The world’s first postgraduate course on psychedelics has been launched at the University of Exeter – an interdisciplinary programme for healthcare workers, therapists and others to learn about the emerging potential of psychedelics.
The online course – ‘Psychedelics: Mind, Medicine and Culture’ – will incorporate both the science and philosophy of psychedelic therapies – including topics such as medicine, research methods and ethics.
The launch of the course follows recent developments in psychedelics across the globe.
Australia has rescheduled psilocybin and MDMA for depression and PTSD, respectively, Oregon and Colorado have legalised the regulated use of psilocybin, and the EU has seen the launch of a Commission in the Netherland’s to investigate the medical applications of MDMA – with MEPs calling on Europe to ‘act fast’ on psychedelics.
The psychedelic healthcare industry is now predicted to reach a value of £8.4 billion by 2028 and some psychedelic therapies may see approval within the next two years.
Celia Morgan, Professor of Psychopharmacology at the University of Exeter, will co-lead the programme, alongside Dr Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes and Professor Christine Hauskeller.
Professor Morgan stated: “As the world wakes up to the potential for psychedelics to be an important part of the toolkit to treat some of our most damaging mental health conditions, it’s vital that we’re training the workforce to meet the demand.
“The global body of high-quality evidence is now irrefutable – psychedelics can work where other treatments have failed.
“The University of Exeter has led the way in research in this field, and our world-leading research and teaching staff are ideally placed to deliver a high-quality programme which will upskill professionals to take a holistic view of this exciting new field of treatment.”
Dr Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes said: “This holistic view involves the interdisciplinary nature of the programme that will situate this medicinal progress within a cultural, neuroscientific and philosophical context – analysing the ethics and politics of the current ‘psychedelic renaissance’, as well its impact on understanding consciousness.”
