you might think, and has some pretty profound implications. We review a new report called The State of The World's Plants and Fungi 2023 and dig into the details.We're also going to be commemorating Roland Griffiths, a professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurosciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and founding director of the Johns Hopkins Center on Psychedelic and Consciousness Research.Roland passed away on October 16 at the age of 77 after a battle with colon cancer- and we are covering some of the contributions that he and his team made to the advancement of Psilocybin as a medicine.0:00 Intro0:45 How Many Species Actually Exist8:31 FreshCap Mushrooms9:43 Commemorating Roland Griffiths19:45 Outro

The Morins and the Lessins debate how to solve misinformation across even legacy media sites. Plus, prepping for VCs' big annual reports to shareholders. Discussed Psilocybin Treatment for Major Depression Effective for Up to a Year for Most Patients, Study Shows Slow evolution of a NYTimes headline. "Israeli Strike" -> "Strike" -> "Blast" After Hospital Blast, Headlines Shift With Changing Claims What To Do About Misinformation in the Upcoming Election Cycle? Show Notes [00:00:00] Intro and Check In [00:01:46] RIP Dr. Roland Griffiths, Johns Hopkins scientist who proved psilocybin is the cure for depression.  [00:05:39] AGM Season. What are AGMs?  [00:08:05] The big topic: Misinformation and The New York Times [00:11:17] How did this happen? Where is the accountability in media? [00:15:58] The importance of being right not first.  [00:20:19] How we get our information.  [00:22:37] Trust in the media. [00:25:56] Should influencers know each other more deeply as humans?  [00:29:38] Civilization vs Not-Civilization.  [00:33:40] Building bridges through conversation.  [00:35:23] The role of colleges.  [00:37:41] AR and VR's are anti-social technology. [00:41:30] Social networks cracking down. [00:46:26] More questions about the end of the factory model of venture capital.  [00:48:57] Are we really not investing in AI startups? [00:52:03] Capital is just gone. [00:54:51] Backing founders without safety nets. [00:55:00] Wrap Up

Stupefan è venerdì, che è sì il giorno della settimana in cui esce il vostro podcast preferito, ma, da qualche anno a questa parte è anche la giornata simbolo dello sciopero per la lotta al cambiamento climatico. Oggi uniamo i due temi contro un avversario che, d'ora in poi, non riguarderà più solo chi si batte per politiche sulle droghe rispettose dei diritti umani, ma anche coloro che marciano in piazza per riforme ecologiste: il proibizionismo!Vi racconteremo come la guerra alla droga abbia causato danni inestimabili alle foreste che rappresentano il polmone del mondo e, approfittando del nuovo report by EMCDDA sul traffico di anfetamine, cercheremo di calcolare i danni ambientali che anche qui in Europa stanno venendo causati dalla produzione illegale di sostanze sintetiche. Friday I'm in love, ma ascoltate i cure solo dopo questo episodio!Note dell'episodio: - Chi era Roland Griffiths: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/17/obituaries/roland-griffiths-dead.html- Il nuovo report: https://www.healthpovertyaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/REPORT-Revealing-the-Missing-Link-to-Climate-Justice-Drug-Policy.pdf- Il riassunto del report proibizionismo/clima: https://shorturl.at/mMO27- L'Europa ha un problema con l'inquinamento da droga: https://www.wired.it/attualita/ambiente/2021/06/26/droga-inquinamento-europa/- Il nuovo report dell'EMCDDA sulle anfetamine: https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/eu-drug-markets/amphetamine_enEntra in contatto con noi usando la mail stupefatticast@gmail.como seguendo su Instagram il @stupefatti_podcast!Puoi anche iscriverti a STUPEGRAM, il nostro canale telegram, a questo link https://t.me/stupegram!

