Conferences Are Coming. Climate Week Is Coming. So Is Psilocybin's FDA Moment. Are We Ready?
It's a fascinating time, and a controversial one. New psychedelics are coming down the pike. There's some skepticism about whether FDA approval will happen, and for which compounds, but those entrenched in the field are sensing what's next.
The News
The first classic psychedelic to be FDA-approved is expected to be psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression by Compass Pathways, which just reported promising Phase 3 results for treatment-resistant depression. And the biggest deal of its kind in history occurred: Eli Lilly acquiring AtaiBeckley for $3.8 billion for its 5-MeO-DMT. Add Otsuka's acquisition of Transcend for its MDMA-like methylone, and Definium’s ~$1B raise for LSD for depression: over $5 billion has been invested into psychedelics for mental health this quarter.
In a broader context, we came together to ask what all of this means for society, and a clear thread emerged: healing doesn't stop at the individual. It moves outward, from one person to the group, to the culture, to the living world (some sensemaking below). As the metacrisis accelerates, can psychedelics help?
ICYMI, here is the video from our Psychedelics & Society event with Journey Clinical’s Myriam Barthes, Psychedelics Today’s Joe Moore, The New Health Club’s Anne Philippi, Yale’s Dr. AZA Alsop, MAPS’ Devon Phillips, Cura’s Mahyad Tousi, REMAP Therapeutic’s Court Wing, and yours truly:
Where to Learn: The Conferences
The conferences happening this fall are the places to be on the ground, learning from leading voices and organizations about what's next.
World Ayahuasca Forum, Sept 11-13, is a gathering between worlds, bringing together ancestral voices, communities, researchers, practitioners, artists, and allies from across the globe. Join for five days of deep listening, learning, and intercultural dialogue — woven with music, dance, visual arts, and living traditions. Together, explore topics such as ethics, safety, and integration, and shape the future of ayahuasca through Indigenous leadership and true Alliance.
Horizons Perspectives on Psychedelics, Oct 15-17, examines the potential of psychedelics across science, medicine, policy, industry, culture, and spirituality.
Horizons unfolds across three days at the New York Academy of Medicine.
Each day has its own focus and theme. Together, they create a fascinating look at the story of psychedelics in today’s world. New speakers are being announced each week all summer long.
Amazonia, an Anthropogenic Rainforest: Biological Diversity, Cultural Plurality, and Indigenous Consciousness Exploration. Brazil. October 9-22, 2026.
A seminar exploring biological diversity, cultural plurality, and indigenous consciousness in the Amazon, led by Luis Eduardo Luna and Adriana Rosa. Speakers include anthropologist Glenn H. Shepard Jr., ethnobotanist Rebekah Senānāyake, psychiatrist Ede Frecska, and Holotropic Breathwork facilitator Sarima Rodríguez, covering shamanism, plant intelligence, and Amazonian ethnobotany.
Psychedelics Design “Creative Biome,”Nov 6-7, the only conference we know of dedicated to the intersection of design, psychedelics and creative culture. Alongside the Psychedelics Design Awards, speakers include Rick Doblin (MAPS), Robin Carhart-Harris (UCSF), Josh Rubin (Cool Hunting), David Coveney (Design Week) and others. We're a community partner, which means two things for you: 30% off with the code PSYCA30, and two free tickets we're giving away to official PSYCA members — check your inboxes and make your membership official if it’s not already!
Events Near You
NYC
Wisdom Circle with Abuelo Jaime, Tuesday Aug 11, 7pm at Kollectiv (21 E 1st St). A mambeadero ceremony with Colombian Taita Jaime Muriel, sharing Inga wisdom traditions using mambe and ambil, sacred plant medicines from the Putumayo Amazon. Circle gathering, teachings, stories.
Metacrisis Salon #13, "Should We Be Building a Mind?" Philosopher Jeff Sebo on AI ethics, moral hierarchies, and what we can learn from how we've treated other beings and the planet. Talks, Q&A, breakout discussions, plus a community cooked meal. Aug 15, 6pm, 245 Varet St, Brooklyn.
