Episode description

Our guest, Andrew Penn, is a prominent researcher at the University of California-San Francisco, and he brings us up-to-date information on the clinical research happenings with psychedelic medicine. Andrew’s insights on the research being conducted, the risks and benefits of psilocybin and MDMA, and his first-hand experience as a psychedelic nurse create a compelling listen for anyone interested in these powerful substances. While it is clear that psychedelics hold a great deal of potential in the treatment of depression and PTSD, it is also clear that a lot more research is needed. Be it in a lab or in practice, Andrew works to promote healing within. He leaves us with a thought that is near and dear to the heart of this program – that “the thing about psychedelic experiences is they can create this experience of reunification, that people feel like they are attached to something larger than themselves.”

“We can feel connected to something bigger and more important, and, perhaps that experience of reconnection has the potential to healing.”

Andrew Penn, MS, PMHNP is a Clinical Professor in the University of California, San Francisco, School of Nursing where his teaching has received the UCSF Academic Senate Distinction in Teaching Award, among other recognitions. He has practices as a psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioner, treating veterans at the San Francisco Veterans Administration Hospital. As a researcher, he collaborates on psychedelics studies of psilocybin and MDMA in the Translational Psychedelics Research (TrPR) lab at UCSF.

A leading voice in nursing, he is a cofounder of the Organization of Psychedelic and Entheogenic Nurses (OPENurses.org), advocating for the perspective of nurses in psychedelic therapy. He has published on psychedelics in the American Journal of Nursing, Frontiers in Psychiatry, and The Journal of Humanistic Psychotherapy. An internationally invited speaker, he has lectured at SXSW, Aspen Health Ideas Festival, the Singapore Institute of Mental Health, and Oxford University.

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Show notes:

* What’s going on at UCSF in the area of psychedelic research

* Developing psilocybin treatment for depression

* The decriminalization movement that we're seeing

* The physiological effects of psychedelic medicines

* MDMA for PTSD

* Potential changes to the FDA’s schedule of drugs

* The importance of caution

* Negative side effects to be aware of

* Psychedelic and entheogenic nurses

* Creating connection with psychedelics

Links and references:

* Psychedelic Wisdom (Dr. Richard L. Miller) PREORDER NOW

* Psychedelic Medicine (Dr. Richard L. Miller)

* Roland Griffiths on MBHP

* Interested in participating in a clinical trial? - Find out more

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