You can also listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!Manish Agrawal MD and Paul Thambi MD are oncologists who have spent decades caring for patients with cancer. They realized early in their careers that chemotherapy could treat the cancer—but what about the emotional, psychological and spiritual impact of facing mortality? When they learned about the potential for medications like MDMA and psilocybin to help people gain access to parts of their minds they didn't know existed—and to address the human experience of suffering—they quit their day jobs as practicing cancer doctors to found Sunstone Therapies, the sole psychedelic-assisted therapy research and treatment center in the Washington, D.C. area.  The data are increasingly clear: these non-addictive substances hold the power to expand consciousness and improve quality of life.When guided by a trained therapist in the appropriate setting, even one experience with a psychedelic medication can help people unlock closed doors in their minds and to feel safe enough to explore its contents. They can be the catalyst for patients' ability re-route well-worn pathways of negative and maladaptive thoughts, feelings and behaviors.It turns out that science and spirituality aren't mutually exclusive.On this episode of Beyond the Prescription, Drs. McBride, Agrawal and Thambi discuss the inseparability of physical and mental health; the promise of psychedelic therapy to treat the psychological impact of cancer and other diseases such as PTSD, anxiety, and depression; and their shared excitement about the potential for these drugs to fundamentally expand the standard of care in medicine. Bios:Manish Agrawal, MDManish brings an extensive background and experience that spans medicine, engineering, philosophy, and ethics to his role as CEO of Sunstone Therapies. Driven by a deep interest in healing, Manish is particularly passionate about whole person healing and the transformative potential of psychedelic therapies. Manish previously held the position of Co-Director of Clinical Research at Maryland Oncology Hematology, where he dedicated 15 years to the care of cancer patients. He completed a fellowship at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, and his residency at Georgetown University Medical Center.Paul Thambi, MDPaul brings deep experience in oncology care and clinical trial design to his role as Chief Medical Officer at Sunstone. He is a proponent of strong organizational culture and strives to create a compassionate, open and accepting workplace to advance whole person healing in medicine. As a medical oncologist, Paul developed important and meaningful relationships with patients, witnessessing their emotional and physical distress upon diagnosis and throughout treatment, leading him to explore psychedelic therapies to improve the emotional and mental health of patients fighting cancer. Paul completed his oncology fellowship at the National Cancer Institute and, prior to pursuing medicine, he began his professional career in engineering and consulting.Join Dr. McBride every Monday for a new episode of Beyond the Prescription.You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on her Substack at https://lucymcbride.substack.com/podcast. You can sign up for her free weekly newsletter at lucymcbride.substack.com/welcome.Please be sure to like, rate, and review the show!The transcript of the show is here![00:00:00] Dr. Lucy McBride: Hello, and welcome to my office. I'm Dr. Lucy McBride, and this is Beyond the Prescription, the show where I talk with my guests like I do my patients, pulling the curtain back on what it means to be healthy, health as more than the absence of disease. As a primary care doctor, I've realized that patients are more than their cholesterol and their weight. We are the integrated sum of complex parts. Our stories live in our bodies. I'm here to help people tell their story, and for you to imagine and potentially get healthier from the inside out. You can subscribe to my free weekly newsletter at lucymcbride.substack.com and to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. So let's get into it and go Beyond The Brescription. [00:01:03] Buckle your seatbelt. Today we are going to talk about one of my favorite subjects, the re emerging field of psychedelic medicine. I truly believe it is going to change the landscape of modern mental health care in this country. I cannot wait to introduce you to my guests today, Dr. Manish Agarwal and Dr. Paul Thambi. They are oncologists who have spent decades caring for patients with cancer. They realized early in their careers that chemotherapy could treat the cancer, but what about the whole person? What about the emotional, psychological, and spiritual impact of facing a hard diagnosis and mortality? When they learned about the potential for psychedelic medicines like MDMA and psilocybin to address patients' whole health, to offer some acceptance and insight and access to the patient's interiority in ways that they had never seen before, Paul and Manish left their day jobs as practicing cancer doctors to found Sunstone Therapies. [00:02:13] This is where I am now sending some of my patients, not just to face cancer diagnoses, but also for anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Sunstone Therapies is the sole psychedelic assisted therapy research and treatment center in the Washington, D. C. area. The goal of Sunstone is to better treat the emotional and psychological impact of cancer and other disorders. Paul and Manish are contributing to the fundamental expansion of the standard of care in medicine and it is a wonderful thing to be part of and to watch. Paul and Manish, thank you so much for joining me today on the podcast.[00:02:53] Dr. Paul Thambi: It's a pleasure to be here. Thanks for having us.[00:02:55] Dr. Manish Agarwal: Yeah, it's great having you. Thank you. [00:02:57] LM:  The two of you together have backgrounds in medicine, engineering, philosophy, data science, and research, yet you landed in the field of psychedelics for a reason. Tell me why that is. What is so exciting about this field to you?[00:03:15] MA: Paul and I both have been practicing oncologists for almost 20 years, and over time we got really good at taking care of cancer patients, their physical symptoms, but their quality of life was not always directly proportional to how they physically felt. And over time it really starts eating away at you, that you're not able to take care of the emotional health of cancer patients.[00:03:35] When we saw this emerging field and started looking at the data, We visited and learned about it and then got training and explored to see is this real. And that's what sort of led us down this path is, for me personally I've always been into philosophy, that's why I have my masters in philosophy.[00:03:54] I've been interested in the human side of medicine not just the science side. Both have fascinated me and this really brought both of them together. The reason that Paul and I both went into medicine is to treat people and to make them feel better. And really, for the cancer patient, for any patient, you have to take care of everything, not just the physical symptoms.[00:04:14] PT: Everything that Manish said is echoed in my life and how I was drawn to this. And I think there were a few patients that really suffered emotionally that really hit home for me. And I carried that pain from what they went through with me. And when Manish showed me the data on psychedelic assistive therapy, it wasn't really the data, it was really more these YouTube videos where we saw how there were a couple of patients on the NYU trial and the Hopkins trial, and how they were before they went on that treatment and after. And there was a palpable change that you could feel through the video even, and it was just something that I wanted to be able to see if we can bring to our patients. [00:05:00] LM: Can you give me an example of a patient who has been served by this treatment, maybe a cancer patient? I'd love to hear an anecdote.[00:05:08] MA: There's a young patient with kids and a serious cancer, and had struggled with depression, didn't know anything about psychedelics, but really applied. And to see the change in his life, he's changed the relationship with his mother, who had a hard time with her son having cancer. And he was able to have a conversation with her afterwards, saying, I want my mom back.[00:05:29] And then he was bleeding, when he went home for something else, he got a cut. And his young boy sat up and said, “Dad, are you dying?” And he was able to sit and have a conversation with him. He said, I would never be able to do those things before. And he was able to really sense into that. And then the other group that's really, I've sort of been really blown away by is the military that we've been treating recently.[00:05:51] They have such complex things that they've seen, such complex trauma. And they've tried everything. I mean everything. For a military person to come and seek this care is not easy because the entire institution, it can affect their career if they talk about mental health. So they're desperate and to see the lives that are turned around, I literally wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it.[00:06:15] And it's been powerful to see them going from, thinking about suicide regularly, to really no meaning, to a sense of despair, to not where everything is great and perfect, but they're having a fundamental change, and they want to live, and they want to reconnect, and they're building their lives back together.[00:06:33] LM: I mean, that says everything that you need to know about why this is important. Acceptance, hope, peace, which isn't possible every day of the week, nor is it mutually exclusive with ongoing pain, as humans experience a myriad emotions on a day to day basis. But to think that there's something out there that could give people more agency and acceptance is pretty extraordinary given that we've had pretty poor tools to help people with emotional health and mental health. And so I guess my question to you is then, how do you see the psychedelics changing the way we think about mental health?[00:07:19] PT: One of the things that can help to do is just to shine a light on this is a part of our health that we need to focus on. There is now these tools that are being talked about that can be helpful, perhaps more helpful than the existing tools and that allows people to start talking about their emotional health more to their doctors, to their family.[00:07:44] And in terms of how these medicines can help, I think it's not just the medicine. I just want to talk a little bit more about that because the medicine does some things and would act on some of the same receptors that SSRIs act, but there's more to it than the medicine. You talked about it being an experience and it is that, and it's not always that it finds stories that are hidden, sometimes those stories are there and people feel them all the time, but they turn away from them. And what you need to do, what we're starting to learn with this is that you need to create an environment, a container as it's called in this space, that feels safe, that allows people to trust and be vulnerable in that space.[00:08:32] So that when they experience those fears, and some of those stories may be hidden, some of them may be ones that they've lived with their whole lives, but now they can look at those. They can be with that story that they've felt, and face it. Because they feel a sense of trust, and they're with therapists or people who care about them.[00:08:53] Who created a relationship with them that allow them to go deep into that story and find the pieces of that story that serve them and the, and the pieces of the story that don't and talk about that, integrate that into their lives, integrate that into their conversations with their families. It's that that does the healing more so than the medicine or as much as the medicine.[00:09:17] LM: It's such an important point because I see patients Who I will kind of raise this idea to—people who have complex PTSD or who are facing terminal diagnosis. And sometimes they'll say to me, well, I tried mushrooms in college and [it] didn't do much then. And I just had a bad experience. I remind them that that set and setting matters so much.[00:09:40] And I think it's such a good point that it's not just the medicine.It's the ability to feel vulnerable and safe, which is sort of this mystical aspect of the medications and then to face some things that you already did know you had and that weren't hidden. I think that's a great point.[00:09:57] MA: Yeah, I mean, I think it's actually pretty nuanced in all of that, because one thing I tell people is, I think psychedelics allow you to access psychic material like no other thing that I know of. But they're not a magic bullet. And if MDMA cured PTSD, I tell people that anyone that goes to a rave wouldn't have PTSD anymore.[00:10:22] But lots of people go to raves and still have PTSD. And so it must be more than the medicine. So it's not to take away from it, because I think you have access, but it is again, the context or, or how it's received. And so, it's like any medicine, the wrong dosage in the wrong context can be harmful or beneficial.[00:10:37] And what you talked about, I think, is really nuanced, and I think it's important. We actually call it sometimes therapy assisted by psychedelics. Because a relationship allows you to really trust, and to trust yourself, and to go deep. And if you have that sense of trust, you're able to access material that you may not otherwise be able to.[00:10:56] And a lot of times, sometimes injury or things occurred in a relationship and to have another wiring of your brain in a healthy relationship, to be witnessed when you were in pain or just to be held or to be supported is a different experience now than it might have been the time that it happened. And you're able to almost nurture that younger part of yourself.[00:11:18] And so that's, it's really, it is quite cutting edge and that's one of the things that fascinated us because it's not… people want medicine therapy. It's like, it's really this combination of the two and, and so you can emphasize one, emphasize the other, but without the two and done in concert and the right setting, it just is not as effective.[00:11:37] And so, you know, for us the therapists and the medicine are super important, but so is everything else. So the way the room is set up, the furniture, the music. The person that answers the phone, the way you're received, the way the follow up is. Because if you think about it, we all are sort of on alert, and you get a sense in your gut, can I trust this place? Can I trust this institution? Can I trust this store? We have relationships with people and institutions, and you start… some part of your psyche that's assessing for danger knows, how deep can I go? And so, you really have to build a place that tries to reassure even the unconscious part that it's okay to go deep here.[00:12:18] LM: I think it's such a good point. And because I was going to ask you how much… let's take psilocybin, for example, which is the active ingredient in mushrooms, how much of that feeling of safety and trust is the chemical itself, and how much is the therapist, the experience of, you know, calling the front desk, scheduling, seeing the lighting, seeing the room, because I have patients who are in therapy for 30 years, even, who trust their therapist, who feel safe, they have a comfortable experience, but they aren't actually making the kind of progress that you sometimes see in patients who have three experiences with psychedelics in the right setting.[00:13:08] MA: I don't think it's medicine that causes the trust. I think it's the environment. I think the medicine brings to the surface the issues that are there, and without the trust, you are not able to process them. And so, yeah, if they have a trusting relationship with their therapist, that's probably a really important piece, but then it's also deeper than that.[00:13:29] Can the therapist handle whatever material comes up? Are they able to be with that? Do they know how to navigate that? And so, if there's distress or anxiety or fear, what they don't necessarily need is reassurance or minimizing of it, and it's how to navigate those waters that's a different skill set than traditional therapy. I don't think the medicine in itself causes trust, it just amplifies what's there, but in a therapeutic relationship trust can be built, and trust is an intrinsic part of each one of us, but it's to rediscover that.[00:13:58] LM: Such a great point.[00:14:00] PT: I echo all of that. I think also, what the medicine does is when you feel that trust, the medicine is a catalyst for you to go into those crevices that you talked about within the story. It may be a story that you know about, but now there's going to be chapters of that story that were hidden to you. And if you feel the trust, it allows you to do that in a way that I think is hard to do on your own. So there is that catalyst that you get from the medicine around that.[00:14:30] LM: It's so gratifying to hear you talk about these sort of mystical and, and visible elements of the human experience because, again, I think that's what's missing in modern medicine, at least in the United States. We don't think about the 364 days a year you're not sitting with your doctor as health.[00:14:52] We don't think about the way we feel in our bodies, the way we think, our self perception, the way we approach stress or vulnerabilities as health. When actually there are direct physical impacts of chronic stress on our bodies. There's direct physical impact of what you described as a vigilance.[00:15:16] In fact, so many patients I see have been diagnosed with anxiety. And we'll use the word anxiety kind of casually, because it's so commonly used, people know the word, but, but actually when you dig deeper with a lot of these patients who have “anxiety” it's not necessarily that they worry excessively, or that they feel even anxious, they don't even often identify with that word, but that's the code in their charts: F41.9, but a more nuanced description of the way they feel, I think, is this vigilance, this sort of emotional, behavioral, and then sometimes medical reaction to feeling threatened that stems from an experience or set of experiences in their childhood. And we talk about adverse childhood experiences having physical and emotional mental health manifestations later in life.[00:16:06] But I see patients all the time who have been diagnosed with anxiety, but whose symptoms stem directly from some adverse childhood set of experiences or experience. And then they have hypertension, binge eating, cardiovascular disorder, cardiovascular disease, racing thoughts, sort of like a twitchiness physically and emotionally when they are faced with stress. And I think that those are the people, as far as I understand it, who have had PTSD who are being studied first and foremost with psychedelics. Is that right?[00:16:41] PT: Yeah, that's right. Right now, that's the indication that has shown the most benefit with MDMA.[00:16:45] MA: Yeah, and to piggyback on, I mean, you've made a couple of points, I guess, and we should probably just touch on them. I think just working backwards… the last point, I think that if people do have these feelings of anxiety or depression, and I think when, um, a disservice we've done is pathologize them, that somehow that's the problem.[00:17:05] And it actually is a sign of health because they're having a normal reaction to abnormal situations. And so, what trauma can sometimes be is that when you're very young you have a situation that was very difficult. But you responded normally, you would feel anxious or you'd feel depressed or sad. But then you didn't have support in that situation and so it got stuck.[00:17:27] And then, now you react when things arise, your body, your psyche has a visceral memory of that, of that lack of safety or that issue that occurred. And so, it's not that the person is a problem, it's not a pathology. They had a normal response to an abnormal situation, whether it was an abusive family member or neglect or abandonment, whatever it was.[00:17:50] It's just that, that situation isn't occurring now. And they need support to be able to work out of that. And what they do, what I've seen sometimes, is that actually becomes their superpower. So they get really sensitive. If you had power issues and somebody that powered over you wasn't, you get really sensitive to that.[00:18:07] And you know in your body when something might be happening even before your mind does. And so, it's turning that story to say it's not a problem as much as how you can move on with it. And then the only other comment I was going to make is on the first part you were saying around, medicine, not looking at these other aspects of our emotional health and I think it's a historical time, really. I think for much of history, the shamans were the physicians and there was a connection between the mind, body, and spirit. And then to great progress, we developed a great scientific understanding of the body and develop antibiotics and other things that help us live a lot longer.[00:18:47] And that's helped us, but then because your blood pressure is good and because your coronaries are clean and you don't have cancer, it doesn't mean you're happy. Now I think things are turning again, that the human is not just a biological entity, but it's also a spiritual, emotional, psychological… whatever you want to call it.[00:19:06] And until you have all of that together. You're just not going to feel fully human. And so before there was this science versus religion or science versus woo woo or whatever it is. But I think more and more you'll see really respected neurobiology labs that are starting to, to talk about that. And you're doing MRIs of monks of brains and you're seeing that meditation causes certain changes.[00:19:27] And then when we do MRIs of patients on psychedelics, going back to your point on vigilance, there is something called the default mode network. And that part of the brain is always looking for problems. It's the default mode. It's being vigilant. And that's the part that quiets down, other parts of the brain wake up, and they're able to start connecting.[00:19:49] And so science now is backing up what's happening. And so there's not so much this tension there, and people are wanting to both be physically and emotionally whole.[00:19:58] LM: It makes so much sense. I've heard Roland Griffiths talk about the experience that long term meditators can have as being the closest to the experience or benefits of psychedelic. Is that something you agree with?[00:20:18] PT: Yeah, I think that, that makes sense. I mean, I think deep meditation allows you to see or feel things that you're feeling with a little bit of removal from that. And that allows you to have a different perspective. So, there is a correlation that can be made.[00:20:36] LM: So, when people look at the New York Times and they see an article about psychedelic medicine, I think they automatically, in many cases, go to two thoughts. One, aren't these recreational drugs that are just for people in rock concerts in the 1960s? And two, that doesn't apply to me. This is for people who are really far gone. And so I'd love for you to speak to the sort of stigma around psychedelic medicine, where that comes from.[00:21:08] PT: Yeah, and Michael Pollan talks a lot about this in, in his book How to Change Your Mind and how there was social and maybe political pressure around creating stigma. So I think that's some of what happened and then also you get into the 1980s where, you know, this is your brain on drugs, those commercials that would come out that really heightened my sensitivity as a child growing up in the 80s around that.[00:21:34] And I think those are things that are hard to release. And now that we're starting to understand, and this is coming up again, psychedelics, realizing that these have been around for millennia. And they've been used by cultures as rites of passage for ways to solve the problems of a community. And I think now that those stories are coming back up and also the scientific data which provides people with a level of comfort, especially those people that have this fear of addiction and drugs and all of those things that I had when I was a kid, knowing that this is coming up in the medical institution. Along with the stories from the past are allowing for people to see this in a different way and to accept it more… I think one of the reasons that people feel safe doing this is that, especially like in the environments that we have at Sunstone, where it is in a sort of a medical environment, where our office, where we treat people, is on the campus of a hospital, and they can see the hospital out the window.[00:22:36] And we're clinicians that have treated patients before as doctors, and it's in a research setting. That allows them to overcome that stigma, to feel safe as they embark on this thing they were told never to do in the past.[00:22:51] LM: And so what do you make of this kind of... Emerging industry where people are taking the medicines off label with various healers and going on retreats in Costa Rica, because I worry, I don't know if you worry that if the set and setting are not appropriate, if the person who is supposed to be the guide isn't trained or perhaps worse, if the recipient of the therapeutic isn't aware of the potential risks and isn't guided in an appropriate way, then, then we might end up losing all the ground and getting these medications approved through the appropriate medical channels. Do you have that concern? [00:23:32] MA: For sure, to some degree I do. I mean, I think there are probably great practitioners around some of those settings, but there's just no way to filter through that. And what I worry about, and I get more worried about, is the longer we're doing this, because we're treating complex PTSD patients, they're complicated. And things that come up, if you're not trained and equipped to do that well, it actually... it causes more harm. In fact, I was speaking with a senior psychedelic therapist who's worked for MAPS in Colorado, and she does only things legally, but she does a lot of integration work, and it's integration work for people that did psychedelics underground.[00:24:17] And the biggest thing that she sees... As people got re-traumatized because they would have an experience and it was severe and the therapist wasn't able to be there. So then again, it felt like what I'm feeling is not okay, which is a feeling that they had the first time. And so she's having to rework through that.[00:24:35] So in that way there's legitimate concern. And the other thing that I worry about is, we've seen this, that you talk to people, they seem fine, or you have one assessment of their mental condition, but it gets more complex and even they're not aware of it fully. And so you have to be really prepared for that.[00:24:56] And the other point I was going to make is what you said, what you asked initially about the underground. But then you also said, people said, I'm not as sick, or how about that stigma? So I think there's a real stigma around mental health. There's a stigma around psychedelics and there's a stigma around mental health.[00:25:13] And so this is both. What it still surprises me time and time again is that people just under report their symptoms, but they still seek it out. So there's sort of this dance. They're like kind of… I'm really kind of okay because it's how they dealt with it. It's like we don't have an environment where you're able to be sad or anxious and there's not something wrong with you and so people play it down and… this is totally anecdotal, but I swear it's worse with men. We'll see, they'll come in, and they're like, I'm fine, I'm fine, and then you, well I drink a lot, and then, yeah, I guess I have feelings of sadness, and then you do the scale, and it's like, wow.[00:25:53] I think it's even harder for men to admit their emotional struggles and that's just a generality, but overall I think there's a collusion of denial around our emotional state and somehow you just have to be, present a certain way, and there's something wrong with you if you're struggling.[00:26:07] LM: I mean, I have a couple of thoughts about that. One is thank you for saying out loud that men are more walled off than women to a woman. No, I'm kidding. I think you're generalizing, but yes, let's just acknowledge that we are very self aware species, women, that is. Secondly, I think we all have a level of denial.[00:26:22] I think denial serves us sometimes, right. Denial is a way of partitioning off pain so that we can cope and function. But then when denial takes on a life of its own and the stuff that is in the denial closet is sort of seeping through the edges and like running out of the bottom of the closet and informing our health, that's when denial is no longer serving us. It's when it's actually in the driver's seat. So it strikes me that the experience, in an appropriate setting with a psychedelic, could help people pull that wall down or open that closet and, and take a look inside and maybe rethink how they approach that thing they didn't think they could approach.[00:27:08] And then secondly, yeah, mental health still has a bad rap when, as you both know, we all have mental health. It's not a feature you can kind of opt out of as like the human without the mental health. And as you said earlier as well, we tend to medicalize and pathologize mental health.[00:27:30] So in a way that's good because we are acknowledging that these have medical consequences, that an anxiety disorder is a medical condition, as opposed to just a personality flaw, which was what some people think of it as. But we also tend to label and sort and diagnose conditions that are just normal.[00:27:50] Like, of course, when someone has been raised by an alcoholic parent and they have been conditioned to sort of be a certain way, sort of invisible or good or not a problem, that is going to have an impact on their health such that when they get into a therapist's office or a doctor's office in their forties and their maybe that's not depression.[00:28:13] Maybe you had a response to an experience and sure the symptoms are that of depression, but it's actually something more complex, more nuanced. And so I'm not really asking you a question. I'm just making an observation that we're up against a lot as we market these medicines and therapeutics to people because of the stigma around mental health because of the stigma around drugs But I think if it's done well—which is why Sunstone and other research institutions exist—if it's done well, and we can actually help people understand that their interior lives their past their stories have relevance to their health. And that yes, having clean coronary arteries and nice blood pressure is great, but it's not sufficient for health, then it really, I do think is going to change the way we think about health.[00:29:04] It's already changed it for me. It's just that it's not legal yet in DC. And I haven't tried psychedelic medicine. I want to, it has changed the way I think about emotional health. I mean, I've been thinking about mental health and health in this way, my whole career, but I don't think modern medicine has given doctors really permission to do that.[00:29:20] And so I wonder what you think is in the pipeline. Are these things going to be FDA approved in the next five years, ten years? Are people going to be able to access these therapeutics? Are there going to be enough guides to appropriately shepherd people through the process? What are we looking at in the next year or five years.[00:29:41] MA: I just want to comment a little bit on what you said around the denial piece. I think that denial actually is quite healthy. And on where your neurological system was, when you experienced something, it might've been, it probably was overwhelming and the proper and healthy response would have been denial and to put it into a box.[00:30:00] It's just that now it's not necessary and it's not integrating back into your life. And so I'm very wary of pathologizing any of these things because they're usually healthy. It's just in the context now. And so I just make that one point and the other one around the mental health issue that, it's good that we're talking about it, but I think that we wouldn't want a life without emotions, right?[00:30:23] If you push down your anxiety and your fear, you also push down your joy and happiness and love, the things that we humans live for. And so they sort of go both hand in hand and you can't have both of those.[00:30:38] LM: Yeah, sort of like when we talk about alcohol when we're sort of self medicating, right? It blunts distress, but also blunts joy, libido, life. So you can't selectively numb. You also can't selectively be the human without an emotional life because that wouldn't be good. Then we'd all be like chat GPT or AI, right?[00:31:00] PT: Yeah, yeah, and it just, I'm just going to piggyback on that denial part of things too, because I think one of the things that's important to remember is that people have built up these ways of denial, of sort of pushing things away. Psychedelics, like we mentioned before, can be a catalyst to break through that denial.[00:31:17] That can be, you can lose your balance when that happens. So I just want to highlight again how important it is to have that integration and that container afterwards because you can't feel that way afterwards. You have to be with people that help you find that centeredness again. [00:31:35] And in terms of access and what's happening, we talked about how MDMA has been studied in PTSD for some time now. And there are two phase three trials. They're showing significantly positive results. And that might be the first medication that gets approved as a psychedelic for PTSD outside of esketamine, which has been approved for depression. And that might happen in the next year or two and we will hope for that.[00:32:01] And psilocybin is behind that in terms of how it's being used in various types of depression, and more and more information is coming out around that looks good, and perhaps if it continues to look good, that could be the next medication that gets approved. We'll see. So I think those are the things that are happening in terms of access and how we get this to people if they are approved, if they do show that they are effective, You're right, I don't think our healthcare system is built for this right now and there aren't enough therapists that are trained in this to treat everyone that has PTSD or even a half the people that have PTSD that might qualify for MDMA or for psilocybin in some sort of depression. And that's what we're thinking a lot about.[00:32:48] We have investigated how to do this in a group setting, with group preparation, taking the medicine as a group, and having integration as a group. We find it is not only a way that introduces efficiencies, but we also see therapeutic healing with that approach, too. To be able to be connected with another group of people that have something similar to what you have or what you're going through, whether that be cancer or PTSD or depression, and to develop this bond during the sessions that you have with each other around preparation and integration, we think that's probably going to be therapeutic, too.[00:33:29] That model also allows for more people to be trained on this. So, we're trying to think about how to do that from a group setting. We're trying to think about how digital tools can be used to improve or to give us efficiencies in this setting, but also remembering that there's compassion that's needed with this, so not to overuse digital processes. We're thinking about that as well. How do you do scheduling and other things? So, I think there's a number of problems to be solved around access, but they're solvable.[00:34:00] LM: And so if you're listening to this and you're thinking to yourself, wow, I've been in therapy for 10 years. I'm on Prozac, but I still feel anxious. I'm sure there's some parts of me I haven't really discovered. This sounds really interesting. Or if you're just listening and want to try psychedelics, where would you go?[00:34:18] Would you have to enroll in a clinical trial? Would you call Sunstone? Would you wait until MDMA is approved? What would you do if you were curious and wanted to participate in the research or the therapeutic elements here?[00:34:31] MA: I think the first thing you would do is look for a clinical trial. And so, there are many, many places now that are doing research throughout the country and internationally. And certainly at Sunstone, we have five studies open now, and we will have another three more open this year. We have them in depression and anxiety and PTSD and cancer and family members of cancer patients and so there's other places that have that. So I think that's sort of the most rigorous way to get that. And I do think that some medicines, as Paul said, will be approved next year. I think that, I cannot underemphasize the importance of the context and the safety. What you don't want is to do something and get worse and so you want to make sure that you have safety if you're not good on that road.[00:35:16] And I think we've talked a lot about the upsides of psychedelics and we're talking about that because so much of mental health right now, we don't have great treatments for, but we're still really in early days and we still have a lot to learn. Who's most going to benefit? Which people are completely contraindicated for?[00:35:36] How do you get people ready? And so I understand the hype because people are desperate. And at the same time, I want to be cautious in that I think we're still learning about how to use these powerful medicines.[00:35:50] LM: Yeah, I mean, I think one thing I am concerned about in particular, and I know this is out there in the public, is the potential risk for someone, particularly in their 20s who may be predisposed to schizophrenia. Is there a link between the use of psychedelic drugs and either the awakening or the schizophrenia or mental illness?[00:36:09] Plus, as you've already talked about, this idea of not having the right set and setting not having the appropriately trained guide or the feeling on the patient side of of safety and trust such that people get worse. So what are the absolute contraindications right now in your mind?[00:36:28] PT: Some of them are around people who have a tendency towards manic episodes. Like bipolar disorder with mania because that has been described where people had manic episodes after having a psychedelic experience, so I think that's one firm contraindication right now, at least in research trials. [00:36:49] The others are—there are some cardiac effects that people worry about with some of the psychedelic medicines, so if there's a history of abnormal heart rhythms or a potential tendency to have an abnormal heart rhythm, that's another contraindication. Some of them like MDMA have sympathomimetic effects, which means they can cause the heart rate to go up and the blood pressure to go up. So if someone doesn't have controlled high blood pressure, or if they have underlying heart disease, they may need to get evaluated with a stress test and things like that to show that things would be safe if those conditions happen.[00:37:27] LM: And what about, so many Americans are on SSRIs, so is there a contraindication? For people who are on SSRIs or who are on any other medications at all?[00:37:38] MA: In terms of the SSRIs, right now we taper people off of them, and it's less about safety as much as efficacy, that we think it might blunt the depth of the response of a psychedelic. Although there are ongoing studies that are bringing some of that into question, and so they probably do work maybe at a higher dose, and so it's not an absolute contraindication, it's certainly not a contraindication for safety, it's just a, you might limit its efficacy.[00:38:02] LM: Interesting.[00:38:03] MA: And some of the drugs that can prolong the QTC, there's some concern around that, and so we certainly do EKGs on all the patients.[00:38:11] LM: What is so great about the way you're describing the research is that you have a healthy level of respect for these medications. You have enthusiasm, but it is tempered with appropriate caution. So thank you guys for joining me. It's been so fun learning about Sunstone. I've been grateful to you guys for taking some of my patients into your clinical trials, and I can't wait to see what's next.[00:38:37] PT: Thanks for having us, Lucy.[00:38:39] MA: Yeah, it's just been great getting to know you.[00:39:03] LM: Thank you all for listening to Beyond the Prescription. Please don't forget to subscribe, like, download, and share the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you catch your podcasts. be thrilled if you liked this episode to rate and review it. And if you have a comment or question, please drop us a line at info@lucymcbride.com. The views expressed on this show are entirely my own and do not constitute medical advice for individuals. That should be obtained from your personal physician. Get full access to Are You Okay? at lucymcbride.substack.com/subscribe

Dr. Regina Moore, PharmD The Psychedelic Pharmacists Association is PsychedelicPharmacist.org. The PPA is unique as an organization focused on psychedelics and healthcare professionals as we do not require licensure for entrance and are open to the public to join.   Here is a link to the chart with drug harms https://www.businessinsider.com/chart-drugs-that-cause-the-most-harm-2013-9 . Journal is behind   New Zealand replicated this and published this year https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12240599/Alcohol-harmful-meth-cigarettes-worse-heroin-says-NZ-research-vapes-cannabis-rated.html   Here's a more recent publication by Roland Griffiths et al on psychedelics and palliative care: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34958455/   From the PPA here is our “top papers of the psychedelic renaissance” write up for those focused on studies: https://psychedelicpharmacist.org/top-psychedelic-research-papers/   You can find me at ReginaMoore.me and Hello@ReginaMoore.me   Lisa Solomon's Contact: lisa@illinoispsycyedelicsociety.org

