Hugh McGovern PhD

If you need a brief doomscroll break (you do) then watch this very precious little baby bear having a tantrum because his mama needed a minute to herself 🥹🐻

(Via melbird3 on TikTok)

This was the first study to break down this analysis in this particular way, and points to the importance of set and setting in psychedelic experiences, but also how each of these factors interact with each other. Enjoy

After the experience, many reported lasting changes in behavior and attitudes, with personal growth and new perspectives. Multiple posts often described the experience and eudaemonic.

During the experience, sensory shifts and mindset solicit and inform insights, and the environment provides crucial support.

Before the experience, knowledge, intention, and preparation play a big role in shaping the experience.

We performed thematic analyses separately in each of the phases of psychedelic experience (before, during, after).

Deconstructing Psychedelic Phenomenology: A Thematic Analysis of Discrete Phases of the Psychedelic Experience A thematic analysis of psychedelic experiences was partitioned into three temporal phases: before, during, and after the experience. Themes before the experience were preparatory intentions and perce...

new paper just dropped in Brain and Behaviour, with @bman1285.bsky.social and colleagues: doi.org/10.1002/brb3...

Always good to remember.

TLDR; Aussie policy on psychedelic therapy is ahead of clinician knowledge and (to a lesser extent) willingness. There is a desire tor structured formal training from clinicians, particularly psychologists.

Clinicians who'd personally taken psychedelics were much more likely to support psychedelic therapy, and more willing to offer integration supports to people who had taken them independently.

Interestingly, we found a gap between desired and actual knowledge clinicians had - whilst 17% had formal training in psychedelic therapy, 80% desire evidence-based education. Many respondents relied on things like Reddit or podcasts for information about psychedelics, and most want formal training.

Most clinicians surveyed support psychedelic therapy (at least in theory). However, psychiatrists are most likely to question research quality, safety and ethics of it (even when under medical supervision). Psychologists are much more supportive.

Attitudes toward psychedelics and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy among Australian mental healthcare providers - Zohaib Nadeem, Stephen Parker, Hugh McGovern, Bianca Sebben, Lena KL Oestreich, 2025 Background: Recent regulatory changes in Australia have approved 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine for treating post-traumatic stress disorder and psilocybin fo...

It's finally out! Large study led by
@lenaedibrainz.bsky.social
surveying Aussie GP's psychologists, and psychiatrists attitudes towards psychedelic therapy. doi.org/10.1177/0004...

Doing psychedelic research with Spanish-speaking populations & interested in avoidance/acceptance?

There is now a culturally decentered Spanish APEQ version designed to work equally well across the Spanish-speaking world:

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

ENROL NOW in Australia's first university-accredited short course in psychedelic therapies!

🖥️ 12 weeks, fully online, starts late July
🌏 Open to anyone with an undergrad degree

More info and enrol here:
👉 www.monash.edu/psychedelic-...
📧 psychedelic-edu-pg@monash.edu

I'm very much with you that ideation is a non-trivial issue (speaking from personal experience as well). Definitely much more needs doing on developing risk-management and clinical frameworks - which has been badly overlooked so far.

Playful and inflammatory is why I'm a subscriber Michael! We share that perspectives that the hype exceeds the data (the less encouraging of which is hidden in those pesky supplementary files) .

3 of my papers (2 preprints) made the list! Great resource and great for scoping out all that was published last year

This is all notwithstanding the more interesting claims of the article such as the difficulty of 'true' RCT's, and I'm a huge fan of Michael.

......imagine if hospital staff gave a could give someone in acute psychiatric care medication on arrival, and >50% might need to be hospitalised for the next week, but it doesn't mean the medication caused it.

Another aspect here is the fact that in one study 25% of participants reported suicidal ideation, but its also worth noting this was for people who had treatment resistant depression. It doesn't mean psychedelics caused such an outcome......

The data is fairly solid on a more deflationary claim than "psychedelics fix things", namely that "psychedelic may prompt a window in which evidence based psychological therapy may be more efficacious". I haven't met many (if any) people in the field claiming the former.

Interesting read, although slightly inflammatory and somewhat unsubstantiated claims on the potential for psychedelics to be addictive.

Could we say both are a problem? In psychiatry more generally, and in psychedelic trials? Although perhaps with different potential resolutions given the more radical subjective effects from psychedelics.

Paralysed man stands again after receiving ‘reprogrammed’ stem cells Another man also regained some movement, but two others experienced minimal improvement.

A paralysed man can stand on his own after receiving an injection of neural stem cells to treat his spinal cord injury

https://go.nature.com/41YLmhC

Great episode, appreciate the nuance and the very forthright “Im no longer on X. I moved to bsky.”

Also forgive the shaky voice toward the start of the podcast, I was a little on the nervous side

Can Psychedelics Lead to False Beliefs? with Hugh McGovern, PhD Psychedelic Medicine Podcast with Dr. Lynn Marie Morski · Episode

I recently appeared on the Psychedelic Medicine podcast with Dr. Lynn Marie Morski, where we discussed this paper here (doi.org/10.1038/s442...). You can check it out here open.spotify.com/episode/3858...
Thanks for having me Lynn :)

MDMA-Assisted Therapy for Complex-Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Toward a neurocognitive account: https://osf.io/425fd

unsettled