ALPS Podcast on Psychedelic Science

Rick Doblin, Ph.D., is the founder and president of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). He founded MAPS in 1986 and is considered the godfather of the current psychedelic renaissance. 

Rick studied with Dr. Stanislav Grof and was among the first to be certified as a Holotropic Breathwork practitioner. His professional goal is to help develop legal contexts for the beneficial uses of psychedelics and marijuana, primarily as prescription medicines but also for personal growth for otherwise healthy people, and eventually to become a legally licensed psychedelic therapist. 

It’s thanks to his MAPS organization that MDMA is currently at phase 3 trial in the US and will be normally approved by the FDA to treat PTSD patients in 2024. 

For more info on Rick Doblin : 

• MAPS Founder and President

• Twitter X : @RickDoblin

• TED Talk : the future of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy

This interview was recorded during the Alps Conference 2023 on Psychedelic Science in Geneva, Switzerland in October 2023. 

More info on the Alps Conference 2023 - ⁠Website⁠ - ⁠Twitter⁠ - ⁠Facebook⁠ - ⁠Instagram⁠ - ⁠Youtube

• MAPS : https://maps.org/news/media/michael-mithoefer-m-d-principal-investigator/ 
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-mithoefer-b15bb53b/ 

This interview was recorded during the Alps Conference 2023 on Psychedelic Science in Geneva, Switzerland in October 2023. 

More info on the Alps Conference 2023 - ⁠Website⁠ - ⁠Twitter⁠ - ⁠Facebook⁠ - ⁠Instagram⁠ - ⁠Youtube

• Descending the Mountain - a tender film exploring psilocybin and the nature of consciousness
• Felsentor Meditation Center in Switzerland 

• Puregg - Meditation Center in Austria
  

This interview was recorded during the Alps Conference 2023 on Psychedelic Science in Geneva, Switzerland in October 2023. 

More info on the Alps Conference 2023 -⁠ ⁠Website⁠⁠ -⁠ ⁠Twitter⁠⁠ -⁠ ⁠Facebook⁠⁠ -⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠⁠ -⁠ ⁠Youtube

• ⁠Twitter X : @NeuroCalder 
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/abigail-calder-bb68831aa/ 
• Fribourg University : https://www.unifr.ch/med/de/section/staff/all/people/323616/a8832

This interview was recorded during the Alps Conference 2023 on Psychedelic Science in Geneva, Switzerland in October 2023. 

More info on the Alps Conference 2023 -⁠ ⁠Website⁠⁠ -⁠ ⁠Twitter⁠⁠ -⁠ ⁠Facebook⁠⁠ -⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠⁠ -⁠ ⁠Youtube⁠

More info on the ALPS Foundation - Website - Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Youtube

For over 15 years Dr. Ben Sessa has been at the forefront of psychedelic research in the UK through his affiliations with Imperial College London. He has worked for 30 years with patients in the field of addictions and trauma-related psychiatry. Ben has taken part in many psychedelics-related research projects at Bristol University, Cardiff University and Imperial College London, receiving and/or administering these compounds in legal research settings. He is now the Head of Psychedelic Medicine at Awakn Life Sciences, a company opening twenty high street psychedelic medical clinics throughout Europe, providing psychedelic psychotherapy for a wide range of psychiatric indications.

More info on Dr. Sessa :

• Twitter : https://twitter.com/BenSessa
• Website : http://www.drsessa.com/
• Awakn Life Sciences : https://awaknlifesciences.com/

This talk was recorded during the Alps Conference 2022 on psychedelic research in Bern, Switzerland on 30.10.2022. More info on the Alps Conference 2022 Website - Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Youtube

Christopher Timmermann (PhD) has a background in psychology and cognitive neuroscience and is currently a researcher based at Center for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London. He leads neuroimaging research on potent effects of DMT on the human brain and consciousness, focusing his work on the neuroscience, psychology, ethics and belief systems associated with the psychedelic experience.