Today I am speaking with Dr. Manish Agrawal.Manish is the founder and CEO of Sunstone Therapies and co-director of clinical research at Aquilino Cancer Center in Rockville, Maryland.Manish studied engineering at Auburn University and graduated from the University of Alabama School of Medicine. He did his medical residency at Georgetown University, where he also earned a master's in Philosophy. After Georgetown, he did a fellowship at the National Institutes of Health.He then went on to a more than 20-year career as an oncologist.In 2017, Manish met Roland Griffiths from Johns Hopkins University, and his interest in psychedelic research was piqued, which led to the founding of Sunstone Therapies. Sunstone serves as an independent research site that carries out clinical trials for psychedelic drug developers like MAPS, Usona, and Compass Pathways, as well as their own investigator-initiated trials. They also train therapists. In this episode, we discuss:* Manish's career as an oncologist and researcher;* His time at the National Institutes of Health (NIH);* The role his philosophy training has played in his life as a physician;* The origin story of Sunstone Therapies;* The similarities between delivering cancer treatment and the delivering psychedelic medicine; and * Preparing for FDA approval.Listen to the episode on Substack, Spotify, Google, or Apple.Credits:* Hosted by Zach Haigney * Produced by Zach Haigney, Erin Greenhouse, and Katelin Jabbari* Find us at thetripreport.com* Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube* Theme music by MANCHO Sounds, Mixed and Mastered by Rollin Weary This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thetripreport.com

Lauren Going joins the show to talk about ketamine assisted therapy, psychedelic therapies, and how you can combine psychedelics with a variety of different therapies to help with depression, anxiety, with even end of life circumstances. Lauren discusses what happens physiologically in the brain when you do psilocybin and psychedelic assisted type therapies, and how this can be the missing piece to let people get to the next stage of their mental health journey. Lauren also covers the science backed research of these therapy modalities, including MDMA, and how these therapies could be the future of mental health work.    On today's podcast, you will learn: How psychedelic treatments are used to address many mental health disorders. The way psychedelics help to process trauma and traumatic memories. The 3 phases of psychedelic assisted therapies and how they contribute to healing. Ketamine and MDMA assisted therapies and how they work. What's happening on a neurological level when doing psychedelic assisted therapy. The future of the psychedelic assisted therapy industry.   Lauren Going's Bio: Lauren Going, LCSW-C is a leading educator in the field of psychedelic assisted therapy and founder of Inner Path Wellness, Baltimore's first psychedelic assisted therapy center. She began her work in psychedelic therapy assisting with some of the major studies at Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research conducted by Dr. Roland Griffiths, Dr. Bill Richards, Mary Cosimano.  She trained in Psilocybin therapy under Dr. Brian Richards at the Aquilino Cancer Institute - featured in the Netflix series “How to Change Your Mind”, trained in MDMA therapy with Dr. Rick Doblin at MAPS - Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies, and trained in Ketamine Assisted Therapies at PRATI - The Psychedelic Research and Training Institute.  Lauren is a trauma specialist trained in Internal Family Systems, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and several somatic therapies. She has studied with Richard Schwartz, Bessel Van der Kolk, Dan Siegel, Laurel Parnell among others.   Lauren has been on faculty with organizations such as the Bodywise Institute and the DMV Ketamine Training Center.  Lauren can be found https://innerpathbaltimore.com/   ✨SUBSCRIBE✨ http://bit.ly/38pyo1U

“We thought it was the end of psychedelic research, and the great dreams we had were for some future generation,” says Dr. Bill Richards, referring to the 1970s when the Nixon administration criminalized psychedelic compounds.  At that point, he could not have imagined there would once again be the thriving interest in psychedelics for both therapeutic and non-clinical purposes that we see today. On this episode of Raise the Line with host Shiv Gaglani, we take a unique, multi-generational look at psychedelic research with two guests who happen to be related to each other. Dr. Bill Richards' extraordinary contributions to the field started sixty years ago and he was instrumental in helping Dr. Roland Griffiths reignite psychedelic research in 1999 at Johns Hopkins University after decades of dormancy. His son, Dr. Brian Richards, has made his own significant mark in the space, contributing to some of the original research administering psilocybin with cancer patients and healthy normal adults. He also teaches and mentors students at the California Institute for Integral Studies, the leading psychedelic medicine certificate program worldwide. They're currently colleagues working with cancer patients at Sunstone Therapies, a company focused on defining the standards for optimal delivery of psychedelic-assisted therapy. You'll hear about the range of patient experiences they've witnessed, the critical role of therapists who guide the sessions, what it's like to work together and whether they think the US is ready to integrate psychedelics into medical care, among many other dimensions to this fascinating issue. Mentioned in this episode:https://www.sunstonetherapies.com/Sacred Knowledge by William A. Richards

In this episode, David interviews Frederick Barrett, Ph.D.: cognitive neuroscientist, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and now, Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research. With today's news, Barrett officially takes over for the legendary Roland Griffiths, who has been in the role since the Center's launch in 2019, and who will continue on as a member of the leadership team while dealing with the Stage 4 cancer diagnosis he has been remarkably candid about in recent interviews.  Dr. Barrett has been conducting research at Johns Hopkins for a decade, authoring or co-authoring some of the first studies on psilocybin's enduring effects, and receiving the first federally funded human psychedelic research grant from the NIH since the 70s. He discusses the work and importance of Roland Griffiths; the history of the Center and current research he's most excited about; the mystery of consciousness; and the power and sacredness of music: how we all use music to regulate our emotions, and how he wants to explore the brain mechanisms behind that connection. www.psychedelicstoday.com

Dr. David Yaden's interest in studying spiritual experiences started with one of his own. As he describes it, it was a totally spontaneous experience involving an intensely altered state of consciousness that left him with an enhanced, positive perspective on life. “This became an obsession, really, to understand this. I learned that these experiences have been studied throughout history by scholars and increasingly by scientists,” he tells host Shiv Gaglani. “As I learned more, it became more and more clear that this is what I wanted to study, and that's what I still do.” He happens to be in a perfect spot to do it as the Roland R. Griffiths Professor in Psychedelic Research on Secular Spirituality and Well-Being at Johns Hopkins, named for a leading figure in the modern renaissance in psychedelic research. The basic scope of the project he's managing is non-clinical. Topics of study include better quantifying the risk-benefit ratio of psychedelics as a positive intervention; looking into how psychedelic experiences that have a spiritual character relate to similar experiences not triggered by psychedelics; and collecting data from non-Western population centers across the world to provide a more complete picture of how much cultural expectations play a role in influencing these experiences, as well as how similar they are across cultures. There is much to learn in this probing look at a fascinating dimension of psychedelic research.Mentioned in this episode: https://griffithsfund.org/

In the mid-20th century, psychedelic research to treat conditions like depression began to take off, yet by 1970 almost all of that work came to a screeching halt. But guess what? It's back, and access to guided therapy to treat various mental health conditions is becoming a reality. The link to The New York Times article about Roland Griffiths is here. The Tiny Show & Tell stories are here and here. And we have mugs! Pick one up here.

In this episode, we explore Sam's conversations about the phenomenon of death. We begin with an introduction from Sam as he urges us to use our awareness of death to become more present in our day-to-day lives. We then hear a conversation between Sam and Frank Ostaseski, founder of the Zen Hospice Project, who shares the valuable lessons he has learned through caring for those in their very last days. Next, we move on to a conversation with Scott Barry Kaufman, who explains what it means to pursue a good life by putting a modern spin on Abraham Maslow's famous hierarchy of needs. Researcher and professor of neuroscience Roland Griffiths then details his findings on psychedelic therapies. He and Sam discuss the inexplicable powers of psychedelics in easing the anxiety around death, and how these experiences can potentially help us live fuller lives. Shifting perspectives, we move on by hearing NYU professor Scott Galloway explain the social and economic impacts of a society made painfully aware of death by the COVID-19 pandemic. We then listen in to author Oliver Burkeman as he outlines how the knowledge of our mortality can inform practical time management techniques before addressing an age-old question with physicist Geoffrey West: Theoretically, could we engineer humans to live forever? Sam closes this episode with a solo talk, explaining that we needn't be cynical about the fact that all life must come to an end. Instead, it is the transient nature of life that might be the very thing which makes it beautiful in the first place.   About the Series Filmmaker Jay Shapiro has produced The Essential Sam Harris, a new series of audio documentaries exploring the major topics that Sam has focused on over the course of his career. Each episode weaves together original analysis, critical perspective, and novel thought experiments with some of the most compelling exchanges from the Making Sense archive. Whether you are new to a particular topic, or think you have your mind made up about it, we think you'll find this series fascinating.  

In this episode, we explore Sam’s conversations about the phenomenon of death. We begin with an introduction from Sam as he urges us to use our awareness of death to become more present in our day-to-day lives. We then hear a conversation between Sam and Frank Ostaseski, founder of the Zen Hospice Project, who shares the valuable lessons he has learned through caring for those in their very last days. Next, we move on to a conversation with Scott Barry Kaufman, who explains what it means to pursue a good life by putting a modern spin on Abraham Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs. Researcher and professor of neuroscience Roland Griffiths then details his findings on psychedelic therapies. He and Sam discuss the inexplicable powers of psychedelics in easing the anxiety around death, and how these experiences can potentially help us live fuller lives. Shifting perspectives, we move on by hearing NYU professor Scott Galloway explain the social and economic impacts of a society made painfully aware of death by the COVID-19 pandemic. We then listen in to author Oliver Burkeman as he outlines how the knowledge of our mortality can inform practical time management techniques before addressing an age-old question with physicist Geoffrey West: Theoretically, could we engineer humans to live forever? Sam closes this episode with a solo talk, explaining that we needn’t be cynical about the fact that all life must come to an end. Instead, it is the transient nature of life that might be the very thing which makes it beautiful in the first place. About the Series Filmmaker Jay Shapiro has produced The Essential Sam Harris, a new series of audio documentaries exploring the major topics that Sam has focused on over the course of his career. Each episode weaves together original analysis, critical perspective, and novel thought experiments with some of the most compelling exchanges from the Making Sense archive. Whether you are new to a particular topic, or think you have your mind made up about it, we think you’ll find this series fascinating.

If psychedelics are eventually authorized by the FDA for use in mental health treatment, much credit will go to The Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research which sparked a renaissance of interest in the compounds starting in 2006 under the guidance of Dr. Roland Griffiths. The first study was actually not about clinical applications of hallucinogens but rather it observed their impact on healthy people. “One of the most remarkable findings Roland Griffiths encountered early on was that people would endorse the statement that they had one of the top five or the single most personally meaningful and spiritually significant experiences of their lives,” says Associate Center Director Dr. Fred Barrett, who met host Shiv Gaglani in his office in Baltimore for this extended conversation. And while the Center is actively researching potential clinical use of psychedelics, which is promising, it remains interested in how they may improve the lives of those not in need of mental health treatment. “What are the opportunities for spiritual growth? What are the opportunities for increasing well-being? There's an opportunity for exploration here that, if we're very careful, may have utility and value outside of the medicalization of these compounds,” adds Barrett. Don't miss this expansive (dare we say mind-expanding?) discussion of the possible reasons psychedelics may help people with depression, why they are not prone to misuse, and what they tell us about the nature of consciousness itself. Mentioned in this episode: https://hopkinspsychedelic.org/

For access to the full Sus Psychedelics, Inc. series and other premium episodes, subscribe to the Al-Wara' Frequency at patreon.com/subliminaljihad. PHASE FOUR: THE CLINICAL FINISH LINE Dr. Roland Griffiths and the Johns Hopkins Psilocybin Study, using psychedelics to lower the fear response and confront death, the incredibly revealing 1979 “A Conversation on LSD” reunion video featuring Tim Leary, Humphrey Osmond, Oscar Janiger, Al Hubbard, Willis Harmon, Myron Stolaroff, and Laura Huxley, talking about Allen “indefatigable Zionist for drugs” Ginsberg, the necessity of “shaking things up” a bit, “The Search for the Manchurian Candidate” by John Marks… The Institute of Noetic Sciences and the Crockers, Michael Pollan's “How To Change Your Mind” turning on the soccer moms, Leary's writings on Egg Intelligence and the Termite Queen Gaia Religion of the future, influencing the influencers… The Temple of the People in Halcyon, CA, Master Hilarion and the Theosophical roots of Silicon Valley, Steiner's warnings about Ahrimanic transhumanism, the Halcyon-raised Varian Brothers and Lytton Industries, moving into klystron & microwave tube production for the Pentagon, the rise of semiconductor manufacturing in the Valley, the evolutionary element known as Timothy Leary imagining himself as the reincarnation of G.I. Gurdjieff and Aleister Crowley… Leo Zeff biographer/LSD pioneer Myron Stolaroff's substantial engineering career in Silicon Valley, getting mentored by Fred Terman at Stanford, Lewis Terman's psychedelic protege Betty Eisner, the International Foundation for Advanced Study, the revolutionary Ampex Model 300 tape recorder that took Hollywood by storm, Bing Crosby, the staggeringly innovative output of Ampex alumni including Atari, Pixar, Dreamworks, Apple, Dolby Surround Sound, Larry Ellison and the CIA-contracted Project Oracle, sus microdosing advocate Jim Fadiman's work at IFAS, SRI-ARC, and Esalen, taking shrooms with dirtbag groomer Ram Dass in Paris, Fadiman's gifted child cousin William James Siddis, the “not upsetting, but kind of opening” nudist romps at the Esalen baths, mycologist heir Alan Rockefeller, Col. James Ketchum's work at the Edgewood Arsenal and Haight Ashbury Free Clinic… The ayahuasca murder/lynching saga of Sebastian Woodruff, the LSD/ketamine-fueled, con artist guru-assisted death of Malibu eye surgeon Mark Sarwusch, and a brief look at shaman to the stars Mike “Zappy” Zapolin, who says ketamine is an evolutionary technology that will help us make contact with alien intelligences.

In this week's episode of the Mixtape with Scott, I'm taking a break from interviewing economists to post a podcast interview with a non-economist, the historian Mike Jay. Mike Jay is a historian of medicine and I interviewed him last year as part of a now somewhat defunct project on the emerging medical reforms in the US and around the world related to "psychedelic medications". I felt that as these were happening fast, it would be good for those health economists and policy advocates to learn more about it, and sometimes that means talking to the non-scientists who have written about it as well as the scientists. I found Mike because he wrote a fascinating book on the global history of mescaline published through Yale Press who also published my book. I devoured that book during Covid. I spent Covid lock down studying everything I could about contemporary but also historical psychedelic medicine which included the MAPS trials on MDMA, the studies by Roland Griffiths and his colleagues on psychedelics, and others. But I was also interested in the lost work of scientists from the 50s and 60s and the psychotherapies that grew out of it. Mike'ss book on the history of mescaline was absolutely riveting. He's a great writer and I highly recommend him. But I also recommend him because he wasn't always a writer (who was?). He aspired to something else and more or less transitioned into it as his career evolved. I thought hearing that type of story might be interesting to others curious about their talents as a writer to hear what it was like for someone else. Mike also has a new book out you may want to check out. I haven't read it but it's a continuation of this work he's been doing on the history of psychedelics. So, again, thanks for tuning it to the Mixtape with Scott. Please like, follow and share! And if you want to support this work, please go over to my substack (causalinf.substack.com) and hit subscribe! Scott's Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Scott's Substack at causalinf.substack.com/subscribe

On todays episode:The great value of psychedelics in healing therapy, spirituality and helping becoming genuinely good humans. I'll explain how to harness the power and grace of these natural substances and avoid the one big danger. How to live in a way where the goal is to disappoint as many people as it takes to never disappoint yourself again.And, why my last instagram video was too rude for the internet and had to be taken down. (Here is the TED talk I referred to : ‘The science of psilocybin and its use to relieve suffering.' by Roland Griffiths https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81-v8ePXPd4 )

Regular listeners know I've been asking people what the environment means to them as part of the Spodek Method. Many people respond with touching answers that I would call something close to life-altering. Maybe more like life-guiding, life-enhancing, or giving meaning and purpose.I've heard of increasing research into psychedelics recently. Reading reports of people who took psylocibin in clinical settings with guides for the experience, I was struck by how similar their effects to those of quintessential moments in the environment. Both talked about oneness, awe, humility, understanding, feeling understood, connectedness, and similar things, though, of course, each experience was unique. Many said that the effects of their experiences lasted sometimes years, potentially permanently. Many could stop addictions overnight without relapsing. Some improved relationships with loved ones.I hypothesized that some of the experience of psychedelics might have been a regular part of the lives of our ancestors who lived in the 250,000 years or so before civilization, as well as those who live outside it today. Might the drugs just be achieving something remedial that had long been part of our lives?Might we who live in human-built environments be missing deeply meaningful parts of our lives that were regular for nearly all our ancestors? Might that lack be contributing to our not knowing what we're missing when we capitulate, abdicate, and resign to choose comfort and convenience over alleviating suffering and caring for our neighbors?I emailed with Roland Griffiths, the head of the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic Research, which I understand to be the premier research center in the field. He put me in touch with Albert. I couldn't wait to compare the effects and potential of psychedelics with the effects and potential of simply spending time in nature.Albert Garcia-Romeu's page at the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, Kyle is back in Colorado and in-person with Joe, and they discuss what stood out to them in the news this week: -A New York Times interview with Roland Griffths, where he talks about his cancer diagnosis and how meditation and psychedelics have helped him prepare for the inevitable end; -An article on the rising popularity of psychedelics among mothers, and the benefits and risks of moms rejecting alcohol culture in favor of something new (and largely illegal); -The NBA removing cannabis from its list of banned substances and allowing players to invest in cannabis companies, which follows years of other sports slowly accepting that cannabis is a part of our culture and there's no need to play the part of “big brother” anymore; and an article looking at legalization from the perspectives of people who were against recent measures like Prop 122, and how some towns in Colorado and Oregon are looking for ways to prevent the creation of psilocybin service centers from being built in their backyards. They also go further into the Psychedelic Medicine Coalition's recently created Political Action Committee and the work they're doing to educate lawmakers; Harvard Law School hosting webinars comparing psychedelic legislation and the role of psychedelics in Indigenous groups in Europe, Australia, and North America; Arizona's HB-2486, which would give $30 million in grants to universities and non-profit organizations to conduct psilocybin research; and Rick Doblin's recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience. www.psychedelicstoday.com

