Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy with Dr. Albert Garcia-Romeu | Being Well Podcast

There’s been an explosion of interest in psychedelics over the last 10 years, and phrases like “psychedelic-assisted therapy” have gone from the relative fringes of the mental health conversation to bursting into the mainstream. Alongside a great deal of hype is a growing body of research revealing the potential of substances like psilocybin and MDMA as novel treatments for depression, addiction, and PTSD.

On today’s episode of Being Well, I am joined by Dr. Albert Garcia-Romeu from the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. We explore the history and current state of psychedelics research, their subjective effects, the necessity of the “trip,” how psychedelics work in the brain, why researchers are so interested in these substances, and what a psychedelic-assisted therapy session looks like.

About Our Guest: Dr. Garcia-Romeu is a member of the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences faculty at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His research examines the effects of psychedelics in humans, with a focus on psilocybin as an aid in the treatment of addiction.

Key Topics:

0:00 Introduction
1:55 Dr. Garcia-Romeu’s background
3:00 What substances have been the focus of research?
8:35 The history of psychedelics
11:55 Usefulness and subjective effects of classical psychedelics (LSD/Psilocybin)
18:45 Ego loss or “ego-death” and the role of spirituality in mental health
23:10 What is happening neurologically with Psilocybin?
29:55 Psychedelics may be the best current treatment option for some conditions
37:40 How close is the research to proving efficacy?
38:45 The relative safety of psychedelics
44:05 What does a psychedelic-assisted therapy session look like?
50:35 Self-guidance in a session
53:30 Duration of treatment, financial and legal access
58:05 Using psychedelics for personal growth, spiritual practice, and even recreation
1:02:20 Where is the field going?
1:03:40 Recap

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Who Am I: I'm Forrest, the co-author of Resilient (https://amzn.to/3iXLerD) and host of the Being Well Podcast (https://apple.co/38ufGG0). I'm making videos focused on simplifying psychology, mental health, and personal growth.

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