The Integration Session

What are the biggest gaps between psychedelic trials and what actually happens in the dosing room? And how might an Ayahuasca-inspired drug formulation affect shame and self-referential thinking?

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Helena Aicher, a research associate at the University of Zurich and Basel, where she is involved in clinical trials investigating psychedelic interventions. Alongside her research, she works as a psychotherapist within Switzerland’s limited medical use pathway and trains clinicians preparing to work in this field.

In this conversation, we discuss her recent work on a combined DMT-harmine formulation inspired by Ayahuasca, including its effects on self-referential emotions like shame and embarrassment. Helena also shares her opinions on clinical aspects of psychedelic therapy, including the role of touch, the risks and benefits of group-based protocols, and gaps in facilitator training.

More About Dr. Helena Aicher: Helena is a research associate at the Universities of Zurich and Basel, where she is involved in clinical trials investigating psychedelics. Alongside her research role, she works as a psychotherapist including the limited medical use of psychedelics in Switzerland, primarily in group settings. Bridging scientific research and frontline practice, she contributes to the development and safe implementation of psychedelic-assisted therapies. Helena is also active as a trainer in therapist training programs and serves as an advisor to several institutions.

Therapeutic touch is often used in psychedelic therapy, but what ethical guidelines and boundaries should researchers and therapists follow? What can we learn from patient perspectives about consent, and where to draw the line?

In this episode, Dr. Rachel Ham joins us from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia to discuss two companion studies from her research group: one capturing experiences of therapeutic touch from participants in a psilocybin trial, and the other capturing how researchers and therapists think through consent, boundaries, and the discomfort of getting it wrong.

We discuss the gap between what participants expect touch to feel like and what it turns out to mean to them, the ethical tension around withholding contact from someone in genuine distress, and what a truly individualized consent process for psychedelic medicine might look like.

Psychedelics are often described as capable of “rewiring the brain,” but this leaves out a more complex and elegant series of mechanisms beneath the cortex. This episode goes a layer deeper to explore specific brain regions and receptors that are less often talked about in psychedelic science, despite their critical role in psychedelic drug action.

Dr. Tanner Anderson, a postdoctoral neuroscientist at Yale School of Medicine, takes us on a tour through his research career so far, including his research on the claustrum (the brain's so-called "conductor" of consciousness) where he showed that the psychedelic DOI can reverse synaptic plasticity at claustrum-cortical synapses and the importance of serotonin receptors beyond 5-HT2A. We also discuss his work linking cocaine, claustrum function, and cognitive flexibility, and his current research at Yale on how MDMA affects fear circuits implicated in PTSD.

Finally, Tanner helps us answer broader questions: Are psilocybin, DOI, MDMA, and ketamine converging on some shared mechanism of "reopening" plasticity in the brain, or are they doing genuinely different things in different circuits? What would it take for the field to move from compelling mechanistic stories to something clinicians can actually rely on?

More About Tanner: Tanner L. Anderson, PhD, is a postdoctoral neuroscientist in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine. His research examines how psychedelics and entactogens alter neuronal activity and synaptic plasticity in brain circuits involved in cognition, anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders. He combines slice patch-clamp electrophysiology, Neuropixels recordings, optogenetics, viral circuit tracing, and behavioral neuroscience to study how these compounds produce both immediate and lasting changes in the brain. Tanner earned his PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Kentucky, where his research focused on psychedelic modulation of neuronal signaling and plasticity in the claustrum. Tanner is a recipient of an NIH NRSA F31 Fellowship from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and is interested in the intersection of psychedelic science, drug policy, and the development of more effective treatments for psychiatric diseases.

Tanner’s Socials: linkedin.com/in/tanner-anderson-uky https://x.com/EphysTanner @tanner-anderson.bsky.social

What does it actually mean, physically, for a brain to be conscious, and what can psychedelics teach us about it? Can consciousness extend beyond living things, including artificial intelligence?

In this episode of The Integration Session, we're joined by Dr. Adam Barrett, Associate Professor in Machine Learning and Data Science and Deputy Director of the Sussex Centre for Consciousness Science at the University of Sussex. Trained in mathematics and theoretical physics, Adam has spent his career developing and testing measures of brain complexity and information integration, and was involved in the discovery of increased neural complexity in the psychedelic state.

In this episode, Adam walks us through what integrated information theory does and doesn't claim about consciousness, research insights from Robin Carhart-Harris and others about brain signal diversity associated with ketamine, LSD, and psilocybin, and what the gap between elegant theory and messy real-world data means for the future of consciousness science.