Megyn Kelly is joined by Dr. Roland Griffiths, Director of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, to talk about the history of psychedelic drugs, how caffeine is one of the most-used addictive drugs in the world, how "psilocybin" research started and how it is conducted,  the amazing results of psychedelic use in patients, how psychedelics can help with depression and addiction, what happens in the brain during a psychedelic experience, the differences between MDMA or psilocybin or ketamine, the current state of addiction in America, groundbreaking cancer patient study using psychedelics as therapeutics, how Griffiths' personal experience of a terminal cancer diagnosis has changed his own perspective, appreciating life and practicing gratitude, the questions about end of life, how we can make the most of our lives, the nature of consciousness, and more.Support Roland and his work: https://griffithsfund.orgFollow The Megyn Kelly Show on all social platforms: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MegynKellyTwitter: http://Twitter.com/MegynKellyShowInstagram: http://Instagram.com/MegynKellyShowFacebook: http://Facebook.com/MegynKellyShow Find out more information at: https://www.devilmaycaremedia.com/megynkellyshow

This episode is brought to you by InsideTracker and Pendulum. Psychedelics were the subject of serious medical research from the 1940s through the 1960s, when many scientists believed some of the mind-bending compounds held tremendous therapeutic promise for treating a number of conditions, including severe mental health problems and alcohol addiction. But by the mid-1960s, research into psychedelics was shut down, a policy that would last for decades.After the blackout ended, the doctor we have on the podcast today was among the first to initiate a new series of studies on psilocybin—the psychoactive compound in “magic” mushrooms.Today on The Dhru Purohit Podcast, Dhru sits down with Dr. Roland Griffiths, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Griffiths has conducted extensive research with sedative-hypnotics, caffeine, and novel mood-altering drugs. In 1999, he initiated a research program at Johns Hopkins investigating the effects of the classic hallucinogen psilocybin. The program includes studies of psilocybin-facilitated treatment of psychological distress in cancer patients and cigarette-smoking cessation as well as the compound's effects in beginning and long-term meditators and religious leaders.In this episode, Dhru and Dr. Griffiths discuss his research on psilocybin in the treatment of psychological distress in cancer patients and cigarette-smoking cessation. They discuss the connection between psilocybin, spirituality, and consciousness and their potential for treating conditions ranging from drug and alcohol dependence to depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.In this episode, Dhru and Dr. Griffiths dive into:-The connection between psychedelics, spirituality, and consciousness (3:30)-The history of psychedelic research (12:32)-The reintroduction of psychedelic research by Dr. Roland Griffiths and others (16:31)-Why research participants rated their psychedelic experience as one of their most meaningful (20:57)-What is happening in the brain when using psychedelics (27:39)-How psychedelics can help us understand altered states of consciousness (33:13)-The therapeutic benefits of psilocybin for the treatment of addiction (44:20)-How a single dose of psilocybin substantially diminished depression and anxiety in cancer patients (48:56)-The future of psychedelics (52:11)-The downside and risks of psychedelics (1:00:18)-Learn more about Dr. Roland Griffiths and his work (1:04:28)For more on Dr. Roland Griffiths and his research on psychedelics, check out his website https://www.hopkinspsychedelic.org.InsideTracker provides detailed nutrition and lifestyle guidance based on your individual needs. Right now, they're offering my podcast community 20% off. Just go to https://www.insidetracker.com/DHRU to get your discount and try it out for yourself.Pendulum is the first company to figure out how to harness the amazing benefits of Akkermansia in a probiotic capsule. To receive 20% off your first purchase of Pendulum's Akkermansia probiotic supplement, go to https://www.Pendulumlife.com and use code DHRU20. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Meditation, Psychedelics, Mortality: A conversation with Tara and Roland Griffiths - Roland is a long-term meditator, a psychopharmacologist and professor at Johns Hopkins, and a leader in researching the clinical effects of psychedelics, including their impact on those struggling with cancer, depression or addiction. At the end of 2021, he discovered he had incurable stage 4 Colon Cancer. This conversation explores the relationship between meditation and psychedelics, and how they both can serve profound spiritual awakening and deep inner freedom in the face of mortality. Information about the endowment fund: The Roland R. Griffiths, Ph.D. Professorship Fund in Psychedelic Research on Secular Spirituality and Well-Being

(Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC) Roland is a long-term meditator, a psychopharmacologist and professor at Johns Hopkins, and a leader in researching the clinical effects of psychedelics, including their impact on those struggling with cancer, depression or addiction. At the end of 2021, he discovered he had incurable stage 4 Colon Cancer. This conversation explores the relationship between meditation and psychedelics, and how they both can serve profound spiritual awakening and deep inner freedom in the face of mortality.

Today we welcome Roland Griffiths and David Yaden. Dr. Roland Griffiths is a professor of neuroscience, psychiatry, and behavioral science, and director of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He has authored over 400 scientific publications and has trained more than 60 postdoctoral research fellows. His initial 2006 publication on psilocybin is often attributed as the catalyst for the re-initiation of psychedelic research after decades of halted drug research.Dr. David Yaden is an Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine working in The Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. His research focus is on transformative experiences that can result in long-term changes and how they temporarily alter consciousness and self. His work has been covered by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, New York Magazine, and NPR.In this episode, I talk to Roland Griffiths and David Yaden about the latest research on psychedelics. They answer some of my burning questions such as: What are the common characteristics of a mystical experience? Are hallucinations necessary for a transformative experience? How do psychedelics affect our brain? We also touch on the topics of mindfulness, religion, mental illness, and creativity as they share about the latest developments in the field. Website: griffithsfund.orgTwitter: @ExistWell Topics02:36 Roland's background in psychopharmacology 09:44 Roland's meditation practice13:57 David's mystical experience18:35 Roland's mystical experience22:02 Common characteristics of mystical experiences27:48 Transformative experience or mental illness?39:15 Was Timothy Leary right about psychedelics?46:05 The future of psychedelic research 48:39 The neuroscience of psychedelics53:14 Creativity and therapeutic use of psychedelics56:33 Are hallucinations needed for transformation?1:02:50 Roland's cancer diagnosis1:13:41 The Griffiths Professorship Fund

On this episode of the Psychedelic Therapy Frontiers podcast, Dr. Joe Flanders interviews Dr. Anthony Back, M.D. Dr. Back is a co-founder of VitalTalk, a national nonprofit that provides innovative, interactive clinician and faculty development courses to improve communication skills on an individual and institutional level. Dr. Back is a professor of medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle, and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Dr. Back earned his MD at Harvard University. He is triple-board certified in hospice and palliative medicine, medical oncology, and general internal medicine. In his role as a medical communication educator and a VitalTalk co-founder, Dr. Back was the principal investigator for Oncotalk, co-wrote Mastering Communication with Seriously Ill Patients, released the first iPhone app for clinician communication skills, and authored the online communication skills curriculum offered by the Center to Advance Palliative Care.(3:00) Dr. Back introduces himself(6:55) What is palliative care?(9:06) Improving quality of life and having a good death(15:30) The applications of psychedelics for end-of-life care(17:35) Dr. Back's article, "What psilocybin taught me about dying"(21:00) Materialist vs spiritualist views of life and death(29:14) Roland Griffiths' cancer diagnosis (34:07) Gratitude for cancer(38:22) How psychedelics might help people at end-of-life(55:23) Randomized trial of psilocybin for health care practitioners with depression(01:01:07) How do you train a health care practitioner in good palliative care?(01:07:51) How do we scale psychedelic-assisted therapy?Learn more about our podcast at https://numinus.com/podcast/Learn more about Numinus at https://numinus.com/Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drstevethayer/https://www.instagram.com/innerspacedoctor/https://www.instagram.com/joeflanders/https://www.instagram.com/numinushealth/Disclaimer: The content of this podcast does not constitute medical advice or mental health treatment. Consult with a medical/mental health professional if you believe you are in need of mental health treatment.

Sam Harris speaks with Roland Griffiths about psychedelics and mortality. They discuss the current state of psychedelic research, the timeline for FDA approvals, the risks to mental health posed by psychedelics in vulnerable populations, the use of psychedelics among the well, the relationship between psychedelics and meditation, advice for “bad” trips, microdosing, Roland's stage-4 cancer diagnosis, reflections on death, and other topics. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at samharris.org/subscribe. Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That's why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life's most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.

Sam Harris speaks with Roland Griffiths about psychedelics and mortality. They discuss the current state of psychedelic research, the timeline for FDA approvals, the risks to mental health posed by psychedelics in vulnerable populations, the use of psychedelics among the well, the relationship between psychedelics and meditation, advice for “bad” trips, microdosing, Roland’s stage-4 cancer diagnosis, reflections on death, and other topics. Roland Griffiths, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurosciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and founding Director of the Johns Hopkins Center on Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. He is author of 420 journal articles and book chapters, and has trained more than 50 postdoctoral research fellows. Roland has been a consultant to the National Institutes of Health, to numerous pharmaceutical companies in the development of new psychotropic drugs, and as a member of the Expert Advisory Panel on Drug Dependence for the World Health Organization. Roland has a long-term meditation practice and has been conducting human research with psychedelics for more than 20 years. Website: Griffithsfund.org, Endowment Funding Letter, hopkinspsychedelic.org Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That’s why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life’s most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.

Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show. This is a very meaningful episode to me. It is probably the most significant interview that I've recorded in the last year, and it is with one of my favorite people and one of my favorite scientists in the world: Roland Griffiths, PhD. Roland has recently been diagnosed with what is very likely terminal stage-four cancer. If you've ever found yourself inspired by someone who walks the walk, this episode is worth listening to. In facing mortality and potentially facing death, what Roland has done and is doing, the perspective he is finding, and the tools he is using, are nothing short of awe inspiring. His example is beyond words, and I wanted to share that with all of you. I hope you find it as deeply enriching and valuable as I did. It is a very tender conversation at points, a very funny conversation, and in many ways, a very profound conversation.To learn more about Roland's very ambitious project to establish a world-class psychedelic research program—in perpetuity—to advance human flourishing and well-being, please visit GriffithsFund.org.Currently, Roland has received pledges totaling about $14M. This means that he is $6M short of the $20M target, sufficient to support the full research program. To donate, please visit GriffithsFund.org and click “Donate.”For more information about establishing a major gift, please contact Mike DeVito, the Senior Associate Director of Development at mdevito1@jhmi.edu or call him at (443) 278-3174. Donors who contribute $1000 or more and who do not choose to remain anonymous will be acknowledged on the website.Here is Roland's bio:Roland Griffiths, PhD, is a Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurosciences at Johns Hopkins University, and founding Director of the Johns Hopkins Center on Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. His principal research focus in both clinical and preclinical laboratories has been on the behavioral and subjective effects of mood-altering drugs.His research has been largely supported by grants from the National Institute on Health, and he is author of over 400 scientific publications. He has been a consultant to the National Institutes of Health, the World Health Organization, and numerous pharmaceutical companies. Roland has conducted extensive research with sedative-hypnotics, caffeine, and novel mood-altering drugs.In 1994 Roland started a regular meditation practice that made him curious about certain altered states of consciousness that prompted him in 1999 to initiate the first study in decades to rigorously evaluate the effects of a high dose of a classic psychedelic drug (psilocybin) in healthy psychedelic-naïve participants. Subsequent studies with psilocybin have been conducted in healthy volunteers, in beginning and long-term meditators, and in religious leaders. Therapeutic studies with psilocybin include treatment of psychological distress in cancer patients, cigarette smoking addiction, major depression, anorexia nervosa, and Alzheimer's Disease. Other studies have examined non-psychedelic drugs that produce altered states of consciousness having similarities to psilocybin. Brain imaging studies have examined pharmacological and neural mechanisms of action of psilocybin.Roland's research group has also conducted a series of survey studies characterizing various naturally-occurring and psychedelic-occasioned transformative experiences including: mystical-type experiences, psychologically challenging experiences, near-death experiences (NDEs), Entity and God-encounter experiences, and experiences to which reduced anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders are attributed.Please enjoy!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A unique episode with a direct message to leaders in the psychedelic community. Please share this episode so that it will reach Dr. Roland Griffiths, Paul Stamets, Michael Pollan, Joe Moore, Paul Austin, Kyle Buller and others unmentioned.

Don't worry, we haven't quit yet! We are back with another riveting episode, this time a continuation of our discussion on Religion and Spirituality. We begin by discussing Roland Griffiths' research out of Johns Hopkins University regarding psychedelic chemicals and the mystical experiences they can produce. Then we shift to analyzing religion as a set of behavioral principles. In part 3 we will explore mortality, the afterlife, and religion's role in humanity's cultural evolution. Enjoy! Kristy Bohan is a cofounder and contributor to The Cognitive Dissonance Podcast. Kristy received her BS in Psychology with a minor in Chemistry in 2018, and an MS in Psychology in 2020 and began working on her certification in Behavior Analysis. She hopes to be board certified in early 2022 where she will continue to service clients with intellectual and developmental disabilities such as Autism Spectrum Disorder as a behavior consultant in Oregon. Kristy takes a behavior analytic perspective to life and uses this philosophy to inform her work and her day to day life. Kristy believes in psychology as a hard, natural science. Mitchell Croot is one of the founders and contributors to The Cognitive Dissonance Podcast. A father of four, a US Army veteran, and a high school educator, Mitchell holds a BA in History with a minor in Secondary Education from Catawba College and an MA in History from the University of North Carolina in Charlotte. His interests include colonial North America, the American Revolution, culture and cultural transmission, philosophy, psychology, and music.

Dr. Peterson's extensive catalog is available now on DailyWire+: https://utm.io/ueSXh Dr. Jordan B. Peterson and Dr. Dennis McKenna discuss the science behind psychedelics, the entities found through the looking glass, the current pharmaceutical approach to long life, and why it needs to change. Dr. Dennis McKenna is an American ethnopharmacologist, lecturer and author. He is a founding board member and the director of ethnopharmacology at the Heffter Research Institute, a non-profit exploring the therapeutic uses of psychedelic medicines. McKenna received his masters in botany at the University of Hawaii in 1979, followed by his doctorate in the same field at the University of British Columbia in 1984. Dennis is the brother of Terrence McKenna, a cultural figure and proponent for the exploration of psychedelics. Together they co-authored The Invisible Landscape. Much later Dennis would write a memoir, Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss,  detailing he and his brothers exploits in the field. Today, Dennis tours and lectures, while also running the McKenna Academy of Natural Philosophy, which seeks to uncover the mysteries of consciousness held within the realm of botany and pharmacology. —Links— McKenna Academy: https://mckenna.academy The Experiment at La Chorrera https://mckenna.academy/events?id=32 ESPD55 Livestream Symposium ESPD55.com Those interested in donations may contact connect@mckenna.academy - Sponsors - Birch Gold - Text "JORDAN" to 989898 for your no-cost, no-obligation, FREE information kit Elysium Health - Save 25% off Basis monthly subscriptions with code JBP25: https://trybasis.com/Jordan Shopify - Get a FREE 14-day trial with full access to Shopify's entire suite of features: https://shopify.com/jbp - Chapters - (0:00) Coming up(0:40) intro(2:33) Dr. Dennis McKenna now(6:47) What is ethnopharmacology?(12:45) Ayahuasca(26:02) Hierarchy of concepts(30:00) The Reality Hallucination(43:50) Breaking down hyper reality(49:30) Commonalities of entities(55:50) The intrinsic form of personality(1:00:15) Ritual, bad shamans(1:02:58) Carl Rogers, voluntary exposure(1:09:15) Roland Griffiths, the flaw in how medicine is practiced(1:12:05) Impending mortality(1:24:45) Dr. McKenna's future plans(1:26:19) Looking back at a life long career  // SUPPORT THIS CHANNEL //Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/jordanbpeterson.com/youtubesignupDonations: https://jordanbpeterson.com/donate // COURSES //Discovering Personality: https://jordanbpeterson.com/personalitySelf Authoring Suite: https://selfauthoring.comUnderstand Myself (personality test): https://understandmyself.com // BOOKS //Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life: https://jordanbpeterson.com/Beyond-Order12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos: https://jordanbpeterson.com/12-rules-for-lifeMaps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief: https://jordanbpeterson.com/maps-of-meaning // LINKS //Website: https://jordanbpeterson.comEvents: https://jordanbpeterson.com/eventsBlog: https://jordanbpeterson.com/blogPodcast: https://jordanbpeterson.com/podcast // SOCIAL //Twitter: https://twitter.com/jordanbpetersonInstagram: https://instagram.com/jordan.b.petersonFacebook: https://facebook.com/drjordanpetersonTelegram: https://t.me/DrJordanPetersonAll socials: https://linktr.ee/drjordanbpeterson #JordanPeterson #JordanBPeterson #DrJordanPeterson #DrJordanBPeterson #DailyWirePlus #podcast #DennisMcKenna 

Listening to an episode of Sam Harris's podcast featuring Roland Griffiths, Johns Hopkins neuroscientist researcher, on psychedelics revealed that much of their benefit sounds a lot like my guests talking about their experiences of nature. I think we don't know how much we're missing by paving over and cutting off as much as we do from nature.I'd guess people before we cut ourselves off from raw, wild nature so much would never have guessed we could deprive ourselves from forests, beaches, and birdsong so effectively. As I'm typing these words, cars are driving by with noise engines blasting music you could hear from blocks away. How can we experience the sublime or transcendent under these conditions? I suggest we can't.By contrast, our ancestors generally lived a few minutes' walk, maybe a couple hours, from solitude.I play a couple clips from that podcast and compare their description of the effects of taking psychedelic drugs to simply experiencing nature, commenting on how much we've isolated ourselves from it, having paved over the most abundant parts. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Miller has reviewed and conducted interviews with leading scientists in America who are investigating the effects on humans of psychedelic medicines such as LSD, MDMA, Psilocybin and Ayahuasca. This has revealed that certain psychedelic medicines administered by proper protocol, have shown that altered states of consciousness can facilitate creativity and psychophysical healing. Richard Miller, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and host of the syndicated talk radio show Mind, Body, Health & Politics. He's founder of Cokenders Alcohol and Drug Program and has been a faculty member at the University of Michigan and Stanford University. He also served as advisor on the President's Commission on Mental Health and a founding board member of the Gestalt Institute of San Francisco as well as a member of the national board of directors for the Marijuana Policy Project. He also restored and reopened the Wilbur Hot Springs Retreat facility in Northern California. He is the Editor and author of the book Psychedelic Medicine: The Healing Powers of LSD, MDMA, Psilocybin, and Ayahuasca. (Park Street press 2021)  Interview Date: 9/30/2021  Tags: Richard Miller, Psychedelics, LSD, MDMA, Psilocybin, Ayahuasca, PTSD, alcohol, LSD scientists, Dave Nichols, ethnobotanists, Guardian Grange, Stanislav Grof, M.D., Oregon bill SB109, Rick Doblin, Ph.D, MAPS, Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, NORML, National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law, clozapine, Roland Griffiths, Ph.D. at John Hopkins, Robert Whitaker, Health & Healing, Psychology, Social Change/Politics