More info on Christopher : 

• Twitter @neurodelia : https://twitter.com/neurodelia
• Website : https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ezYk7h0AAAAJ&hl
• Slides from the talk : https://twitter.com/ALPSconference/status/1586671916181585920?s=20&t=4URpcNKdGxHbXJCbqH7r4g

This talk was recorded during the Alps Conference 2022 on psychedelic research in Bern, Switzerland on 30.10.2022. More info on the Alps Conference 2022 Website - Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Youtube

Professor Torsten Passie (MD, PhD) studied philosophy and sociology at Leibniz University Hannover and medicine at Hannover Medical School. Medical dissertation on existential psychiatry. Education at Zürich Psychiatric University Clinic and with Prof. Hanscarl Leuner (1921-1996), the leading European authority on psychedelics and psycholytic therapy. 1997-2010 scientist, psychiatrist and psychotherapist at Hannover Medical School, where he lead the Laboratory for Consciousness and Neurocognition. Professorship thesis about “Psychophysical correlates of altered states of consciousness”. Clinical research on altered states of consciousness, including studies with breathwork, cannabis, MDMA, laughing gas, ketamine and psilocybin. Special expertise on ecstatic states, addictions, and the pharmacology of psychedelics. 2012-2015 Visiting Professor at the Department of Psychiatry of the Harvard Medical School (Boston, USA). Torsten is also the Author of several books, such as “The Science of Microdosing Psychedelics”, “Healing with Entactogens”, and “The Pharmacology of LSD”.

More infomation of Professor Torsten Passie

• https://psychedelic-science.org
• Dr. Torsten Passie — MDMA, LSD & Psilocybin 
• Slides of the talks on accessible here : https://twitter.com/ALPSconference/status/1586643240375263232?s=20&t=xXH1NgD5PR92lybl4QGo-Q

This interview was recorded during the Alps Conference 2022 on psychedelic research in Bern, Switzerland on 29.10.2022. More info on the Alps Conference 2022 - Website - Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Youtube

Matthias Liechti is a professor of clinical pharmacology and internal medicine at the University Hospital Basel. With his psychopharmacology research team he investigates the pharmacology of psychoactive substances both in vitro and in humans. The team also conducts Pharmaco-fMRI studies and is conducting Phase 2 studies with LSD in patients with cluster headache, major depression, and anxiety disorder in collaboration with the respective disease specialists.

For more information on Mathias : 

• Website :  Matthias Liechti
• Universitätsspital Basel

This interview was recorded during the Alps Conference 2022 on psychedelic research in Bern, Switzerland on 29.10.2022. More info on the Alps Conference 2022 - Website - Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Youtube

Sam Gandy is a PhD ecologist, independent researcher, consultant and science writer. Sam has varied experience of working within the psychedelic field, as a past scientific assistant to the director of the Beckley Foundation, as a research assistant with the Synthesis Institute, and as a consultant for PsiClone. He is a certified Shinrin Yoku forest bathing practitioner and also leads fungi growing workshops on occasion. He is also collaborating with the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London, researching on the capacity of psychedelics to influence human relationships with nature.

More info on Sam :

• Twitter : https://twitter.com/SamwiseGandy
• Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/samwisegandy
• Website : https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sam-Gandy-4

This interview was recorded during the Alps Conference 2022 on psychedelic research in Bern, Switzerland on 29.10.2022.
More info on the Alps Conference 2022 - Website - Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Youtube

Sam Gandy is a PhD ecologist, independent researcher, consultant and science writer. Sam has varied experience of working within the psychedelic field, as a past scientific assistant to the director of the Beckley Foundation, as a research assistant with the Synthesis Institute, and as a consultant for PsiClone. He is a certified Shinrin Yoku forest bathing practitioner and also leads fungi growing workshops on occasion. He is also collaborating with the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London, researching on the capacity of psychedelics to influence human relationships with nature.

More info on Sam : 

• Twitter : https://twitter.com/SamwiseGandy 
• Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/samwisegandy
• Website : https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sam-Gandy-4

This talk was recorded during the Alps Conference 2022 on psychedelic research in Bern, Switzerland on 29.10.2022.
More info on the Alps Conference 2022 - Website - Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Youtube

 Kim PC Kuypers is affiliated as an Associate Professor with Maastricht University, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience. Her research has three pillars. The main goal is to understand the neurobiology underlying flexible cognition, empathy and well-being. To accomplish this goal she uses a psychopharmacological model, studying the acute, sub-acute, and longer lasting effects of psychedelics on these behaviors and biology. She also conducts survey research to understand the motives underlying psychedelic use and its patterns. Lastly, she develops new paradigms to study cognitive flexibility and empathy in a more ecologically valid way.

