The Psychedelic Renaissance: Historical Roots, Clinical Promise, and Ethical Responsibility

About the workshop

Friday, January 22, 2027, from 9:00 am to 1:15 pm at Anderson Center, 7850 Five Mile Road, Cincinnati, OH 45230. Continuing education details and registration information will be announced.

Psychedelic therapies are rapidly reshaping conversations about mental health treatment, offering both significant clinical promise and complex ethical questions. As research on psilocybin, MDMA, ketamine, and other expanded-state treatments continues to evolve, psychologists are increasingly encountering clients who are curious about, pursuing, or already using these approaches, whether in clinical trials, legal treatment settings, ceremonial contexts, retreats, or on their own.

This workshop will provide psychologists with an accessible, clinically grounded introduction to the history, science, and therapeutic applications of psychedelics, while centering ethical and cultural considerations essential to responsible practice. Participants will explore current research findings, proposed mechanisms of change, legal and clinical models of care, and the relationship between psychedelic therapies and other experiential approaches. Through experiential reflection, clinical examples, and case-based discussion, the workshop will examine ethical challenges of practicing in a rapidly evolving field.

Designed for psychologists with a wide range of prior knowledge and experience, the workshop will help participants think critically about both the promise and the limitations of psychedelic therapies, and consider how psychologists can engage responsibly with this emerging area of mental health care.

Learning objectives

Upon completion of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Describe key historical, cultural, political, and clinical developments that have shaped the use of psychedelics in mental health treatment.
2. Summarize the proposed psychological and neurobiological mechanisms associated with psychedelic and related treatments for selected mental health conditions.
3. Distinguish among common contexts in which psychologists may encounter psychedelic use and identify appropriate clinical roles and ethical boundaries within those contexts.
4. Identify ethical risks associated with psychedelic and expanded-state therapies, including issues related to competence, informed consent, boundaries, suggestibility, dual relationships, financial practices, marketing, and representation of training and credentials.
5. Apply principles of ethical decision-making and cultural humility to clinical scenarios involving psychedelic use, with attention to identity, religious and spiritual meaning-making, historical context, access, equity, and power.