Meet Kayse Gehret… Kayse Gehret is the founder of Micro-dosing for Healing, a nationwide virtual program combining micro-dosing education, experience and supportive community. In their group programs they offer a unique, intimate community of individuals drawn to practice with diverse intentions... including physical healing, mental wellness, emotional balance and spiritual connection. The intention of the program is to introduce individuals to the beautiful practice of micro-dosing, inspire a lifelong connection to nature, instill a reverence & respect for sacred plant medicine and create the conditions for healing in a fun, welcoming and supportive container.Kayse has been in the healing arts for more than two decades, with a successful healing arts practice and studios in Northern California. Her passion is inviting individuals to rediscover their own natural, innate healing and building community around healing, discovery and possibility.The topic of our podcast today is Micro-dosing with plant medicine and the incredible work that is being done at Johns Hopkins and in numerous cities around the country that have decriminalized and even legalized mushrooms as medicine. Kayse, as you just heard, is doing some amazing work to empower her clients in the knowledge of plant medicine in combination with healthy living practices.Kayse shares with us her background in the healing arts and how she grew her spa in Northern California, Soulstice Spa to include 4 locations. The work she did with celebrities and well known folks around the world is legendary, yet during the pandemic she had to shift and grow in a new direction and she hasn't looked back since.The transformation that is possible with these plant medicines is pretty amazing and I feel it needs to be shared to the greater masses. I love when she states about mental health and plant medicine “ you don't cure these emotions you shift your relationship with anxiety or depression. You don't numb your feelings you feel them but not as intensely.”The world of plant medicine, medicinal mushrooms and functional mushrooms as you will learn is opening up so many possibilities for healing from so many diverse perspectives.We talk about the work currently going on at Johns Hopkins with Dr. Roland Griffiths at the Center for Psychedelics and Consciousness Research, the personal reports of healing and clarity that so many of her clients have experienced. We also spend some time talking about the healing properties of what are called functional mushrooms that you can easily find, grow and use in your daily life, things like Reishi, Lions Mane, Turkey Tail…and many others. The show notes are full of links to explore some of these ideas and places to source these mushrooms and learn more about the benefits.Stick with me here and maybe this will open your eyes and mind to a world of healing that is within reach for you or someone you know.SHOW LINKS *******Kayse Gehret contact info:https://www.microdosingforhealing.com/https://www.instagram.com/kaysegehret/Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelics and Consciousness Researchhttps://hopkinspsychedelic.org/Dr. Roland Griffiths Tedx Talkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKm_mnbN9JYPaul Stametshttps://fungi.com/pages/about-ushttps://www.instagram.com/paulstamets/Santa Cruz California Decriminalization movement.https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidcarpenter/2020/02/01/santa-cruz-is-third-us-city-to-decriminalize-psilocybin-plant-medicine-as-advocacy-expands/?sh=5be975e85d0dFunctional Mushrooms - Four Sigmatichttps://us.foursigmatic.com/Lions Manehttps://ommushrooms.com/blogs/blog/lions-mane-mushroom-benefits-m2Paul Stamets mushroom supplements:https://hostdefense.com/Supplements from Paul Stametshttps://hostdefense.com/collections/in-stockThe Movie Fantastic Fungihttps://fantasticfungi.com/watch/Clinical Trial for PTSD in Veteranshttps://www.forbes.com/sites/javierhasse/2020/08/12/psilocybin-trial-ptsd-veterans/?sh=2b9451d44601James Fadiman - MIcrodosinghttps://www.jamesfadiman.com/Book: https://www.amazon.com/Psychedelic-Explorers-Guide-Therapeutic-Journeys/dp/1594774021Melissa Lavasani Decriminilization in Washington DChttps://www.washingtonian.com/2020/07/27/how-the-most-normal-person-ever-became-the-face-of-a-movement-to-decriminalize-magic-mushrooms/MAPS - Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies with Rick Doblin:https://maps.org/news/media/7810-ted2019-the-future-of-psychedelic-assisted-psychotherapy-rick-doblinMichael Pollan's books:https://michaelpollan.com/books/how-to-change-your-mind/https://michaelpollan.com/books/this-is-your-mind-on-plants/Book link - Braiding Sweetgrasshttps://www.amazon.com/Braiding-Sweetgrass-Indigenous-Scientific-Knowledge/dp/1571313567

Other podcast summaries in Apple Podcasts: http://bit.ly/5-min-summariesIn other podcast apps, search 'podcast summaries'.Original episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-psychology-of-the-psychedelics-roland-griffiths/id1184022695?i=1000521162371Written summary: https://www.owltail.com/summaries/pqvKf-The-Psychology-of-the-Psychedelics-Roland

Other podcast summaries in Apple Podcasts: http://bit.ly/5-min-summariesIn other podcast apps, search 'podcast summaries'.Original episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-psychology-of-the-psychedelics-roland-griffiths/id1184022695?i=1000521162371Written summary: https://www.owltail.com/summaries/pqvKf-The-Psychology-of-the-Psychedelics-Roland

Dr. Roland Griffiths, Ph.D., is a professor of neuroscience, psychiatry, and behavioral science and director of the Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is the author of over 400 scientific research publications and has trained more than 50 postdoctoral research fellows. He has been a consultant to the National Institutes of Health and numerous pharmaceutical companies in the development of new psychotropic drugs.Dr. Roland Griffiths and I discuss the research with John Hopkins University. We spoke about how he got into psychedelics and convinced ethic committees to approve such research, why he chose the scientific path, specifics about his studies with psilocybin, transformations of cancer patients with family members, the impact of psilocybin in existing institutions, the ongoing studies he is performing with long-time meditators and religious leaders, how the integration of psilocybin into society may look and more.Find more information about the center for psychedelic and consciousness research at https://hopkinspsychedelic.org, and read Roland's publications at https://hopkinspsychedelic.org/publicationsThis episode was recorded on March 2nd, 2021FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE CENTER FOR PSYCHEDELIC AND CONSCIOUSNESS RESEARCH:http://hopkinspsychedelic.orgONGOING STUDIES:Depression Study Websitehttps://hopkinspsychedelic.org/depressionstudyCigarette Smoking-Psilocybin Study Websitehttps://www.quitsmokingbaltimore.org/Alzheimer's Disease-Psilocybin Study Websitehttps://hopkinspsychedelic.org/alzheimersAnorexia Nervosa-Psilocybin Study Websitehttps://hopkinspsychedelic.org/anorexiaCo-occurring Depression and Alcohol Use Disorderhttps://hopkinspsychedelic.org/depression-alcoholPsychedelic Survey Studieshttps://hopkinspsychedelic.org/index/#researchPUBLISHED STUDIES:All Johns Hopkins Psychedelic Science Publicationshttps://hopkinspsychedelic.org/publications Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Roland Griffiths, Ph.D., is a professor of neuroscience, psychiatry, and behavioral science and director of the Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is the author of over 400 scientific research publications and has trained more than 50 postdoctoral research fellows. He has been a consultant to the National Institutes of Health and numerous pharmaceutical companies in the development of new psychotropic drugs. Dr. Roland Griffiths and I discuss the research with John Hopkins University. We spoke about how he got into psychedelics and convinced ethic committees to approve such research, why he chose the scientific path, specifics about his studies with psilocybin, transformations of cancer patients with family members, the impact of psilocybin in existing institutions, the ongoing studies he is performing with long-time meditators and religious leaders, how the integration of psilocybin into society may look and more. Find more information about the center for psychedelic and consciousness research at https://hopkinspsychedelic.org, and read Roland's publications at https://hopkinspsychedelic.org/publications This episode was recorded on March 2nd, 2021 FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE CENTER FOR PSYCHEDELIC AND CONSCIOUSNESS RESEARCH: http://hopkinspsychedelic.org ONGOING STUDIES: Depression Study Website https://hopkinspsychedelic.org/depressionstudy Cigarette Smoking-Psilocybin Study Website https://www.quitsmokingbaltimore.org/ Alzheimer's Disease-Psilocybin Study Website https://hopkinspsychedelic.org/alzheimers Anorexia Nervosa-Psilocybin Study Website https://hopkinspsychedelic.org/anorexia Co-occurring Depression and Alcohol Use Disorder https://hopkinspsychedelic.org/depression-alcohol Psychedelic Survey Studies https://hopkinspsychedelic.org/index/#research PUBLISHED STUDIES: All Johns Hopkins Psychedelic Science Publications https://hopkinspsychedelic.org/publications Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is a religious experience? Really. How does one define a religious event? Why do we keep reading from figures who report life-affirming, transformation-inducing, and worldview-shattering experiences that we, if we are honest, evoke the tension between both fascination and anxious avoidance? Today's episode may provide a life raft - though the storm approaches regardless. Tune in as Dr. William Richards, a psychologist in the Psychiatry Department of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Dr. John Price discuss the definition of terms such as mystic and religious events, they explore subject ranging from the early application of psychedelics in a clinical context, the current and historical government regulation of psychedelics - or entheogens, if you will - clinical examples of the transformations that many have experienced during and after the use of these medicines, current studies, the collective unconscious, the embarrassment felt by the military's attempts to use these substances, morality and entheogens, identity, the ethics of entheogens in a clinical setting, getting “high,” spiritual by-passing, the nature of nature summarized in the familiar refrain that love is underneath it all, and more. Bio: William A. Richards (Bill) is a psychologist in the Psychiatry Department of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Bayview Medical Center, a consultant/trainer at sites of psychedelic research internationally, a teacher in the Program of Psychedelic Therapy and Research at the California Institute of Integral Studies, and also a clinician in private practice in Baltimore. His graduate degrees include M.Div. from Yale Divinity School, S.T.M. from Andover-Newton Theological School and Ph.D. from Catholic University, as well as studies with Abraham Maslow at Brandeis University and with Hanscarl Leuner at Georg-August University in Göttingen, Germany, where his involvement with psilocybin research originated in 1963. From 1967 to 1977, he pursued psychotherapy research with LSD, DPT, MDA and psilocybin at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, including protocols designed to investigate the promise of psychedelic substances in the treatment of alcoholism, depression, narcotic addiction and the psychological distress associated with terminal cancer, and also their use in the training of religious and mental-health professionals. From 1977-1981, he was a member of the psychology faculty of Antioch University in Maryland. In 1999 at Johns Hopkins, he and Roland Griffiths launched the rebirth of psilocybin research after a 22-year period of dormancy in the United States. His publications began in 1966 with “Implications of LSD and Experimental Mysticism,” coauthored with Walter Pahnke. His book, Sacred Knowledge: Psychedelics and Religious Experiences was released in English by Columbia University Press in 2015 and has since been translated into four additional languages. https://hopkinspsychedelic.org/richards https://hopkinspsychedelic.org https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/home The Jung Center Houston https://junghouston.org CLASS: http://junghouston.org/program-offering-detail/?id=dfb2b6b6-4eb0-11eb-b993-02dbb43a0b10 Website for The Sacred Speaks: http://www.thesacredspeaks.com WATCH: YouTube for The Sacred Speaks https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOAuksnpfht1udHWUVEO7Rg Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesacredspeaks/ @thesacredspeaks Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesacredspeaks Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesacredspeaks/ Brought to you by: https://www.thecenterforhas.com WATCH Get Centered https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdbeVcDXWXezYMkHJg-2duw Theme music provided by: http://www.modernnationsmusic.com

Dr. Richard Miller is my special guest tonight to discuss how top researchers were carrying out experiments with psychedelic drugs under the direction of the government. Buy his book. Want more paranormal episodes? Follow our new podcast 'Paranormal Fears' on any podcast app or Apple Podcasts. Enjoy the AD-FREE versions of our latest episodes and our archives right now from anywhere in the world. Follow us on Instagram @mysteriousradio Follow us on TikTok mysteriousradioTikTok Follow us on Twitter @mysteriousradio Follow us on Pinterest pinterest.com/mysteriousradio Like us on Facebook Facebook.com/mysteriousradio Visit our website: https://www.mysteriousradio.com Check Out Mysterious Radio! (copy the link to share with your friends and family via text) Embracing the revival of psychedelic research and the discovery of new therapeutic uses, clinical psychologist Dr. Richard Louis Miller discusses what is happening today in psychedelic medicine--and what will happen in the future--with top researchers and thinkers in this field, including Rick Doblin, Stanislav Grof, James Fadiman, Julie Holland, Dennis McKenna, David Nichols, Charles Grob, Phil Wolfson, Michael and Annie Mithoefer, Roland Griffiths, Katherine MacLean, and Robert Whitaker.  Dr. Miller and his contributors cover the tumultuous history of early psychedelic research brought to a halt 50 years ago by the U.S. government as well as offering non-technical summaries of the most recent studies with MDMA, psilocybin, LSD, and ayahuasca. They explore the biochemistry of consciousness and the use of psychedelics for self-discovery and healing. They discuss the use of psilocybin for releasing fear in the terminally ill and the potential for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in the treatment of PTSD. They examine Dr. Charles Grob's research on the indigenous use and therapeutic properties of ayahuasca and Dr. Gabor Mate's attempt to transport this plant medicine to a clinical setting with the help of Canada's Department of National Health.  Dr. Miller and his contributors explore the ongoing efforts to restore psychedelic therapies to the health field, the growing threat of overmedication by the pharmaceutical industry, and the links between psychiatric drugs and mental illness. They also discuss the newly shifting political climate and the push for new research, offering hope for an end to the War on Drugs and a potential renaissance of research into psychedelic medicines around the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mystical-type experiences are profound and often characterized by an authoritative sense of the unity and sacredness and sometimes interpreted as an encounter with God or Ultimate Reality. Although such experiences have been described by mystics and religious figures throughout the ages, there are few experimental studies because such experiences usually occur at low rates and often unpredictably. Psilocybin in the form the Psilocybe genus of mushrooms has been used for centuries within some cultures for religious and healing purposes. This presentation, held September 15, 2020, reviewed a series of studies investigating the effects of psilocybin administered to carefully screened and psychologically prepared volunteers who were encouraged to close their eyes and direct their attention inwards. Under such conditions, psilocybin occasions profound personally and spiritually meaningful mystical-type experiences in the majority of participants. Roland Griffiths is Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurosciences and Director of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His principal research focus is on the behavioral and subjective effects of mood-altering drugs. Full transcript here: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2020/09/29/video-psilocybin-and-mystical-experience-implications-healthy-psychological

In this episode, Joe interviews Jerry and Julie Brown. Jerry (Ph.D.) is an author and activist, who served as founding professor of anthropology at Florida International University in Miami for 42 years. Julie (M.A.) is an author and integrative psychotherapist, who worked with cancer patients with a focus on guided imagery. Together, they are co-authors of The Psychedelic Gospels: The Secret History of Hallucinogens in Christianity. They talk about their blogpost on Psychedelics Today and inspiring studies: Walter Pahnke’s original psilocybin study at Marsh Chapel and Roland Griffiths’ recent studies at Johns Hopkins and the amazing results at each, Robin Carhart-Harris’ MRI analysis, and some of Julie’s successes using guided imagery to empower 3 cancer clients to heal after conventional cancer treatment was ineffective. They talk about guided imagery and the body’s ability to heal itself, how mystical states actually help heal people, how disease starts in the mind, Ancient Greece’s psychedelic Rites of Eleusis, and their own personal life-changing psychedelic experiences related to Johns Hopkins’ 5 common elements of mystical experience. And they talk about their most popular book, The Psychedelic Gospels: The Secret History of Hallucinogens in Christianity, which highlights images of mushrooms and psychedelic art found throughout Christian history (all the way back to Gnostic Gospels), and their possible relationship to the birth of Christianity and the story of Jesus.  Notable Quotes “The questions are: Can psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy be used not only to alleviate the psychological anxiety (as we saw at Johns Hopkins) and the depression, but can it also be used to facilitate the physiological healing in cancer patients, as Julie has done through facilitating mystical experiences? That’s a big question. The second one is: in time, are we going to see what today, is long-term costly, clinical psychotherapy of a variety of different modalities, eventually be enhanced by short-term, much more affordable psychedelic psychotherapy?” -Jerry Brown “In astrophysics, dark matter, which they say makes up most of the universe- it can not be directly detected or seen. It can only be implied through the gravitational effects that it causes. So, in psychology, mystical experience cannot be easily accessed, but it can be reliably created both through psychedelics, and as Julie’s work has shown, through guided imagery. In other words, hidden from ordinary consciousness, mystical experience manifests from the dark matter of the mind to facilitate healing.” -Jerry Brown  “F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author, said there’s no second acts in American lives, but fortunately, psychedelics is having its second act, and I think if we do it right this time, we can really integrate it into our culture, both in a therapeutic setting, and [also in settings] modeled after the Greek Eleusinian mysteries, where healthy people can go to explore psychedelics for personal growth and for spirituality and creativity.” -Jerry Brown Links Psychedelics Today blog: Mystical Experience and Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy: Insights from Guided-Imagery Therapy with Cancer Patients Website: psychedelicgospels.com Psychedelic Gospels Facebook The Psychedelic Gospels: Evidence of Entheogens in Christian Art presentation on Youtube Email About Jerry and Julie Brown Jerry B. Brown, Ph.D., is an anthropologist, author, and activist. From 1972 to 2014, he served as founding professor of anthropology at Florida International University in Miami, where he taught a course on “Hallucinogens and Culture.” Julie M. Brown, M.A., LMHC, is an integrative psychotherapist, who works with cancer patients. They are coauthors of The Psychedelic Gospels: The Secret History of Hallucinogens in Christianity, 2016; “Entheogens in Christian Art: Wasson, Allegro and the Psychedelic Gospels,” Journal of Psychedelic Studies, 2019; and “Mystical Experience and Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy: Insights from Guided Imagery Therapy with Cancer Patients,” Psychedelics Today, May 28, 2020. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on Facebook or iTunes Share us with your friends Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics

In this episode of the Drug Science podcast, Professor Nutt is joined by an old friend who he has known for 35 years. Professor Roland Griffiths is a researcher who has examined a wide range of psychotropic substances through the years. He has studied, the abuse potential of a number of different substances; caffeine dependence and withdrawal, and the relative prices people are willing to pay for access to common street drugs. Roland Griffiths, is a Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurosciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and founding Director of the Johns Hopkins Center on Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. His principal research focus in both clinical and preclinical laboratories has been on the behavioral and subjective effects of mood-altering drugs. He has conducted extensive research with sedative-hypnotics, caffeine, and novel mood-altering drugs. In 1999 he initiated a research program investigating the effects of the classic psychedelic psilocybin that includes studies in healthy volunteers, in beginning and long-term meditators, and in religious leaders. Therapeutic studies with psilocybin include treatment of psychological distress in cancer patients, treatment of cigarette smoking cessation, and psilocybin treatment of major depression. Other studies have examined the effects of salvinorin A, dextromethorphan, and ketamine which produce altered states of consciousness having some similarities to psilocybin. Drug interaction studies and brain imaging studies (fMRI and PET) are examining pharmacological and neural mechanisms of action. The Hopkins laboratory has also conducted a series of internet survey studies characterizing various psychedelic experiences including those associated with acute and enduring adverse effects, mystical-type effects, entity and God-encounter experiences, and alleged positive changes in mental health, including decreases in depression and anxiety, decreases in substance abuse, and reductions in death anxiety. Caffeine Psilocybin Benzodiazepines Psilocybin occasioning mystical-type experiences+14 month follow up Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness ResearchJournal of Psychopharmacology William James Religious Experience Psilocybin for religious clergy Matt Johnson tobacco addiction study Become a Drug Science Community Member: https://www.donate.drugscience.org.uk/Twitter: @ProfDavidNutt @Drug_ScienceA Fascinate Productions podcast for Drug Science ★ Support this podcast ★

Psilocybin, LSD and other psychedelic drugs were once considered promising treatments for depression, anxiety and other mental health ailments. Now, after a decades-long lull, researchers are once again looking into the therapeutic potential of these drugs. Roland Griffiths, PhD, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, discusses new research on using psychedelics to treat depression, PTSD, and even alcohol and tobacco dependence. Links: Usona Institute Compass Pathways Join us online August 6-8 for APA 2020 Virtual.

