Episode Details

This episode explores the emerging science of psychedelic-assisted therapy for trauma, PTSD, and addiction. We break down the crucial distinction between fear extinction and memory reconsolidation—suppressing a memory versus actually rewriting it. Learn how psilocybin reopens critical periods of neuroplasticity, why MDMA’s Phase 3 trials faced FDA rejection over functional unblinding, and the promise and cardiac risks of ibogaine for opioid addiction. We examine the leading clinical trials from Johns Hopkins, MAPS/Lykos, Imperial College London, and the University of São Paulo, and ask whether the hallucinogenic experience itself is necessary for healing.