More Research Needed for Psilocybin

Dear friends and neighbors,

For those interested in psilocybin this interview is a must-listen. Andrew Penn, MS, PMHNP speaks on the clinical research regarding psilocybin as a treatment for depression. In my recent interviews, I have learned a lot about the psychedelic studies occurring across the United States. This interview brings an up-to-date perspective on the good work being done. Andrew points out that the reason research is being done all over the country simultaneously is to tease out to what effect the researchers themselves are affecting the treatment and to what extent the psilocybin is contributing, allowing us to learn the true healing potential.

A topic I speak on regularly on this show is the respect we must give these substances. Proper professional treatment is imperative. Andrew, thankfully, informs us that psilocybin will not be a take-home medicine for a DIY exercise, and speaks to the precautions that must be taken. There are also caveats – not everyone is a suitable candidate for psychedelic psychotherapy and careful vetting of each person is required. This is must needed research to further support our psychedelic renaissance, and I encourage you to listen and learn all about it.

Please watch, read, or listen to the interview, and let me know what you think in the comments.

Interested in clinical trials for psychedelic medicine? – Andrew Penn

I am currently embarking on a new series featuring healing stories from those who have benefitted from psychedelics at the end of life, or in the face of a terminal diagnosis. I hope to interview those with direct personal experience, as well as relatives, friends, and clinicians with stories to share. Please email my producer if you would like to be interviewed on my program, and featured in a future book on this topic.

Wishing you Golden Light,

Dr. Richard Louis Miller

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This podcast will always remain available at no cost. However, I’d like to offer my most loyal listeners additional options for enjoying my interviews – both as videos and transcripts.

Further Reading:

• Psychedelic Wisdom (Dr. Richard L. Miller) ORDER NOW

• Psychedelic Medicine (Dr. Richard L. Miller)

• Roland Griffiths on MBHP

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

Transcript

Dr. Richard Louis Miller: The following program is brought to you by the Mind Body Health & Politics team. We've been producing this radio internet program for the last 17 years, and we also produce books, one of which was Psychedelic Medicine. 

The most recent one is called Psychedelic Wisdom. In Psychedelic Wisdom, we offer you 1,500 years of stories of prominent psychotherapists who are outing themselves and talking about their decades of sub rosa experimentation with psychedelic substances. 

Coming soon will be Sex Unveiled, followed by Grateful Death: Psychedelics at the End of life. In addition, a fifth book is called Psychedelic Psychotherapy. 

If you want to know more about our team and what we're doing, or if you'd like to hear archives of our program, please go to the website for Mind Body Health & Politics.

Welcome to Mind Body Health & Politics. I'm your host, Dr. Richard Louis Miller. The mission of Mind Body Health & Politics is to enhance physical and emotional wellbeing and encourage community. I say “encourage community” because I believe that human beings are basically friendly tribal animals. When we know each other by name, or at least by face, we tend to be quite collaborative and cooperative. 

However, we must also acknowledge that a very small percentage of us are greedy, avaricious, dangerous predators. If these people are allowed to take control of the rest of us—and the rest of us is over 95%—they would have us once again be subjects rather than citizens. In the words of Thomas Jefferson, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

Our guest today on Mind Body Health & Politics is Andrew Penn, a psychiatric nurse with the University of California in San Francisco. Welcome, Andrew.

Andrew Penn: Thanks for having me, Richard. 

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

Dr. Richard Louis Miller: Today, we want to talk about your work at UCSF, particularly in the area of psychedelic research and the use of psychedelics in treatment. Let's start out with the research. Please share with us what's going on at UCSF that you're involved with.

Andrew Penn: I trained as a psychiatric nurse practitioner at UCSF and I'm currently a clinical professor in the same program that I trained in. 

Part of my role in that faculty appointment is that I work with the Translational Research Program in Psychedelics—the TrPR Lab—which is run by Dr. Josh Woolley. We have been part of a number of different research projects. We worked on the MDMA-assisted therapy protocol for PTSD. It was sponsored by MAPS.