Endogenous DMT acts as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory; so, producing these sorts of chemicals would seem to be optimal for the brain. There's enough evidence to show that endogenous DMT produced by proper breathwork creates more optimized fluid dynamics in the brain and thus allowing us to kind of clear out debris; not only when we sleep but also when we're awake too." - John Chavez   What is DMT and how can it help you stop being a slave to your own mind?   Get 15% off your CURED Nutrition order with the code WELLNESSFORCE   ---> Get The Morning 21 System: A simple and powerful 21 minute system designed to give you more energy to let go of old weight and live life well.   JOIN THE FACEBOOK GROUP | *REVIEW THE PODCAST* Wellness Force Radio Episode 326 Founder of DMT Quest, John Chavez, shares what endogenous DMT is and how we naturally produce it, his number one advice for tapping into our human possibilities, and how DMT research is solving the stress, anxiety, cancer, and chronic illness rising tide.   Discover how tuning into the mind, body, and soul through breathwork, sound, meditation, and other environments help us produce our own psychedelic state.    CURED Nutrition Get 15% off your CURED Nutrition order with the code WELLNESSFORCE It's taken me over a year to find the right hemp and CBD company to introduce to the Wellness Force Community and I could not be more thrilled that it's CURED Nutrition! CURED Nutrition is a movement inspired by nature and grounded in a shared desire to leave a lasting impression on you, our community, and this world. Together, they're a collective of heart-centered human beings who are inviting you – the conscious creatives, dreamers, and healers – to join their family. Learn how CURED hemp and CBD products can enhance your daily wellness routine. They're Colorado-based organically grown hemp products that have been engineered to transform your approach toward an elevated life. Tap into your inherent potential – your greatest mind-body alignment – and nourish it with the supplements you were designed to thrive on. A greater existence is waiting.   Listen To Episode 326 As John Chavez Uncovers:   [1:30]  Questions For The Lion Tamer John Chavez Questions For The Lion Tamer Part 1  Questions For The Lion Tamer part 2 DMT Quest 308 Dr. Edith Ubuntu Chan Cured Nutrition 300 Special Edition: Top Lessons Learned From 300+ Shows About his books, Questions For The Lion Tamer Parts 1 and 2, and why he named them with that particular title. Why we get so caught up in this 3D world as victims who have been imprinted on by society or even parents so we don't reach our full potential. The mystery of why some people expand into their potential and why some don't (8:30) 299 Christa Orecchio 249 Niraj Naik His path to becoming a healer including his own healing journey for better wellness. The strange mind-manifesting sensations he was experiencing and how it impacted those around him. How he was able to transfer his energy to another person with just a touch. Controlling our physiology through visualization, intent, and mindset.   [19:30]  His Spiritual Awakening: Nothing Is An Accident His religious upbringing and why he considered himself an atheist. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho Why he believes he accidentally induced his spiritual awakening one day. The massive digestive issues he was experiencing and how he was able to heal himself. His poor lifestyle habits back then and what pushed him to finally start focus on living life well. (22:30) The work hard, play hard sickness that many people fall into before the real healing begins. His first introduction to DMT after a suggestion from his cousin. DMT: The Spirit Molecule by Rick Strassman Joe Rogan Podcast DMT: The Spirit Molecule (2010) Why DMT, found in the human body, is called The Spirit Molecule Rick Strassman's studies and how many people have explained DMT has this deep euphoria that they've never experienced before. The launch of research on endogenous DMT at the University of Michigan. (28:00) ‘Mystical’ Psychedelic Compound Found in Normal Brains   [29:00] DMT - The Spirit Molecule What makes DMT so unique; especially the kind we can create through breathwork, meditation, or flow states. Vipassana Meditation – A Spartan Race For The Mind Why plant medicine is not about drugs but achieving real awareness through an altered state of consciousness. (29:35) What endogenous DMT is and how it helps us stop being a slave to our own minds. Wim Hof The most recent facts from the latest DMT Endogenous studies. (32:15) Four diaphragms of the lungs and how deep breathing impacts the entire body. Why breathwork, besides music, is the quickest way to get to an altered state of consciousness. The power of DMT as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory as it produces optimal chemicals for the brain. 305 Anthony DiClementi   [35:30] Psychedelics vs Meditation & Breathwork The differences between psychedelics (Ayahuasca) and natural practices such as meditation and breathwork. Rythmia The term he uses, '“endohuasca ' and what it can teach us about our natural ability to create these endogenous states. Why it's more important than ever before to support endohuasca research to help people on their wellness journeys. 196 Aubrey Marcus 275 Paul Chek The fact that love is the key to everything and he feels it in his heart and knows it in his brain. (41:30) Nick McLaughlin of Stationary Astronaut Gabor Mate Terence McKenna PlantMedicine.org Plant Medicine Podcast 247 Dr. Lynn Marie Morski   [43:00] Tools & Practices For Releasing DMT Naturally What tools or practices you can use on a daily basis to start releasing this natural, endogenous DMT. The fact that we are designed to breathe through the nose, not the mouth. 290 Dan Brulé Why it's not about the length of the meditation but the depth of the meditation that makes a great impact on our wellness. What developments he would like to see moving forward in the research and understanding of endogenous DMT. 241 Dr. Dan Engle 325 Dr. Josh Flowers & Dr. Dan Engle Revive Treatment Centers of America What he suspects we would find if everyone jumped on board and began to incorporate breathwork into their lives.   [50:00] Spreading Knowledge Of Our Human Potential Alan Watts 199 Peter Crone What is coming next for John on his journey of practical spirituality. (52:00) Dr. Joe Dispenza Exploring the concept that the beliefs, thoughts, and feelings we experience aren't actually ours. (54:40) 311 Mark Wolynn How he would describe what 'source' is to someone who has a very analytical mind. 073 Kute Blackson M21 Wellness Guide Wellness Force Community     The Creation of Endogenous DMT Through Breath "When endogenous DMT, which is naturally produced within the human brain, is upregulated, it also induces neuroplastic properties which allow us to change our neural pathways that then allows us to change our perception and perception is everything. It changes our way of thinking, changes our perception, and changes our life. Anything along the lines of natural tools such as breathwork, meditation, or sound that create endogenous DMT is always going to be in the right direction." - John Chavez         Cleansing The Brain Through Breathwork "From what I've seen, the quickest way to get in an altered state is breathwork. It's faster than hypnosis or meditation. Deep breathing also correlates with the cleansing of the brain. It's like DMT acts as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory; so, producing these sorts of chemicals would seem to be optimal for the brain. There's enough evidence to show that endogenous DMT produced by proper breathwork creates more optimized fluid dynamics in the brain and thus allowing us to kind of clear out debris; not only when we sleep but also when we're awake too." - John Chavez       Unpacking What 'Source' Is "We have the idea that we're disconnected from everything but there is a source, something powering everything on this earth. 'Source' is like the Sun; without it, everything on this plant will die. Whether directly or indirectly, we need it because it's the driving foundation of life." - John Chavez     Links From Today's Show 308 Dr. Edith Ubuntu Chan Cured Nutrition 300 Special Edition: Top Lessons Learned From 300+ Shows 299 Christa Orecchio 249 Niraj Naik The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho DMT: The Spirit Molecule by Rick Strassman Joe Rogan Podcast DMT: The Spirit Molecule (2010) Rick Strassman ‘Mystical’ Psychedelic Compound Found in Normal Brains Vipassana Meditation – A Spartan Race For The Mind Wim Hof 305 Anthony DiClementi Rythmia 196 Aubrey Marcus 275 Paul Chek Nick McLaughlin of Stationary Astronaut Gabor Mate Terence McKenna PlantMedicine.org Plant Medicine Podcast 247 Dr. Lynn Marie Morski 290 Dan Brulé 241 Dr. Dan Engle 325 Dr. Josh Flowers & Dr. Dan Engle Revive Treatment Centers of America Alan Watts 199 Peter Crone Dr. Joe Dispenza 311 Mark Wolynn 073 Kute Blackson M21 Wellness Guide Wellness Force Community Questions For The Lion Tamer Part 1  Questions For The Lion Tamer part 2 John Chavez DMT Quest Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube   About John Chavez John Chavez believes that communication of mystical and supernormal experiences is just as important as the scientific exploration of these occurrences. There needs to be a bridge between scientific results and the ability of the general public to understand these results in a straightforward manner. In this digital age of media, he believes that a widely distributed ongoing docuseries can provide a tool to accomplish this goal. After having operated as an independent researcher for 5 years and having written 2 books titled “Questions for the Lion Tamer: Delving into the Mystery that is DMT” and “Questions for the Lion Tamer 2: Swimming in Electric Endohuasca”, he believes that it is now time to take everything to the next level. DMT Research This entire field of research has been lagging tremendously since the 1970’s financially speaking. It is embarrassing that with an annual budget of over $39 billion dollars that the NIH still refuses to allocate any amount to endogenous DMT research. One would figure that if the NIH can spend $3.2 million studying the effects of alcohol in monkeys, it can surely spend the same amount on a field that the general public is extremely interested in such as endogenous DMT. In any case, it’s been estimated that there are nearly 2,500 billionaires in the world and likely over 50,000 hundred millionaires (people with $100,000,000 or more). There is enough private funding out there collecting dust that could change this endogenous DMT research industry in a very short time frame.     About DMT Quest DMT Quest is a 501c3 non-profit organization that is focused on raising money and awareness for endogenous DMT research. This organization operates under a strict 100% transparency code in which all fundraising generated by DMT Quest will be publicly disclosed on our website and any expenses/allocations will be publicly posted as well (in a straightforward manner). This company was created in order to solve the problem of a lack of funding for endogenous DMT research. While a psychedelic renaissance of sorts is taking place currently (2019) in which companies such as MAPS have raised upwards of nearly $50 million for exogenous psychedelic studies, the endogenous research capital has been minimal at best. Based on internet statistics, the general public appears extremely interested in the discussion and results of endogenous DMT studies. DMT Quest's Mission Our mission is to create a brand that can assist in driving research funds into this specific field in order to satisfy the demands of the public and develop a greater understanding of human biology and potential. We have culminated a powerful list of advisors including Wim Hof, Dr. Jimo Borjigin, Dr. Dennis Mckenna, Dr. Roland Griffiths, Dr. Ede Frecska, Dr. Edith Ubuntu Chan, Dr. David Luke, Dr. Mauro Zappaterra, Dr. Andrew Gallimore, Dr. Jason Wallach, Dr. Ovidiu Brazdau, and Dr. Robert Davis.   Join The #WellnessWarrior VIP Club **Click on the photo above to get exclusive discounts on new wellness tools, be first in line for new podcasts, get access to invite-only events, and so much more.**   More Top Episodes 226 Paul Chek: The Revolution Is Coming (3 Part Series) 131 Drew Manning: Emotional Fitness 129 Gretchen Rubin: The Four Tendencies  183 Dr. Kyra Bobinet: Brain Science 196 Aubrey Marcus: Own The Day 103 Robb Wolf: Wired To Eat Best of The Best: The Top 10 Guests From over 200 Shows Get More Wellness In Your Life Join the #WellnessWarrior Community on Facebook Tweet us on Twitter: Send us a tweet Comment on the Facebook page

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the privilege of interviewing Ian Geithner - a graduate student at the University of Maryland working in the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, under the mentoring hand of Dr. Roland Griffiths. During our conversation we walk through the hallowed halls of Johns Hopkins into the cutting-edge world of therapeutic psilocybin clinical trials. We'll meet the researchers who have picked up the torch of psychedelic research and are exploring the frontiers of treating mental and emotional disorders like anorexia, depression and Alzheimers. As a method of treatment, psilocybin shows unique promise to clinical research subjects. What are the physiological effects it has on our brains and how does it work to change the way our consciousness operates? What is the future of this research and are we at the beginning of a renaissance in psychedelic medicine? If these topics spark your interest and you feel a pull to get involved, we talk about opportunities both as a research subject and/or a clinical researcher in this promising field of holistic medicine. Thanks for listening and Mush Love! Directed, Recorded, Produced by: Mushroom Hour Music by: Ancient Baby Episode Resources Johns Hopkins Psychedelic Research https://clinicaltrials.gov/ Sacred Knowledge: Psychedelics and Religious Experiences by Bill Richards Roland R. Griffiths

Rhonda, Fabrice, and David discuss psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, Fabrice’s wonderful new marriage, his fascinating new podcast (http://peaceatlast.us/), and more. David and Rhonda are thrilled to have our beloved friend and colleague, Dr. Fabrice Nye, as the special guest on today’s podcast. Many of you will remember Fabrice as the man who gave birth to the Feeling Good Podcast, and acted as host for the first 133 podcasts. Fabrice describes many events since he turned over the reins to Rhonda earlier this year, including his recent marriage and move to the beautiful but fire-ravaged Russian River area roughly 100 miles north of San Francisco. However, Fabrice still maintains his clinical practice on a part time basis in Redwood City, in the San Francisco Bay area. The main focus of today’s podcast is Fabrice’s participation in promising new research on the treatment of PTSD. The participants in the study are veterans receiving psychotherapy that is assisted by treatment with MDMA during extended treatment session. MDMD is also known as the party drug, Ecstasy. However, the MDMA used in the research is chemically pure, whereas Ecstasy is generally obtained on the street and may not be pure. Fabrice describes MDMA as an “empathogen” that makes people more loving and more in touch with their emotions. This can make it easier for patients with PTSD to talk about their traumatic experiences and painful feelings, which people with PTSD usually try to avoid. Avoidance makes all forms of anxiety much worse, where as exposure is usually beneficial. Patients in the study received three treatment sessions, and a preliminary analysis indicated that one third of them improved to the point that they no longer had symptoms severe enough to be diagnosed with PTSD. Further studies are in progress, including a study with a control group, as well as follow-up studies to find out whether the improvement continued and whether some of the patients relapsed. Fabrice also describes the fascinating new trend in treatment of a variety of conditions with psychedelics, including psilocybin, mescaline, and ayawauska. I expressed my personal support for this trend, as these substances have been used by hundreds, if not thousands of years, for spiritual purposes by indigenous people throughout the world. And perhaps the coolest thing we learned was that Fabrice will be starting his own terrific podcast entitled PeaceAtLast.us about the time today’s podcast will be published. PeaceAtLast.us will focus on the overlap between spirituality and psychotherapy, a topic that I have always found extremely interesting and helpful in my own clinical work using TEAM-CBT. You might want to check out the new Fabrice podcast! I know that Rhonda and I will! After the podcast, we received the following email from Fabrice, which includes many resources for those of you wanting more information about psychedelics and psychotherapy, as well as his new podcast. Hi David and Rhonda, It felt so good to be reunited with you for an hour. Wish we didn’t have to cut it so short. Here are some of the links that you may want to provide to your listeners. Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), which sponsors and funds the Phase 3 trial of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD: https://maps.org/ Michal & Annie Mithoefer, lead researchers for the study: https://mapspublicbenefit.com/staff/michael-mithoefer-m-d/ Psychedelic research at Johns Hopkins University: https://hopkinspsychedelic.org/ Roland Griffiths, main researcher for psilocybin studies at JHU: https://hopkinspsychedelic.org/griffiths List of federal clinical trials involving psychedelics in the U.S.: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?cond=&term=psychedelic&cntry=US Article on how to have a legal psychedelic experience (but not necessarily a safe one): https://psychedelic.support/resources/legal-ways-to-pursue-psychedelic-experiences/ And finally... Here’s how to find my new podcast, to be launched on February 6, 2020: http://peaceatlast.us/ Fabrice Nye fabrice@life.net    

In this episode of the Making Sense podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Roland Griffiths about the current state of research on psychedelics. They discuss the historical prohibition against their use; the clinical and scientific promise of psilocybin, mescaline, LSD, DMT, MDMA, and other compounds; the risks associated with these drugs; the role of “set and setting”; the differences between psychedelics and drugs of abuse; MDMA and neurotoxicity; experiences of unity, sacredness, love, and truth; the long-term consequences of psychedelic experiences; synthetic vs natural drugs; the prospects of devising new psychedelics; microdosing; research on psilocybin and long-term meditators; the experience of encountering other apparent beings; psilocybin treatment of addiction; and other topics. In his Afterword, Sam discusses his experience on a large dose of psilocybin—his first psychedelic experience in 25 years. Roland Griffiths, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurosciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and founding Director of the Johns Hopkins Center on Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. He is author of over 380 journal articles and book chapters, and has trained more than 50 postdoctoral research fellows. Roland has been a consultant to the National Institutes of Health, to numerous pharmaceutical companies in the development of new psychotropic drugs, and as a member of the Expert Advisory Panel on Drug Dependence for the World Health Organization.

