Abstract

How can we give a voice to patients who have gone through studies and regular treatments in a psychedelic framework? 

In this panel, we will have an open and multi-perspective conversation with “previous psychedelic therapy patients” both from the EPIsoDE study and from OVID Clinic Berlin. The EPIsoDE study is a 144– participant trial that treats patients with “treatment-resistant depression” using a psilocybin plus brief psychotherapy paradigm. The last patient for the EPIsoDe study is planned for November 2023 – and it will play a big role at INSIGHT 2023. We have a Case Study symposium on Friday 1 September where we will witness the perspective of therapists. In this panel you’ll become acquainted with the  first-hand perspectives and experiences of ex-patients. 

While EPIsoDE is a trial, the OVID Clinic Berlin has been offering psychdedelic-therapy treatment since March 2021. With more than 1800 psychedelic ketamine sessions and several hundred patients treated, another experiential quality comes in. While these patients still go through a brief therapy (lasting at least for 25 sessions, involving up to six ketamine- or non-pharmacological sessions) – the clinical process is much more individualized and involves strategies that are not possible in a clinical study. 

Dr. med. Andrea Jungaberle (one of the Medical Directors of the OVID Clinic Berlin) and Prof. Dr. Isabel Dziobek (Clinical psychology of social interaction and Head of the Humboldt Universities out-patient clinic for psychotherapy and psychodiagnostics) will moderate and lead us through the conversations. 

This panel is part of the MIND Foundation’s PPI Initiative (Patient and Public Involvement). In PPI, patients and ex-patients are invited to inform researchers and practitioners about crucial elements of their therapy process – and thereby improving future research and treatment.