06/21/2025
Spent the past 3 days at the conference here in Denver. I'm feeling energized and hopeful for the future of psychedelic supported healing in the world I work in: chronic pain and neurological disorders. I'm excited and humbled to connect with researchers, fellow clinicians, and individuals affected by these conditions. While psychedelic supported care is not my sole focus (other effective treatments are available that may be more appropriate and/or accessible), it's an important, promising avenue to explore, especially for people who struggle with debilitating physical and pain disorders.
Some takeaways from the conference:
💡 Psychedelics are being studied with promising results with pain disorders like and phantom limb pain, and more common conditions like headaches and low back pain.
💡 Research on neurological disorders like Parkinson's disease, stroke, spinal cord injury, , and brain injury is also showing exciting early outcomes.
💡 The effects of psychedelics on the brain that are helpful to mental health conditions like depression, PTSD, anxiety, and addiction are also helpful in pain, sensory, and movement disorders--phenomena like enhanced neuroplasticity, antiinflammatory effects, and increased psychological insight.
💡 Multidisciplinary, collaborative care teams are driving this movement. I spoke with other PTs🎉, functional health providers, physicians, mental health providers, and movement and neuroscience professionals about how we come together to safely and ethically incorporate psychedelic assisted care into the treatment of chronic pain.
💡 This is just the beginning--there is much research to be done, experience to be gained, questions to be explored, and risks to be considered. This type of care is not for everyone and there are contraindications and precautions. Safety must always come first.
🤔 If you have questions, please reach out! I'd love to have more conversations about why PTs and other movement professionals should be paying attention to psychedelics.