In this episode of the Making Sense podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Roland Griffiths about the current state of research on psychedelics. They discuss the historical prohibition against their use; the clinical and scientific promise of psilocybin, mescaline, LSD, DMT, MDMA, and other compounds; the risks associated with these drugs; the role of “set and setting”; the differences between psychedelics and drugs of abuse; MDMA and neurotoxicity; experiences of unity, sacredness, love, and truth; the long-term consequences of psychedelic experiences; synthetic vs natural drugs; the prospects of devising new psychedelics; microdosing; research on psilocybin and long-term meditators; the experience of encountering other apparent beings; psilocybin treatment of addiction; and other topics. In his Afterword, Sam discusses his experience on a large dose of psilocybin—his first psychedelic experience in 25 years. SUBSCRIBE to continue listening and gain access to all content on samharris.org/subscribe.

In this Medical News podcast, Rita Rubin speaks with Roland Griffiths, PhD, about the use of psychedelics as potential therapies for neurological and mental health disorders and to better understand the mind. Read the article: Philanthropists Fund Johns Hopkins Center for Study of Psychedelics

This is something I’ve been working on for ~1.5 years and something diligent scientists have been working toward for 20+ years.This episode features a recording of the press conference announcing the launch of the world’s largest psychedelic research center and the U.S.’s first psychedelic research center -- The Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins Medicine. Among other things, they will be investigating the effectiveness of psychedelics as a new therapy for opioid addiction, Alzheimer's disease, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (formerly known as chronic Lyme disease), anorexia nervosa and alcohol use in people with major depression. The researchers hope to create precision medicine treatments tailored to individual patients’ specific needs.I couldn’t be happier, and it wouldn’t have happened without generous support from Steven and Alexandra Cohen (@cohengive), Matt Mullenweg (@photomatt), Blake Mycoskie (@blakemycoskie), and Craig Nerenberg. Many thanks also to Benedict Carey of the New York Times (@bencareynyt) for investigating and reporting on this from multiple perspectives, as he’s done for many years.As some of you know, I shifted most of my focus from startup investing to this field in 2015, and it’s incredibly important to me that this watershed announcement helps to catalyze more studies, more ambitious centers, more scientists entering the field, and more philanthropists and sources of funding taking a close look at psychedelic science. To that end, it’s critical that more people realize there is much more reputational upside than reputational risk in supporting this work in 2019 and beyond. To broadcast this as widely as possible, I have one offer and one sincere ask:THE OFFER — If you’re involved with media and would like to learn more about the center or speak with the key scientists involved, please visit this contact page.THE ASK — Please share the New York Times articles (here is one tweet) or the announcement. Whatever you can do to spread the word is most appreciated! The short link tim.blog/nyt will also forward to one of the NYT articles.On this press conference, I am joined by Roland Griffiths, Ph.D., who initiated the psilocybin research program at Johns Hopkins almost 20 years ago, leading the first studies investigating the effects of its use by healthy volunteers. His pioneering work led to the consideration of psilocybin as a therapy for serious health conditions. Griffiths recruited and trained the center faculty in psychedelic research as well. Also participating is Matthew Johnson, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral science, who has expertise in drug addictions and behavioral economic decision-making, and has conducted psychedelic research at Johns Hopkins since 2004 (with well over 100 publications). He has led studies that show psilocybin can treat nicotine addiction. Johnson will lead two new clinical trials and will be associate director of the new center. The conference was moderated by Audrey Huang, Ph.D., a media relations director at Johns Hopkins.Additional resources: Johns Hopkins Opens New Center for Psychedelic Research (New York Times) Tim Ferriss, the Man Who Put His Money Behind Psychedelic Medicine (New York Times) Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research (Official website) Johns Hopkins Launches Center For Psychedelic Research (Johns Hopkins Newsroom) Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research Contact Form***If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading the reviews!For show notes and past guests, please visit tim.blog/podcast.Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (“5-Bullet Friday”) at tim.blog/friday.For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.Follow Tim: Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferrissFacebook: facebook.com/timferriss YouTube: youtube.com/timferriss

Psychedelics were the subject of serious medical research in the 1940s to the 1960s, when many scientists believed some of the mind-bending compounds held tremendous therapeutic promise for treating a number of conditions including severe mental health problems and alcohol addiction. By the mid-60s, research into psychedelics was shut down for decades.After the blackout ended, the doctor we have on the podcast today was among the first to initiate a new series of studies on psilocybin—the psychoactive compound in “magic” mushrooms.On today’s Broken Brain Podcast, our host, Dhru, talks to Dr. Roland Griffiths, a Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurosciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He has conducted extensive research with sedative-hypnotics, caffeine, and novel mood-altering drugs. In 1999, he initiated a research program at Johns Hopkins investigating the effects of the classic hallucinogen psilocybin that includes studies of psilocybin-occasioned mystical-type experiences in healthy volunteers, psilocybin-facilitated treatment of psychological distress in cancer patients, psilocybin-facilitated treatment of cigarette smoking cessation, psilocybin effects in beginning and long-term meditators, and psilocybin effects in religious leaders.In this episode, Dhru and Dr. Griffiths talk about his extensive research with psilocybin in the treatment of psychological distress in cancer patients and cigarette smoking cessation. They discuss the connection between psilocybin, spirituality, and consciousness. They also talk about psychedelics and their potential for treating conditions ranging from drug and alcohol dependence to depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.In this episode, we dive into:-The connection between psychedelics, spirituality, and consciousness (7:48)-The history of psychedelic research (8:28)-The reintroduction of psychedelic research by Dr. Roland Griffiths and others (12:27)-Why research participants rated their psychedelic experience as one of their most meaningful (16:36)-What is happening in the brain when using psychedelics (23:39)-How psychedelics can help us understand altered states of consciousness (29:09)-The therapeutic benefits of psilocybin for the treatment of addiction (40:16)-How a single dose of psilocybin substantially diminished depression and anxiety in cancer patients (44:52)-The future of psychedelics (48:07)-The downside and risks of psychedelics (56:14)-Learn more about Dr. Roland Griffiths and his work (1:00:24)For more on Dr. Roland Griffiths and his research on psychedelics check out his website https://hopkinspsychedelic.org.Sponsor: This episode is sponsored by our partnership with the AquaTru Water Filter. To get exclusive access to this deal visit www.brokenbrain.com/filter See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Download In this episode, Joe interviews Nathan Sepeda, a Research Coordinator at Johns Hopkins. Joe and Nathan cover topics on 5-MEO-DMT research and survey studies, the difference between synthetic and toad sourced 5-MEO-DMT, the sustainability of the Bufo Alvarius toad, and the benefits of a proper facilitator. 3 Key Points: 5-MEO-DMT is starting to gain traction in the research world. The conversation continues on whether the synthetic 5-MEO-DMT experience is any different from a 5-MEO-DMT experience sourced from the toad venom. As the popularity of 5-MEO-DMT increases, concerns about the wellbeing and sustainability of the Bufo Alvarius toad also increases. Proper facilitation has been shown to affect a person’s experience on a substance like 5-MEO-DMT. The use of a practitioner, finding the substance from a reputable source, and integration all play a critical role in the user's experience. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes 5-MEO-DMT Joe found out about Nathan Sepeda and the work being done on 5-MEO-DMT after Johns Hopkins released a poster on 5-MEO-DMT Alan Davis put together a survey about people’s 5-MEO-DMT experiences Half of the use was recreational, and then the other half of survey participants used more of a therapeutic approach set and setting including a sitter and integration The study found that the more structured the 5-MEO-DMT experience was around set and setting, the more often participants reported a more mystical experience as well as a lower likelihood of having a difficult experience The survey only looked at synthetic 5-MEO-DMT Using 5-MEO-DMT from a toad also runs the risk of the other toad venom constituents Joe said the first time he heard about data on 5-MEO-DMT was at the Oakland Psychedelic Science Conference in 2017 Stan Grof had a keynote saying that 5-MEO-DMT was the future of psychiatry Toad Conservation The Bufo Alvarius toad’s population is increasingly declining Joe says he knows someone who lives on the Mexican border in the Sonoran desert, and he would have toads jump into his house all the time He doesn't even see them anymore Joe also mentions the toads flocking to the UV street lights, and people scooping them up or even running them over “How do we do less harm to living things and treat our environment better?” - Joe Nathan’s Role at Hopkins Nathan is the Research Coordinator of Psychedelic Studies at Johns Hopkins He works as an Assistant Facilitator (sitter) for the psychoactive drug sessions He is involved in Psilocybin studies (currently the depression study) He says he is grateful to be a part of the research, seeing people change in a matter of days from the help of the substances Nathan has a background in Psychology and Neuroscience Mary Cosimano is the primary facilitator for all of the studies at Johns Hopkins His training consisted of mock sessions, ways to ask/answer questions, and overall hold the space A lot of people will describe their experience being the most spiritual experience of their life Joe asks about upset stomach with synthetic 5-MEO-DMT Nathan responds saying they ask patients to eat a light breakfast, but he never really sees upset stomach with synthetic 5-MEO Proper Facilitation The use of a practitioner and finding the substance from a reputable source are the two biggest factors in having a great experience, along with integration Nathan says that these findings are preliminary but they are a great start to data on the substance and its use Joe says he is cautious about the religious affiliation people prescribe to their experience with these substances It can get out of hand, there are “shamans” that taze people or throw buckets of cold water on their patients when they are on the substance Waterboarding, sexual assault, all of these things speak to the value of screening practitioners Joe has heard about a facilitator using an extremely high amount of 5-MEO-DMT on his patients, far above the effective dose Joe mentions a story about a “shaman” who was to facilitate a session. The participant thought they were going to do standard DMT, and the shaman gave them 5-MEO-DMT instead (without the users consent) Joe suggests that just because you know a reputable source for a substance, doesn't mean they are a good facilitator Final Thoughts People can find information on the study at clinicaltrials.gov People can apply by contacting Nathan’s team directly They will have room for healthy volunteers in healthy volunteer studies in the future They are currently working on “insight surveys” that are surveys asking people about their psychedelic experiences Links Hopkins Psychedelic Research Website About Nathan Sepeda Nathan Sepeda is an assistant facilitator (or guide) for psychoactive drug sessions and research coordinator for the Johns Hopkins Psychedelic Research Unit. Nathan earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota studying psychology and neuroscience. His interests in addiction and mood disorders, in combination with the promising research with psychedelics, have led Nathan to Dr. Roland Griffiths’ lab. Nathan is involved in a number of projects investigating the effects of various psychedelic substances, including psilocybin, salvinorin-A, and 5-MeO-DMT.

Roland Griffiths, Ph.D. is Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurosciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine where he conducts pioneering research into the psychological and therapeutic effects of the hallucinogen psilocybin, a naturally occurring psychedelic compound produced in psilocybin mushrooms, known colloquially as magic mushrooms. In today’s episode we explore the origin and history of psilocybin research, what it looks like to experiment with psychedelics in a clinical setting, the nature of the hallucinations experienced by participants, and the potential for psilocybin to produce long term, clinically significant reductions in depression and anxiety, along with increases in quality of life, life meaning, and optimism, with just one single dose. *** BOOKS MENTIONED *** "Man's Search For Meaning" by Viktor Frankl: https://amzn.to/2H2ZYT0 "Sapiens" by Yuval Noah Harari: https://amzn.to/2IhSHyo "Feeling Good" by David Burns: https://amzn.to/2H32NUb "Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life" by Stephen Hayes: https://amzn.to/2pWQh0h *** DONATE OR SUBSCRIBE *** http://myownworstenemy.org/support *** SOCIAL MEDIA *** Facebook: http://facebook.com/myownworstenemyorg Twitter: http://twitter.com/dannydwhittaker *** CREDITS *** Theme Music: Falling Down by Ryan Little http://youtube.com/user/TheR4C2010 Podcast Image: Bernard Spragg. NZ https://flic.kr/p/e8PVQ3 DISCLAIMER: My Own Worst Enemy is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk and affiliated sites.

Roland Griffiths and the Johns Hopkins Psilocybin Project - Implications for Spirituality & Therapeutics Live from Psychedelic Science 2017 Roland Griffiths, Ph.D gives the definitive talk about the psilocybin project that's underway at Johns Hopkins. The implications for spirituality and therapeutics is presented from the early sets of data obtained from the study. The program at Johns Hopkins investigates the effects of the classic hallucinogen psilocybin that includes studies of psilocybin-occasioned mystical-type experiences in healthy volunteers, psilocybin-facilitated treatment of psychological distress in cancer patients, psilocybin-facilitated treatment of cigarette smoking cessation, psilocybin effects in beginning and long-term meditators, and psilocybin effects in religious leaders.  Roland Griffiths, Ph.D., is Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurosciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His principal research focus in both clinical and preclinical laboratories has been on the behavioral and subjective effects of mood-altering drugs. His research has been largely supported by grants from the National Institute on Health and he is author of over 360 journal articles and book chapters. He has been a consultant to the National Institutes of Health, and to numerous pharmaceutical companies in the development of new psychotropic drugs. He is also currently a member of the Expert Advisory Panel on Drug Dependence for the World Health Organization. He has conducted extensive research with sedative-hypnotics, caffeine, and novel mood-altering drugs.  

Dr. Roland R. Griffiths Dr. Roland R. Griffiths is a clinical pharmacologist at Johns Hopkins and has been researching mood-altering compounds for over 40 years. As an unusually prolific scientist, having published over 360-times, he's also responsible for having started the psilocybin research program at Johns Hopkins nearly 2 decades ago. In this podcast, you'll discover:  00:01:03 - the broader story of Dr. Griffiths 40 years of mood-altering drug research, including what got him started and how taking up a meditation practice ultimately influenced the eventual focuses of his research. 00:02:22 - the effect psilocybin has had in clinical trials in eliciting so-called mystical experiences that can act as a long-term catalyst for meaningful spiritual change and is amenable to being reproduced and clinically studied in a prospective manner. 00:03:45 - what distinguishes psilocybin from other drugs, particularly when reflecting backward on the experience months afterward. 00:05:11 - the process by which Dr. Griffiths and his team create an appropriate “setting” and facilitate feelings of safety for those participating in his trials. 00:06:42 - the elusive fundamental nature of a classical psychedelic experience whereby people often simultaneously describe the experience as ineffable (indescribable) but yet also often assign it a truth value that may even exceed that of everyday consensus reality. 00:07:36 - a description of the core features of a classical mystical experience that overlap with those found in a mystical experience induced by psilocybin. 00:08:58 - the qualities of the experience that Dr. Griffiths believes to most underlie the “reorganizational” potential it can have. 00:10:55 - the interesting potential areas for scientific exploration that the reproducibility of the psilocybin experience makes the substance amenable to. 00:11:25 - the promise psilocybin has shown as an effective therapeutic for anxiety and depression in patients with life-threatening cancer and also treatment-resistant depression in otherwise healthy patients (00:18:46). 00:13:04 - the lack of rigor in the very early trials on these compounds and the way in which cultural stigma surrounding psychedelic drugs ultimately played a role in impeding real, substantive clinical research for decades afterward. 00:16:31 - the long-term resilience of the antidepressant and anxiolytic effect, lasting six months and possibly even longer. 00:21:01 - the effect psilocybin has demonstrated in animal studies to increase hippocampal neurogenesis and enhance extinction of trace fear conditioning. 00:23:07 - the somewhat unintuitive neurobiological mechanism that may tie together some of the antidepressant properties of both psilocybin and ketamine, an anesthetic currently being studied as a rapid-onset antidepressant. 00:25:16 - whether or not the mystical subjective experiences are necessary for drugs like psilocybin to exert their antidepressant or anxiolytic effects. 00:26:43 - what the default mode network is and what its pattern of activity is in depression, long-term meditators, and after the acute use of psilocybin. 00:32:16 - the hard problem of consciousness. 00:37:26 - the challenge of finding the neurological correlates to match the phenomenology of individual's subjective experiences. 00:38:16 - the promise psilocybin has shown in a small trial on smoking cessation where 60% of the treatment group were still abstinent a year afterward and plans Dr. Griffiths has to expand this area of research 00:41:10 - the possibility that the “reorganizational nature” of these experiences may open up new avenues as trials continue to try to embed the experience within different therapeutic contexts. 00:44:02 - the roadmap to FDA approval for use of psilocybin as a medication, particularly in the context of cancer-associated depression and anxiety. 00:45:05 - the risks inherent in taking psilocybin and the frequency of self-reported negative experiences in the general population. 00:47:22 - the criteria Dr. Griffiths and his colleagues use when screening for volunteers to participate in his studies involving psilocybin. 00:49:21 - the inability for clinicians to predict who is at risk of having challenging experiences defined by fear and anxiety (“bad trip”) and whether or not it is desirable, in terms of achieving a therapeutic outcome, to prevent these types of experiences altogether or not. 00:51:43 - the sort of dosages used in the trials. 00:54:45 - the clever ways devised by Dr. Griffiths to placebo control trials where expectation itself can affect outcome. 00:57:45 - some of the interesting anecdotes gleaned from Dr. Griffiths' working with long-term meditators participating in the psilocybin trial. 01:05:13 - a brief discussion about some of the other psychedelics besides psilocybin, such as salvia divinorum and DMT (at 01:10:24). 01:12:08 - the historical indigenous use of psychedelics in various cultures spread throughout the world.   If you're interested in learning more, you can read the full show notes here: https://www.foundmyfitness.com/episodes/roland-griffiths Join over 300,000 people and get the latest distilled information on psilocybin, psychedelic therapies & mystical experiences straight to your inbox weekly: https://www.foundmyfitness.com/newsletter Become a FoundMyFitness premium member to get access to exclusive episodes, emails, live Q+A's with Rhonda and more: https://www.foundmyfitness.com/crowdsponsor