Climate Pints- Aug 19, 7-11pm at Prime Produce. Casual mixer for anyone in the climate world, from scientists to storm chasers to policy wonks. Drinks and snacks are provided by the house of good deeds.
San Francisco
GROW YOUR FLOURISHING WORKSHOP
With Rosie von Lila, Euphorbia Gardens, Bolinas, CA. Sat 8/15, 12:00 - 2:30 PM. Tickets here, code "PSYCA" for 20% off.
CITY STROLL & MINGLE: BOLINAS EDITION
Euphorbia Gardens, Bolinas, CA. 2:30 - 5:00 PM. BYOP, then a stroll to the surf history exhibit and Bolinas Beach. Free. RSVP here.
Washington, DC
Sept 14, FDA Hearing on psychedelic access - a signal as the agency doesn't hold hearings about delivery infrastructure for treatments it expects to reject.
PSYCA Community: Watchlist and Reading
Experience the Ecological Self
Patricia Eastman on Ibogaine, Bwiti & the Future of Psychedelic Therapy
Will the Iran War Push Global Renewables Adoption Past a Tipping Point?
Telepathy Tapes’ Ibogaine Inquiries
Much Ado About Nuance - Casey Paleos, MD. InnerMost - New Substack and one by his colleague Miles Bukiet: Breathing Through It
The Polycrisis Demands That We Be More Open-Minded Yet Careful about Non-Ordinary Consciousness
From Advocacy to Action: An Interview at The Shulgin Farm On Women's Health & Psychedelics
What the World Cup and psychedelics can teach each other?
Decode: Harmonization & How it Illuminates Your Journey
Delaware, a first: public benefit companies (PBCs) are not bound by shareholder primacy and the 'Revlon Rule'
Psychedelics Today’s Policy Briefing
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The Tie In: Everything Is Accelerating
Everything everywhere all at once is accelerating on our planet. AI is accelerating information. Environmental impacts are compounding. We're navigating oligarchs, economics, inflation, and conflicts, to name a few.
What can we do?
Last year at PSYCA’s Climate, Consciousness & Mental Health Summit, our theme was “healing ourselves and healing systems.” That was very fitting, and ultimately it's still what our mission is all about. But with such advances accelerating, and environmental feedback now greater than forcing, we need to ask: what can help?
Psychedelics can accelerate healing - they can also accelerate harm without the right set, setting, and preparation and integration support. The question is who will guide people through these next phases of healing, and what infrastructure will be needed to do it well?
I'm pleased to support clients I deeply believe in - key builders: Journey Clinical, where Americans can find a psychedelic therapist, covered by insurance in 30 states, having facilitated 1 million hours of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, 87% symptom reduction rate - hear their co-founder’s story; Nushama, the largest psychedelics center in the world, having administered 21,000 ketamine journeys for mood disorder treatment, now offering insurance-covered Spravato, Accelerated TMS, and a new Miami location led by Dr. Steven Radowitz; and The Mission Within, founded by North America’s leading ibogaine doctor, treating veterans with ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT in Mexico - watch the latest WSJ documentary about their clinic and transformations possible. ICYMI, my day-to-day work is strategic communications for emerging therapies (check out our new website designed by Signal Studio).
However, it’s going to take all of us earthly humans to come together and do much more to reimagine and reinvent pathways forward.
This Climate Week: Emergence in Community
At our best, psychedelic people bring creativity, ingenuity, oneness, openness, and vulnerability. So how can we turn that toward what's happening to our environmental and natural world? That's what we're here to discover together.
What container do we need to build to evolve what's next, and how do we take this work deeper, together? I welcome your thoughts, just hit reply. I'll be back soon with dates and next steps, and grateful to highlight the people doing this work well and find ways to support them.
Gratefully, Marissa
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