We also venture into larger questions, including the scientific basis for panpsychism (the idea that consciousness may be a property of matter itself) and how this may offer spiritual comfort. Finally, we discuss the growing public fascination with consciousness and psychedelics, including Michael Pollan's new book, and whether artificial intelligence could ever be conscious.

More About Adam: Dr. Adam Barrett is Associate Professor at the University of Sussex, where he is Deputy Director of the Sussex Centre for Consciousness Science. He researches the neural basis of consciousness using methods from mathematics, physics and data science. He is known for his critical and constructive engagement with the integrated information theory of consciousness. He has analysed brain imaging data from diverse states of consciousness, and was involved in the discovery of increased neural complexity in the psychedelic state. Ongoing work with Prof Robin Carhart-Harris explores how different measures of neural complexity relate to aspects of the psychedelic experience and changes in wellbeing.

What can two decades of clinical research teach us about psilocybin's potential for treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)? In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Francisco Moreno, a pioneer in psychedelic-assisted treatment research, to trace the arc of his work - from his landmark 2006 trial, one of the first modern investigations of psilocybin for OCD, to his newly published 2026 randomized clinical trial testing repeated psilocybin doses in a larger patient sample.

We discuss the design, safety, and efficacy findings from both studies; what changed methodologically between them; and what the data suggests about the durability of psilocybin's effects for OCD specifically. Dr. Moreno also unpacks the mechanistic rationale for why psilocybin may interrupt obsessive-compulsive cycles, what neurobiological and biomarker evidence exists to support this, and where psychotherapy fits alongside pharmacological treatment. We close by looking ahead to what the next twenty years of this research might look like.

More About Dr. Moreno: Francisco A. Moreno, M.D. is Tenured Professor of Psychiatry, and Associate Vice President at the University of Arizona Health Science, Office of Student Engagement and Career Advancement. As part of his academic efforts he serves as Corresponding Principal Investigator and Engagement Lead for the NIH-Precision Medicine Initiative’s “All of Us Research Program”; Multiple Principal Investigator for Az-PRIME, an NIH-NHLBI grant to enhance the research skill and academic advancement of early career faculty; Principal Investigator of the Arizona Biomedical Research Development program, which is geared to support early career researchers; and Principal Investigator and Director of “Arizona HOPE” a HRSA- Health Career Opportunities Program which works to enhance the health professions workforce. Dr. Moreno grew up in Mexico, where he attended medical school. He completed residency in general adult psychiatry, fellowship training in Neuropsychopharmacology, and career development training in Quantitative Genetics at the University of Arizona. He has been conducting research in biology and treatment of mood and anxiety disorders, geared to improve our understanding of the brain and molecular basis for mental illness and the underlying mechanism of action of antidepressants / antianxiety drugs, and treatment resistance. His team is conducting transdisciplinary collaborative research in the use of psilocybin for the treatment of OCD and exploring putative biomarkers of treatment response.

Want to stay updated on the latest advancements in psychedelic science without reading lengthy scientific papers? Welcome back to Research Recap, where Elena breaks down three recent studies in psychedelic science, in a digestible format. This episode covers a phase IIa trial of short-acting intravenous DMT for depression, a multimodal neuroimaging study of a first psilocybin experience, and an international mega-analysis that informs our understanding of how psychedelics alter brain function. Elena provides a clear breakdown of what the researchers did, why it matters, and the critical details often missed by mainstream media.

Psychedelic treatments are often celebrated for their antidepressant potential, but emerging research suggests their effects go beyond traditional mood improvement. These compounds appear to work on multiple levels, prompting researchers to propose a more accurate term: “antidistressant.” 

But what exactly does “antidistressant” mean, and how might it better reflect the broad effects of psychedelics? What does this new lens mean for both research and clinical care?

In this episode, we’re joined by Danica Johnson, PhD candidate at the University of Toronto’s Institute of Medical Science and researcher at the Depression Centre Clinical Research Unit at Toronto Western Hospital. Co-supervised by Drs. Joshua Rosenblat and Roger McIntyre, Danica’s work sits at the forefront of psychedelic science. 

She breaks down what the term “antidistressant” really means and why it may be more accurate and useful than “antidepressant” when describing psychedelic treatment effects. 

We also discuss the multidimensional ways that psilocybin works, new findings about cognitive outcomes, ketamine’s real-world effectiveness in patients with comorbid PTSD, and the exciting research on the horizon in Toronto and beyond. 

