Psychedelic Renaissance December 2021 Mailer Our supporters monthly newsletter͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌  ..read more

As I write this article, I have a slight resentment to include Timothy Leary's name in the title, since Joanna Harcourt-Smith's contribution to the psychedelic movement extends far beyond her relationship with the counterculture ring-leader.  However, the fundamental role of their intense, LSD-fuelled love affair in Joanna's later work cannot be ignored. And the tale itself, captured in Errol Morris's engrossing feature "My Psychedelic Love Story", is certainly fascinating.  In fact, all of Joanna's life is anything but dull.  The Elitist Hippie Born in the Palace Hotel in St. M ..read more

Woven together by several threads of trauma, complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD) can paralyze a person’s mind in places of darkness. Could psychedelic therapy present a way out?  What Is C-PTSD? In his book, ‘The Body Keeps the Score’, the Dutch psychiatrist and researcher Bessel Van de Kolk highlights the debilitating nature of trauma: “Traumatized people chronically feel unsafe inside their bodies: The past is alive in the form of gnawing interior discomfort. Their bodies are constantly bombarded by visceral warning signs, and, in an attempt to control these processes, they ..read more

On Friday 15 October, I had the honour of hosting the Psychedelic Society's first big in-person event since the pandemic began - a symposium all about psilocybin therapy. With nearly two years of the UK psychedelic community separated by lockdown restrictions, one could easily sense the collective joy that stemmed from simply being in a shared space. In fact, this was the first event I'd ever hosted in the flesh. I felt extremely nervous without the comforts of still wearing pyjama-bottoms beneath the Zoom camera screen or having a mug of my favourite brew in hand. However, once the event sta ..read more

Research has suggested psychedelic therapy can have profound positive impacts on people’s quality of life. With chronic pain disorders impacting daily function and often leading to various mental health problems, what might psychedelic therapy offer these individuals?  Whether or not psychedelics decrease ongoing pain remains unclear. Yet, there’s a possibility that psychedelic therapy could aid in transforming the day-to-day living of people with pain, looking beyond just their pain levels and shifting the narrow focus of “does the treatment reduce the pain” to “how does the treatment a ..read more

 According to Rowland Griffiths, the “peak experience” of a psychedelic trip can vary from “transcendent and lovely to literally hell realm experiences—as frightening an experience as you have ever had in your life” (CBS News 2020).  This hell-realm experience, otherwise known as a ‘bad trip’, needs to be better explored as psychedelic experiences are not always fun (Jones 2016). As the term ‘trip’ refers to the intoxication of psychedelics, a bad trip occurs when these substances induce negative experiences involving intense emotions such as excessive fear, paranoia, agitation, sadn ..read more

Happy World Psychedelics Day! - The Psychedelic Renaissance June Newsletter The monthly dispatch from the TPR production team $$PLAIN_TEXT_PREVIEW$$ View in Browser The Psychedelic Renaissance Newsletter Welcome to our June Newsletter WORLD PSYCHEDELIC DAY SPECIAL Happy World Psychedelics Day to our wonderful followers, and we wish you an enjoyable Summer Solstice tomorrow. We are writing again to keep you updated on some of the latest psychedelic science and news, as well as exciting updates on our ongoing projects   ..read more

Much of the narrative around psychedelic medicine places emphasises the drugs more than the accompanying psychotherapy. But with therapy being a critical component to psychedelic research, perhaps it’s time we reassessed the rhetoric to that of psychedelics aiding therapy, not the other way around. Psychotherapy in a nutshell Psychotherapy is a broad term referring to mental health treatment that involves talking to a specialist, such as a psychiatrist or a psychotherapist. Psychotherapy aims to help patients better understand their condition, moods, thoughts, and behaviors so that they can co ..read more

On July 27th 2020, it hit the news that William Leonard Pickard, convicted for conspiracy to manufacture LSD in the largest psychedelic case in history, was released from serving two life sentences. How did Leonard spend his years imprisoned? What does his life look like now? And amidst our ongoing psychedelic renaissance, how does Leonard feel about the future of psychedelics? We had the honour to chat with Leonard eight months following his release. Now aged 76, Leonard is a charming, rosy-cheeked character with fluffy white hair, calm composure and a friendly smile. Not what one might expec ..read more

Psychedelic Renaissance May Newsletter The monthly dispatch from the TPR production team $$PLAIN_TEXT_PREVIEW$$ View in Browser The Psychedelic Renaissance Newsletter Welcome to our May newsletter Dear friends, We hope you are enjoying the Spring and the sunnier, warmer days, and the beginnings of T-shirt weather! Here’s an overview of this months newsletter: Outline of this month’s newsletter: Project updates Some of the latest updates in psychedelic science and culture Our featured contributors Upcoming events by our partners ..read more