The Maudsley Psychedelic Society

The Maudsley Psychedelic Society is a forum for exploring and developing research using psychedelic compounds.

Statement of Intent
The Maudsley Psychedelic Society (MPS) exists as a forum for medics, researchers, students and allied professionals for discussion and innovation around the therapeutic utility of psychedelics, and their place in psychiatry, medicine and society.

Establishing Context
Developing the paradigm that neither biology, psychology nor society alone can explain the presence of mental disorders, we contend that psychedelics sit at a nexus of interaction between the three, and deserve an attention not hitherto applied. Supporting this paradigm, their use within a safe psychological context and a supportive environment has been described by many as resulting in deeply meaningful changes in perspective on self, world, past and future. On their own, however, they are not necessarily therapeutic, underlying the importance of the interaction effect between drug, user and environment. In parallel with the emerging debate about the overall societal value of drug prohibition, a notable resurgence in research interest in psychedelic drugs has taken place over the last 5 to 10 years, based upon the research literature before prohibition in 1970 describing efficacy in a wide variety of common non-psychotic psychiatric disorders. Within the current multifactorial model of mental ill-health, psychedelics are neither heeded nor discussed as they deserve to be. The Maudsley Psychedelic Society (MPS) exists as a forum for medics, researchers, students and allied professionals for discussion and innovation around the therapeutic utility of psychedelics, and their place in psychiatry, medicine and society.

Aims of the Society
1. Run a series of lectures and seminars covering biological, psychological and social aspects of psychedelics
2. Act as a foundation for the development of clinical research effort investigating the therapeutic utility of psychedelics at the Maudsley Hospital and the Institute of Psychiatry at Kings College London
3. Support peer development and inter disciplinary networking to achieve a dialogue between professionals of different disciplines in the field of psychedelic research and broader discussions about drug policy in the UK and internationally