But the establishment of an expert consensus of standards in psychedelic care would “add legitimacy to the practice”.
“Standardisation—of things like training protocols, patient safety, what to do in certain circumstances—is going to be really vital,” Bunn said. “Especially when we’re at the stage of potentially developing properly accredited courses from therapeutic bodies or universities.”
“We are starting to see that in the medical cannabis world,” he continued. “Now that there’s more of an understanding about how this is to be prescribed and used in practice, and clinicians are more comfortable with using the medicine itself, then it means that those standardised practices can then be translated into educational resources for future generations of prescribers.”
PsyIndUK is currently focused on creating guidelines for psychedelic-assisted therapy trials, covering preparation, integration and psychological support. It is also exploring how these therapies could be incorporated into NHS care in the future. The group plans to provide guidance for NHS commissioners and collaborate with mental health charities like Mind, Calm, Papyrus and the Mental Health Foundation to gather patient support for psychedelic-assisted therapies.
Bunn is aware that the PsychedeliCare ECI may not directly benefit the UK, which is no longer a member of the EU, but he hopes that the “ripple effects” of the initiative will travel across the English Channel.
“The fact that it’s happening in Europe doesn’t mean that we can’t be supportive of this, to try and promote it as much as possible, send things in the right direction, and even be part of the debate,” he said. “The European initiative is using known pathways to get change to happen, which is exactly what we want to do as well in the UK—when the time is right.”
Another aim of the ECI is to reduce the stigma associated with investigational medicines like psilocybin and MDMA, which will be necessary to achieve the initiative’s third request regarding the rescheduling of psychedelic compounds under the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances.
“The problem with psychedelic substances and policy implementation today is there’s so many obstacles—and that comes mainly from stigma,” Théo said.
He feels that providing “rational, scientific, sound information” to the public and to policymakers regarding the medical potential of these substances will help to “erase the stigma and delete the obstacles” that plague the possibility of psychedelic-assisted therapy in Europe.
Nätverket för Psykedelisk Vetenskap (NPV) is a Swedish NGO which aims to advance the scientific exploration of psychedelic substances while enhancing opportunities for researchers to study their risks, mechanisms of action and potential clinical applications. It has partnered with PsychedeliCare for the launch of the ECI.