Dr Ben Sessa MBBS (MD) BSc MRCPsych is a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist who has worked with young people and adults in the field of addictions and trauma-related psychiatry for over 20 years. He has a particular interest in the developmental trajectory from child maltreatment to adult mental health disorders, including adult addictions. Dr Sessa’s joint interests in psychotherapy, pharmacology and trauma have led him towards researching the subject of drug-assisted psychotherapy using psychedelic adjuncts.

In the last 15 years, Dr Sessa has been part of scientific and clinical studies administering LSD, psilocybin, ketamine, MDMA and DMT to patients and volunteers. He has recently completed research with Imperial College London exploring the world’s first MDMA-assisted therapy trial for the treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder and continues to carry out research in this area. Dr Sessa is widely published in the academic and popular press in respect of the field of medical psychedelics and cannabis. He has written several academic books, notably The Psychedelic Renaissance (2012/2017).

Dr Sessa is an approved and registered MDMA and psilocybin therapist and has delivered keynote talks at international conferences in the psychedelic community for over 15 years. Dr Sessa has been a long-term advocate of drug policy reform in the UK; believing that current laws hamper research and increase, rather than reduce, the burden of problematic drug use on individuals and society.

Dr Sessa is the Chief Medical Officer at Awakn Life Sciences, a biotechnology company with clinical operations researching, developing, and delivering psychedelic medicine to treat Addiction. Awakn is integrating psychedelic medicine into mainstream healthcare through Research, Digital, Clinics, and Ecosystems.