Dr. Roland R. Griffiths is a clinical pharmacologist at Johns Hopkins and has been researching mood-altering compounds for over 40 years. As an unusually prolific scientist, having published over 360-times, he's also responsible for having started the psilocybin research program at Johns Hopkins nearly 2 decades ago. In this 1-hour and 15-minute podcast, we discuss… 00:01:03 - the broader story of Dr. Griffiths 40 years of mood-altering drug research, including what got him started and how taking up a meditation practice ultimately influenced the eventual focuses of his research. 00:02:22 - the effect psilocybin has had in clinical trials in eliciting so-called mystical experiences that can act as a long-term catalyst for meaningful spiritual change and is amenable to being reproduced and clinically studied in a prospective manner. 00:03:45 - what distinguishes psilocybin from other drugs, particularly when reflecting backward on the experience months afterward. 00:05:11 - the process by which Dr. Griffiths and his team create an appropriate “setting” and facilitate feelings of safety for those participating in his trials. 00:06:42 - the elusive fundamental nature of a classical psychedelic experience whereby people often simultaneously describe the experience as ineffable (indescribable) but yet also often assign it a truth value that may even exceed that of everyday consensus reality. 00:07:36 - a description of the core features of a classical mystical experience that overlap with those found in a mystical experience induced by psilocybin. 00:08:58 - the qualities of the experience that Dr. Griffiths believes to most underlie the “reorganizational” potential it can have. 00:10:55 - the interesting potential areas for scientific exploration that the reproducibility of the psilocybin experience makes the substance amenable to. 00:11:25 - the promise psilocybin has shown as an effective therapeutic for anxiety and depression in patients with life-threatening cancer and also treatment-resistant depression in otherwise healthy patients (00:18:46). 00:13:04 - the lack of rigor in the very early trials on these compounds and the way in which cultural stigma surrounding psychedelic drugs ultimately played a role in impeding real, substantive clinical research for decades afterward. 00:16:31 - the long-term resilience of the antidepressant and anxiolytic effect, lasting six months and possibly even longer. 00:21:01 - the effect psilocybin has demonstrated in animal studies to increase hippocampal neurogenesis and enhance extinction of trace fear conditioning. 00:23:07 - the somewhat unintuitive neurobiological mechanism that may tie together some of the antidepressant properties of both psilocybin and ketamine, an anesthetic currently being studied as a rapid-onset antidepressant. 00:25:16 - whether or not the mystical subjective experiences are necessary for drugs like psilocybin to exert their antidepressant or anxiolytic effects. 00:26:43 - what the default mode network is and what its pattern of activity is in depression, long-term meditators, and after the acute use of psilocybin. 00:32:16 - the hard problem of consciousness. 00:37:26 - the challenge of finding the neurological correlates to match the phenomenology of individual’s subjective experiences. 00:38:16 - the promise psilocybin has shown in a small trial on smoking cessation where 60% of the treatment group were still abstinent a year afterward and plans Dr. Griffiths has to expand this area of research 00:41:10 - the possibility that the “reorganizational nature” of these experiences may open up new avenues as trials continue to try to embed the experience within different therapeutic contexts. 00:44:02 - the roadmap to FDA approval for use of psilocybin as a medication, particularly in the context of cancer-associated depression and anxiety. 00:45:05 - the risks inherent in taking psilocybin and the frequency of self-reported negative experiences in the general population. 00:47:22 - the criteria Dr. Griffiths and his colleagues use when screening for volunteers to participate in his studies involving psilocybin. 00:49:21 - the inability for clinicians to predict who is at risk of having challenging experiences defined by fear and anxiety (“bad trip”) and whether or not it is desirable, in terms of achieving a therapeutic outcome, to prevent these types of experiences altogether or not. 00:51:43 - the sort of dosages used in the trials. 00:54:45 - the clever ways devised by Dr. Griffiths to placebo control trials where expectation itself can affect outcome. 00:57:45 - some of the interesting anecdotes gleaned from Dr. Griffiths’ working with long-term meditators participating in the psilocybin trial. 01:05:13 - a brief discussion about some of the other psychedelics besides psilocybin, such as salvia divinorum and DMT (at 01:10:24). 01:12:08 - the historical indigenous use of psychedelics in various cultures spread throughout the world. Watch this as a video on YouTube.

Do we have a treat for you. To welcome our new listeners, we present you a re-mastered special edition of the episode we recorded live at Burning Man on August 31, 2016, which features three pioneers and key drivers in the movement to mainstream psychedelic medicine. Special thanks to Rod for the audio engineering! Special note for Patreon supporters: you will get a special before-the-show "opening conversation". Check patreon.com/Entheogen. Burning Man 2016. We had the great pleasure and honor to speak with three pioneers and key drivers in the movement to mainstream psychedelic medicine: Alex Grey & Allyson Grey, co-founders of CoSM, the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors (CoSM.org). Rick Doblin, founder and executive director of MAPS, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS.org). We thank deeply all three of our esteemed guests for their time and generosity of spirit. We’d also like to thank Dr. Bronner’s ReFOAMation Village for their hospitality and Alex & Allyson for graciously hosting the recording in their RV. TOPICS: Alex & Allyson Grey’s take on the state of the movement to mainstream psychedelics Has non-violence slowed our progress? Alex & Allyson’s $2000 fine for cannabis possession upon entering Burning Man Alex mentions Roland Griffiths’ reprisal of Walter Pahnke’s Good Friday Experiment at Johns Hopkins University: Hopkins Scientists Show Hallucinogen In Mushrooms Creates Universal “Mystical” Experience Rick Doblin discusses the improved relationship with Law Enforcement and the Burning Man organization including better integration of the Zendo Project at Burning Man 2016 Rick quotes Einstein: “There’s no conflict between science and religion. There’s a conflict between bad science and bad religion.” Rick talks about how he sees psychedelics being integrated into society in 25 years Rick discusses the “beautiful breakup” he had while on MDA Rick compares MDA to MDMA Allyson discusses her personal experiences with MDA and MDMA The idea of patient self-titration Alex, Allyson, and Rick discuss their milestones this year: 20 years since the founding of CoSM and 30 years since the founding of MAPS Rick describes building a handball court at New College of Florida, overlooking the nudist colony where his girlfriend was lifeguarding Rick discusses the first responders and veterans enrolled in the MDMA for PTSD study (“not just for hippies at Burning Man”) Cannabis as a neuroprotective, anti-tumor agent (and it makes you feel better too) Carl Sagan’s friendship with Lester Grinspoon Carl Sagan’s secret use of cannabis for 40 years Psychedelics and schizophrenia Rick’s idea to create a “drug license” system Time to “come out of the psychedelic closet” MAPS organizes Global Psychedelic Dinners to encourage “coming out” about our psychedelic use BuildEntheon.com Thank you so much for listening to Entheogen and for supporting us on Patreon and for telling your friends.

Thank you so much for listening to Entheogen and for supporting us on Patreon and by telling your friends. At Burning Man in 2014, we were inspired to create Entheogen (after a talk with Meriana Dinkova). Since then, we’ve released about one-and-a-half episodes per month. On this, our two-year anniversary since posting the first episode, we are beyond overjoyed to share with you our very first “on location” recording, and the first time we’ve all recorded in person together – Burning Man 2016. We had the great pleasure and honor to speak with not one, not just two, but three pioneers and key drivers in the movement to mainstream psychedelic medicine: Alex Grey & Allyson Grey, co-founders of CoSM, the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors (CoSM.org). Rick Doblin, founder and executive director of MAPS, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS.org). We thank deeply all three of our esteemed guests for their time and generosity of spirit. We’d also like to thank Dr. Bronner’s ReFOAMation Village for their hospitality and Alex & Allyson for graciously hosting the recording in their RV. Topics: Alex & Allyson Grey’s take on the state of the movement to mainstream psychedelics Has non-violence hamstrung our progress? Alex & Allyson’s $2000 fine for cannabis possession upon entering Burning Man Alex mentions Roland Griffiths’ reprisal of Walter Pahnke’s Good Friday Experiment at Johns Hopkins University: Hopkins Scientists Show Hallucinogen In Mushrooms Creates Universal “Mystical” Experience Rick Doblin discusses the improved relationship with Law Enforcement and the Burning Man organization including better integration of the Zendo Project at Burning Man 2016 Rick quotes Einstein: “There’s no conflict between science and religion. There’s a conflict between bad science and bad religion.” Rick talks about how he sees psychedelics being integrated into society in 25 years Rick discusses the “beautiful breakup” he had while on MDA Rick compares MDA to MDMA Allyson discusses her personal experiences with MDA and MDMA Alex, Allyson, and Rick discuss their milestones this year: 20 years since the founding of CoSM and 30 years since the founding of MAPS Rick describes building a handball court at New College of Florida, overlooking the nudist colony where his girlfriend was lifeguarding Rick discusses the first responders and veterans enrolled in the MDMA for PTSD study (“not just for hippies at Burning Man”) Cannabis as a neuroprotective, anti-tumor agent (and it makes you feel better too) Carl Sagan’s friendship with Lester Grinspoon Carl Sagan’s secret use of cannabis for 40 years Psychedelics and schizophrenia Rick’s idea to create a “drug license” system Time to “come out of the psychedelic closet” MAPS organizes Global Psychedelic Dinners to encourage “coming out” about our psychedelic use BuildEntheon.com

The road to scientific study of psilocybin ... The dark side of psilocybin use ... Spiritual experience is difficult to define—or miss ... Flavors of unity and sacredness ... Using psilocybin to give up smoking ...

The road to scientific study of psilocybin ... The dark side of psilocybin use ... Spiritual experience is difficult to define—or miss ... Flavors of unity and sacredness ... Using psilocybin to give up smoking ...

Roland Griffiths is the lead investigator of the Psilocybin Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins and one of the United States’ leading psychopharmacologists. In the conclusion to his conversation with host Vincent Horn, Roland provides more details on the Hopkins Meditation Study, Vincent shares his personal story of psychedelic experimentation, and they discuss the risks and benefits of mixing meditation practice with the psilocybin experience. This is part two of a two part series. Listen to part one "Meditating on Mushrooms". Episode Links: - Hopkins Meditation Study - "The Trip Treatment"- Roland R. Griffiths, Ph.D.

Roland Griffiths is the lead investigator of the Psilocybin Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins and one of the United States’ leading psychopharmacologists. In this episode Roland describes his research into the medicinal uses of psychedelics. He explains his history in the field, his current research around psychedelics and meditation, and he extends an invitation to the Buddhist Geeks audience to consider becoming a part of a meditation on psilocybin study at John Hopkins. This is part one of a two part series. Listen to part two "Psilocybin: A Crash Course in Mindfulness". Episode Links: - Hopkins Meditation Study - "The Trip Treatment" - Roland R. Griffiths, Ph.D.

We are honored to be joined by Robert J. Barnhart, producer of A New Understanding: The Science of Psilocybin. For historical context, we review the groundwork laid in the 1980's by organizations such as the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) and Heffter Research Institute. Robert serves on the Boards of Directors of both organizations. Basic research began as early as the 1940's and continued through the '50's and '60's, until Nixon's Drug Control Act of 1970 when the highly promising research was extinguished. In the words of Roland Griffiths, "Can you think of another area of science regarded as so dangerous and taboo that all research gets shut down for decades? It’s unprecedented in modern science." Only as recently as in the last decade, thanks entirely to private fundraising by organizations like MAPS and Heffter, researchers have completed Phase I and Phase II studies. Plans for Phase III trials are on the horizon, and by some predictions, entheogens like psilocybin could be rescheduled to Schedule II (from Schedule I) perhaps as soon as 2020. At $10/pill an effective one-time-dose treatment like an entheogen might not be economically feasible or lucrative enough for today's pharmaceutical companies to pursue taking to market. But what about regular, ongoing "microdosing" of something like LSD? And moreover, the potentially vast application of entheogens toward the "betterment of well people" (in the words of Bob Jesse) would seem to be highly interesting to a pharmaceutical company. Robert recounts the story of how his would-be high school film project about the psychedelic experience may have serendipitously inspired his new film. In addition to supporting MAPS and Heffter, Robert recommends the Beckley Foundation in England. Also, write to Congress and talk to people about your own entheogenic experiences. For more about the studies, check out Anthroposophia: A different kind of love story: One woman's psilocybin experience by Sandy Lundahl. Thanks again to Robert Barnhart for joining us. Stay tuned for the release of A New Understanding: The Science of Psilocybin.

This show we are joined by special guest, Ingo, to explore the topic of how psychedelics can change one's personality. Ingo explains how in traditional psychology, one's personality typically doesn't change after the age of 30 years. And yet in his experience, he has grown more as a person since he began using psychedelics than ever before. How does a psychedelic experience change one's personality? In the peak entheogenic experience? During the afterglow? Cumulatively over the years? Ingo reminds us of the Roland Griffiths we study discussed in Entheogen 008: The Trip Treatment. How psychedelics reintroduce us to the joy, wonder, and awe of a child's perspective. Check out Entheogen Show on Facebook!

- Roland Griffiths, trained as a behaviorist and holding senior appointments in psychiatry and neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University, is one of the nation’s leading drug-addiction researchers. Pollan quoting Griffiths: “There is such a sense of authority that comes out of the primary mystical experience that it can be threatening to existing hierarchical structures. We ended up demonizing these compounds. Can you think of another area of science regarded as so dangerous and taboo that all research gets shut down for decades? It’s unprecedented in modern science.” - Robert Jesse, founder of Council on Spiritual Practices (CSP) in 1993, former VP of Oracle. - Rick Doblin, founder of Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) in 1986. - Charles Grob, at U.C.L.A., who won F.D.A. approval in 2006 for a Phase I pilot study to assess the safety, dosing, and efficacy of psilocybin in the treatment of anxiety in cancer patients. - David Nichols, emeritus professor of pharmacology at Purdue University and a founder of the Heffter Research Institute in 1993, key funder of psychedelic research. - Robin Carhart-Harris and David Nutt of Imperial College, London. See prior coverage on the show: Entheogen 002: Psychedelic Research Renaissance, Part 2

Guest speaker: Bruce Damer PROGRAM NOTES: [NOTE: All quotations are by Bruce Damer.] “Your brain has distinct pathways that outnumber the number of subatomic particles in the universe by a very large number. . . . Your brain is an information system that is bigger than the whole cosmos.” “Your brain is reverberating the whole cosmos.” “We are the great project of being.” “It's the informal experimenter (in their millions) that is the pioneering front edge of the science of psychedelics.” Download MP3 PCs – Right click, select option Macs – Ctrl-Click, select option Tom Riedel's light show for this talk Johns Hopkins "Bad Trip" Survey After Psilocybin Mushrooms 2014 The main survey will take about 30 minutes to complete, and an optional open-ended section could take another 10-15 minutes. If you have previously completed a Johns Hopkins survey of "bad trips" on psilocybin mushrooms (aka. magic mushrooms or shrooms), please Do Not complete this survey. This is a questionnaire study of bad trips on psilocybin mushrooms -- psychologically difficult or challenging experiences while under the influence of mushrooms. This research study is being conducted by scientists at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and has been approved by the Johns Hopkins University Institutional Review Board (IRB). The IRB application number for this research study is NA_00080653. Dr. Roland Griffiths, Ph.D. is the Principal Investigator for this research study. Detailed information about the study is provided in the next few pages. If you need further information please contact ShroomSurvey (at) gmail (dot) com

Guest speakers: Dr. Roland Griffiths, Dr. Alicia Danforth, and Gabrielle Agin-Liebes PROGRAM NOTES: This program features a recording of a panel discussion and Q&A session that took place at the 2013 Burning Man Festival with three people who are currently on the front lines of psychedelic research: Dr. Roland Griffiths, Dr. Alicia Danforth, and Gabrielle Agin-Liebes. This is an overview session covering a wide range of psychedelic research currently underway. Their detailed talks about their work is available in earlier podcasts. Download MP3 PCs – Right click, select option Macs – Ctrl-Click, select option Dr. Roland Griffiths Johns Hopkins University Psilocybin & Spirituality Current Psilocybin Research Projects Q&A with Roland Griffiths Dr. Alicia Danforth MDMA-assisted Therapy for Social Anxiety in Autistic Adults Gabrielle Agin-Liebes NYU Psilocybin Cancer Anxiety Study

Guest speaker: Roland Griffiths PROGRAM NOTES: Today's podcast features a talk given by Roland Griffiths, who is a professor in the departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, and Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins Medicine. In addition to describing the current psychedelic studies being undertaken there, he also goes into detail about exactly what characteristics researchers consider when evaluating whether a person has actually had a spiritual experience. Among the research participant's comments that he read, one of the most common themes was the interconnectedness of all things and beings. Also, he spoke about their research into the character of one's personality in regards to how a psychedelic experience affected their openness to the experiences of life. Another interesting thing that his research group is investigating is the intersection of psilocybin and meditation, a discussion of which takes up a significant part of this talk. “Psilocybin is a pharmacological tool that helps people recognize how it feels to embody the present moment. And that's exactly the same of meditation. It's about bringing yourself into the present moment.” -Roland Griffiths Download MP3 PCs – Right click, select option Macs – Ctrl-Click, select option Johns Hopkins University Psilocybin & Spirituality Current Psilocybin Research Projects Q&A with Roland Griffiths

Liz's interview with Roland Griffiths on medicinal magic mushrooms in full

3/13/11 SUNDAY GUEST TWO 9:30-10 PM Eastern Dr. Roland Griffiths, Ph.D. Study Leader for the Psilocybin Cancer Project and professor with Hopkins’ departments of Neuroscience and Psychiatry and Behavioral Biology www.cancer-insight.org