For more information on Kim : 

• Website : https://www.kimkuypers.com
• Kim Kuypers (K.P.C.) - Maastricht University

This talk was recorded during the Alps Conference 2022 on psychedelic research in Bern, Switzerland on 29.10.2022.
More info on the Alps Conference 2022 - Website - Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Youtube

For over 15 years Dr Ben Sessa has been at the forefront of psychedelic research in the UK through his affiliations with Imperial College London. He has worked for 30 years with patients in the field of addictions and trauma-related psychiatry. Ben has taken part in many psychedelics-related research projects at Bristol University, Cardiff University and Imperial College London, receiving and/or administering these compounds in legal research settings. He is now the Head of Psychedelic Medicine at Awakn Life Sciences, a company opening twenty high street psychedelic medical clinics throughout Europe, providing psychedelic psychotherapy for a wide range of psychiatric indications.

For more information on Ben : 

• Twitter : https://twitter.com/BenSessa
• Website : http://www.drsessa.com
• Awakn Life Sciences 

This talk was recorded during the Alps Conference 2022 on psychedelic research in Bern, Switzerland on 29.10.2022. More info on the Alps Conference 2022 - Website - Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Youtube

With a main academic background in Psychology, Helena Aicher has been working in the last years in the Psychedelic Research and Therapy Development team at the UZH. Her research focus is on the neurophysiological and subjective effects of ayahuasca & analogues on therapy-relevant processes.

For more info on Helena :

• https://www.dppp.uzh.ch/en/researchgroups/juniorresearchgroups/psychedelic-research-therapy-development.html
• https://reconnect-foundation.us19.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=1364c8d642790198e402d60d1&id=d6912cd14b
• https://twitter.com/AicherHelena

This interview was recorded during the Alps Conference 2022 on psychedelic research in Bern, Switzerland on 29.10.2022.
More info on the Alps Conference 2022 - Website - Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Youtube

With a main academic background in Psychology, Helena Aicher has been working in the last years in the Psychedelic Research and Therapy Development team at the UZH. Her research focus is on the neurophysiological and subjective effects of ayahuasca & analogues on therapy-relevant processes.

For more info on Helena : 

• https://www.dppp.uzh.ch/en/researchgroups/juniorresearchgroups/psychedelic-research-therapy-development.html
• https://reconnect-foundation.us19.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=1364c8d642790198e402d60d1&id=d6912cd14b
• https://twitter.com/AicherHelena

This discussion was recorded during the Alps Conference 2022 on psychedelic research in Bern, Switzerland on 29.10.2022.
More info on the Alps Conference 2022 - Website - Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Youtube

Professor Torsten Passie (MD, PhD) studied philosophy and sociology at Leibniz University Hannover and medicine at Hannover Medical School. Medical dissertation on existential psychiatry. Education at Zürich Psychiatric University Clinic and with Prof. Hanscarl Leuner (1921-1996), the leading European authority on psychedelics and psycholytic therapy. 1997-2010 scientist, psychiatrist and psychotherapist at Hannover Medical School, where he lead the Laboratory for Consciousness and Neurocognition. Professorship thesis about “Psychophysical correlates of altered states of consciousness”. Clinical research on altered states of consciousness, including studies with breathwork, cannabis, MDMA, laughing gas, ketamine and psilocybin. Special expertise on ecstatic states, addictions, and the pharmacology of psychedelics. 2012-2015 Visiting Professor at the Department of Psychiatry of the Harvard Medical School (Boston, USA). Torsten is also the Author of several books, such as “The Science of Microdosing Psychedelics”, “Healing with Entactogens”, and “The Pharmacology of LSD”.

More infomation of Professor Torsten Passie 

• https://psychedelic-science.org
• Dr. Torsten Passie — MDMA, LSD & Psilocybin 

This discussion was recorded during the Alps Conference 2022 on psychedelic research in Bern, Switzerland on 28.10.2022.
More info on the Alps Conference 2022 - Website - Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Youtube

Rick Doblin is an Founder and Executive Director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (@MAPS).

More info on Rick :

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Doblin
• https://twitter.com/rickdoblin 

This discussion was recorded during the Alps Conference 2022 on psychedelic research in Bern, Switzerland on 28.10.2022. More info on the Alps Conference 2022 - Website - Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Youtube

Recap from Day 1 with Ben and Michael. 

