Professor Steven Hayes and Professor Matthew Johnson.

Although they work in widely different fields, with Matt being a leading researcher in psychedelics at John Hopkins, and Steve being the co-developer of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, both have reached similar conclusions about the psychological processes underneath mental health and wellbeing - so I thought it might be interesting to bring them together for this conversation.

You’ll learn:

— How a behaviourist perspective has been advantageous for Matt and Steve in their research

— How and why psychedelics may promote “psychological flexibility”

— Steve and Matt’s thoughts on the origins of spirituality

— Their views on consciousness and the “hard problem”.

And more.

You can follow Matt on X @Drug_Researcher and learn more about Steven’s work by going to https://stevenchayes.com. You can also check out the PsychFlex App by visiting: https://psychflex.com/signup.

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Steven C. Hayes, PhD, is a professor of psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno. The author of forty-three books and more than six hundred scientific articles, he has served as president of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy and the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science and is one of the most cited psychologists in the world. Dr. Hayes initiated the development of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and of Relational Frame Theory (RFT), the approach to cognition on which ACT is based. Most recently, he has been focused on developing Process Based Therapy along with Prof Stefan Hofmann.

Dr. Matthew W. Johnson, PhD, is a distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University. He is internationally renowned for his prolific research on the human effects of psychedelics and his groundbreaking work in the behavioral economics of drug use, addiction, and risk behavior. In 2008, Dr. Johnson published psychedelic safety guidelines, contributing to the resurgence of psychedelic research. He led groundbreaking studies on the psychedelic treatment of tobacco addiction and cancer distress, as well as investigating psilocybin for opioid dependence and PTSD. Dr. Johnson’s research extends beyond psychedelics, with influential studies on various psychoactive substances. As President of the International Society for Research on Psychedelics and a respected NIH-funded Principal Investigator, he continues to be a leading figure in the field.

Learn more at www.hopkinsmedicine.org/profiles/details/matthew-johnson.

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Interview Links:

— Dr Hayes' website - https://stevenchayes.com/

— Dr Hayes' books - https://amzn.to/3MQlJbV

— Dr Johnson's Profile - http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/profiles/details/matthew-johnson

— Dr Johnson's Twitter - https://twitter.com/drug_researcher?lang=en