More About Danica: Danica Johnson is a PhD Candidate at the University of Toronto’s Institute of Medical Science. She is co-supervised by Drs. Joshua Rosenblat and Roger McIntyre at the Depression Centre Clinical Research Unit at Toronto Western Hospital - University Health Network (UHN) in Toronto, Canada. Her research explores the effects of psychedelic compounds, particularly psilocybin and ketamine, on cognitive functioning in treatment-resistant unipolar and bipolar depression. She also investigates how trauma and psychiatric comorbidities influence treatment outcomes in these populations. Danica’s work has been recognized with several prestigious awards, including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Canada Graduate Research Scholarship (CGRS-D), highlighting the quality and impact of her work in the realm of psychedelic research.

Psychedelics and psychosis have long been intertwined. Historically, psychedelics were more often called ‘psychotomimetics’ or compounds that temporarily mimic the symptoms of psychosis. But today, rather than modelling psychopathology, psychedelics are more often viewed as therapeutic tools in psychiatry. But this creates a paradox in modern psychedelic science: psychedelics are being studied both as tools to treat certain mental health symptoms (e.g., depression) and also as a model to mimic other mental health symptoms (psychosis)? So, are psychedelic experiences truly comparable to psychosis, or is this an oversimplification? What are the mechanisms that make psychedelics ameliorate certain mental illness symptoms and simulate others? In this episode of The Integration Session Dr. Haley Dourron, postdoctoral researcher at Linköping University in Sweden, shares her qualitative and neurobiological research on the similarities and critical distinctions between psychedelic experiences and psychotic states. Drawing directly from the voices of individuals with lived experience of both, Dr. Dourron’s work challenges long-standing assumptions, raises critical questions about participant exclusion in clinical trials, and informs how we think about risk, safety, and mechanisms in psychedelic science.

One of the most talked-about psychedelics in recent years is ibogaine, especially amidst recent policy shifts that aim to fast-track research progress in this area. While early evidence shows therapeutic potential for opioid addiction and PTSD in veterans, legitimate concerns remain regarding safety and cardiac risks. So, what does the clinical data really show about ibogaine’s therapeutic benefits and risks?

Our guest in this episode of The Integration Session is Dr. Kirsten Cherian, a neuropsychologist and Clinical Assistant Professor at Stanford School of Medicine who played a key role in the landmark MISTIC study. Published in Nature Medicine in 2024, this study examined a single-dose magnesium-ibogaine protocol in Special Operations veterans with traumatic brain injury and PTSD.

This conversation explores how magnesium is used to improve the safety profile of ibogaine, what the evidence actually reveals about clinical outcomes, and how the powerful subjective and neural effects of ibogaine may allow for lasting healing.

Dr. Kirsten Cherian is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Stanford School of Medicine, where she practices clinically as a neuropsychologist. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship in 2023 with the Stanford Brain Stimulation Lab where she led a study for PI, Nolan Williams, MD, examining the effect of ibogaine on the sequelae of TBI and combat in Special Forces Veterans. In addition to her clinical practice, she is involved in research, including investigations of the use of psychedelics to treat depression and cognitive dysfunction. Research interests include the neurocognitive effects of psychedelics and neuromodulation.

Special thanks to Dr. Randi Brown for her valuable contributions to this discussion and ibogaine research more broadly.

One of the most pressing challenges in psychedelic science is the placebo problem: the intense subjective effects of psychedelics cause functional unblinding and amplify expectancy effects, undermining the integrity of gold-standard randomized controlled trials. In this episode of The Integration Session, we are joined by Dr. Balázs Szigeti, clinical data scientist at the UCSF Translational Psychedelic Research Program and leading voice on the role of placebo in psychedelic science. Drawing from his work on pioneering self-blinding citizen science and landmark studies comparing psilocybin and antidepressants, Balázs provides a critical evidence-based perspective on how placebo (and nocebo) effects shape therapeutic outcomes, why traditional study designs may not be best suited for the study of psychedelics, and the potential of pragmatic, patient-centered approaches.

About Balázs: Balázs studied physics at Imperial College and then earned a PhD in data science from the University of Edinburgh. After graduating, he worked as a biomedical software engineer before starting to research psychedelics. His way into psychedelic research was the invention of 'self-blinding': a novel method to enable self-experimenters to implement their own placebo control without clinical supervision. Using this methodology he led the largest placebo-controlled study on psychedelic microdosing to-date. Since his microdosing study, Balázs has been involved with the analysis of several high-profile psychedelic trials, such as the escitalopram vs. psilocybin and the psilocybin for Parkinson’s disease trial. His interests are centered on how expectancy and placebo effects shape response to psychedelic and other drugs. He is an expert in clinical trial design and analysis. Currently, he is an honorary researcher at Imperial College’s Center for Psychedelic Research and works as a clinical data scientist at UCSF’s Translational Psychedelic Research Program.