This presentation was recorded during the Alps Conference 2022 on psychedelic research in Bern, Switzerland on 28.10.2022. More info on the Alps Conference 2021 - Website - Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Youtube

Dr Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes is a philosopher of mind and metaphysics who specializes in the thought of Spinoza, Nietzsche, and Whitehead, and in fields pertaining to altered and panpsychological states of consciousness. He is a research fellow and associate lecturer at the University of Exeter where he has co-founded the Philosophy of Psychedelics Exeter Research Group.

More info on Peter :

• https://www.alpsconference.com/speakers/peter-sjostedt 
• https://www.philosopher.eu
• https://twitter.com/PeterSjostedtH
• https://www.ted.com/talks/peter_sjostedt_h_understanding_consciousness_through_psychedelics

This opening talk was recorded during the Alps Conference 2022 on psychedelic research in Bern, Switzerland on 28.10.2022.
More info on the Alps Conference 2022 - Website - Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Youtube

Federico Seragnoli is one of the co-founder of the Alps Conference for awareness lectures on psychedelic science. 

More information on the Alps  on https://www.alpsconference.com and https://www.alps.foundation

This discussion was recorded during the Alps Conference 2022 on psychedelic research in Bern, Switzerland on 28.10.2022.
More info on the Alps Conference 2021 - Website - Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Youtube

Dr Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes is a philosopher of mind and metaphysics who specializes in the thought of Spinoza, Nietzsche, and Whitehead, and in fields pertaining to altered and panpsychological states of consciousness. He is a research fellow and associate lecturer at the University of Exeter where he has co-founded the Philosophy of Psychedelics Exeter Research Group.

More info on Peter : 

• https://www.philosopher.eu
• https://twitter.com/PeterSjostedtH
• https://www.ted.com/talks/peter_sjostedt_h_understanding_consciousness_through_psychedelics

Federico Seragnoli Psychologue FSP et Coordinateur de ALPS 2021 et Cyril Petignat étudiant en psychologie et membre organisateur de ALPS reviennent sur la conférence ALPS d’octobre 2021 et nous partagent quelle va être la suite de l’aventure pour 2022

Cette discussion a été enregistrée en Suisse le mercredi 02.02.2022.  Pour plus d'info sur la Alps Conference 2021 - Website - Twitter - Facebook - Instagram

This discussion was recorded during the Alps Conference 2021 on psychedelic research in Lausanne, Switzerland on 31.10.2021.  
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We discuss with a worldwide pioneer of psychedelic research, Dr. Franz X. Vollenweider. He is currently Co-Director of the Center for Psychiatric Research and Professor of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine, University of Zurich. He is also the Director of the Heffter Research Center Zürich for Consciousness Studies (HRC-ZH), which he founded in 1998 and incorporated in his research group.

Descending the Mountain - a film exploring psilocybin and the nature of consciousness

For more info on Franz X. Vollenweider's research, check out the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Zurich. 

This discussion was recorded during the Alps Conference 2021 on psychedelic research in Lausanne, Switzerland on 31.10.2021.

More info on the Alps Conference 2021 - Website - Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Youtube

Nicolas Bertholet is a MD, specialist in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (FMH); specialist in Prevention and Public Health (FMH) at Addiction Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (Unil)

Jeremy Narby is an anthropologist who has worked for the last 31 years raising funds and advocating for indigenous Amazonian initiatives. He has also written several books, including "The cosmic serpent: DNA and the origins of knowledge" and "Intelligence in nature".

This conference was recorded during the Alps Conference 2021 on psychedelic research in Lausanne, Switzerland on 29.10.2021.

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Abstract:

Psychedelic science and the knowledge of indigenous Amazonian people: a true science of ayahuasca calls for a new kind of research

Scientists and researchers have recently become interested in the therapeutic potential of the Amazonian plant brew ayahuasca. But administering this powerful hallucinogenic cocktail requires considerable know-how and finesse. Indigenous Amazonian people have long used the brew and therefore have expertise in the matter. In their view, ayahuasca works first and foremost as a purge; and the brew’s efficacy depends on icaros (curative songs), which have healing power, and on dietas (preparatory diets), which consist in refraining from certain foods and behaviors, and which can fine-tune a person’s capacity to benefit from the brew. A true science of ayahuasca calls for a new kind of research – one that opens up to another way of knowing, and draws out its consequences, without seeking to prove it or disprove it; one that questions its own presuppositions.

