UK Practitioner Psychologists' Knowledge and Harm Assessment of Psychedelics: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Psychedelics are psychoactive substances that alter one's perception, cognition and emotion, as well as one's sense of time, place and self (Nutt, 2023, p.19). Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) involves the carefully controlled administration of a psychedelic substance "alongside structured psychological support, including preparation, guidance during the psychedelic session, and post-session integration" (Cavarra et al., 2022). PAT is an emerging area of research with recent clinical trials suggesting that it has therapeutic benefits for a range of common mental health conditions, such as major depressive disorder (Menon et al., 2025), and illness and death anxiety (Amaev et al., 2025). There are very few studies, however, looking into what different mental health providers think about psychedelics and psychedelic interventions. One such study was conducted by Song-Smith and colleagues in 2024. Here, the researchers explored UK medical students' knowledge and harm assessment of psychedelics, as well as their support to change the legal status of the psychedelics MDMA (ecstasy) and psilocybin (magic mushrooms) to facilitate further research into their potential medical uses. Our study is a conceptual replication and extension of that work but focuses on Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) registered practitioner psychologists. This allows us to see whether the earlier findings hold true in another professional group and explore additional factors that may shape psychologists' views. For suitability purposes, adaptations from the target study were made for our research, e.g., shifting the focus from 'medical uses' to 'psychological/therapeutic uses' and from 'student' to qualified professional. No psychedelic substances are administered at any point, and no patients or service users are involved in the study. Our research aims to build a clearer picture of current knowledge and attitudes within the psychology profession, which may help guide future training and research priorities. This aim is supported by research suggesting that mental health providers' attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge can significantly shape how an intervention is delivered, received, and ultimately how effective it is.