June 12, 2026Matthew Pennell, Christine Freer, James Bennett–levy et al.
preprint
Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) is moving from research settings towards broader implementation. During this transition, the therapist role is being formalised before the developmental pathways into the role are well understood. Existing clinicians are being selected, trained, and authorised to practise in a field marked by an emergent knowledge base and the convergence of multiple cultural...
Background Following Australia’s landmark 2023 decision to approve psilocybin and MDMA for clinical use, psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) is beginning to emerge within regulated mental health settings. This study investigates psychologists’ views on the relevance of psychedelic therapists’ lived-living experience (LLE) with psychedelics. While discussion around LLE is growing, little is known...
BMJ OpenApril 1, 2025Vanessa L. Beesley, Tom Kennedy, Fiona Maccallum et al.2 citations
Introduction Prolonged grief disorder (PGD) represents a substantial public health issue, especially in oncology settings where it affects up to 30% of bereaved carers. Current best-practice treatments are lengthy, and up to 50% of participants have persistent PGD. Building on encouraging recent research with psychedelic-assisted therapies, the Psilocybin-Assisted suppoRtive psychoTherapy IN...
Research exploring the potential of psychedelic-assisted therapies to treat a range of mental illnesses is flourishing, after the problematic sociopolitical history of psychedelics led to the shutdown of clinical research for almost 40 years. Encouraged by positive results, clinicians and patients are now hopeful that further interruptions to research will be avoided, so that the early promise...
The key proposition of this invited essay is that personal practice (PP), coupled with self-reflection, is central to the development of the most effective therapists. To date, the discussion about personal practice in therapist training and professional development has largely revolved around the value of personal therapy, subscribed to by some schools of psychotherapy but not by others....