This discussion was recorded during the Alps Conference 2021 on psychedelic research in Lausanne, Switzerland on 30.10.2021.
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Gregor Hasler, M.D. was born in Basel, Switzerland. He is a Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist. Dr. Hasler is Professor and Chair of Psychiatry at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. His research is supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation. He is the president of the Swiss Society for Pharmacovigilance in Psychiatry and president of the Swiss Society for Bipolar Disorder.

This discussion was recorded during the Alps Conference 2021 on psychedelic research in Lausanne, Switzerland on 30.10.2021.
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Peter Gasser DR. MD is a psychiatrist and psychotherapist, working in his own practice in Solothurn, Switzerland. He was trained in psychodynamic methods as well as in psychedelic therapy. He has been a member of the Swiss Medical Society for Psycholytic Therapy (SAePT) since 1992 and its president since 1996. After 2007, he conducted two studies on LSD-assisted therapy in patients with anxiety due to life-threatening illnesses. Since 2014, he has held individual licences from the Swiss Government Office for Public Health (BAG) for therapy with mind-altering substances.Hi

Peter's talk at the conference was on "The psychedelic renaissance and thereafter"

Since the end of the last century the research with mind altering drugs started again after a long halt of about 30 years. In countries like the United States, Great Britain and Switzerland different research groups started scientific projects in phase 1 (effects in healthy volunteers) or phase 2 (safety and efficacy in diagnostic groups) drug research protocols.

The growing attention and presence in the media led to the highly symbolic labelling of the “Psychedelic Renaissance” after 2010. Today the acceptance and curiosity for these fascinating substances that can “change your mind” (like stated in the bestselling book of Michael Pollan) or “reveal your soul” (translation for “psychedelic”) or let you feel connected to the universe, has reached academic faculties and pharmaceutical companies.

This development contains possibilities and challenges. What do we have to face after the Psychedelic Renaissance? Psychedelic Humanism, Psychedelic Reformation or Psychedelic Conquest?

Jeremy Narby est un anthropologue qui travaille depuis 31 ans à défendre les initiatives indigènes amazoniennes. Il a également écrit plusieurs livres, dont Le serpent cosmique. Il vient de sortir un nouveau livre Deux Plantes enseignantes: Le Tabac & l'Ayahuasca 

Pour plus d'info sur la Alps Conference 2021 - Website - Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Youtube

Cette discussion a été enregistrée à la Alps Conférence 2021 à Lausanne en Suisse le vendredi 29.10.2021.  Pour plus d'info sur la Alps Conference 2021 - Website - Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Youtube

Vincent Verroust est doctorant en histoire des sciences en France et consultant à l'hôpital Paul Brousse pour la reprise des essais cliniques sur les substances contrôlées. Il est également enseignant et membre fondateur de la société française de psychédélisme. 

Cette discussion fait suite à sa conférence en anglais "Will you give me again some of these mushrooms, doctor? - the experiments of Heim and Thévenard on healthy volunteers, Paris, 1959. 

Le professeur Roger Heim (1900 - 1979) a été invité par les Wasson à participer à une étude multidisciplinaire sur les champignons divinatoires mexicains, redécouverts au début des années 50. Après avoir mené des expériences sur lui-même, il a travaillé sur un film documentaire au sujet des champignons hallucinogènes à la fin des années 50, en collaboration avec le Dr Thévenard de l'Institut Pasteur. Vincent Verroust a retrouvé le film et a projeté les expériences menées sur des volontaires sains qui ont accepté de consommer du Psilocybes mexicana devant une caméra, à Paris, en 1959, avec un suivi quatre ans plus tard. Ces séquences filmées nous ont illustré la diversité des réactions psychologiques aux champignons psilocybines. 

This interview was recorded during the Alps Conference 2021 on psychedelic research in Lausanne, Switzerland on 29.10.2021. 

The discussion is with Peter Oehen, MD, Psychiatrist at University of Basel, SÄPT member, Head researcher for the Swiss MAPS program following his presentation on "Substance-Assisted Psychotherapy with MDMA and LSD: Working with a group therapy model"- 

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