One to One

Original version

BBC Radio 4 LW

Discussion & Talk

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Interview series. Broadcasters talk to the people whose stories interest them most

Series of interviews in which broadcasters follow their personal passions by talking to the people whose stories interest them most

BBC Radio 4 FM

One to One: Psychedelics and Mental Health: Rose Cartwright meets Ashleigh Murphy-Beiner

Psychedelics and Mental Health: Rose Cartwright meets Ashleigh Murphy-Beiner

BBC Radio 4 - One to One, Psychedelics and Mental Health: Rose Cartwright meets Ashleigh Murphy-Beiner

Rose Cartwright talks to Ashleigh Murphy-Beiner about psychedelics and mental health.

Rose Cartwright talks to clinical psychologist Ashleigh Murphy-Beiner about psychedelic-assisted therapy for complex trauma. Can psychedelics help solve our mental health crisis?

In recent years there’s been a renaissance of interest in psychedelics in the West, on a scale not seen since the first wave of medical research in the 1950s and 60s. Drugs like DMT, ketamine and psilocybin (that’s the psychoactive compound in magic mushrooms), are now being researched as medications to take alongside therapy for the treatment of various mental health problems. Across this series of interviews, Rose Cartwright explores so-called ‘psychedelic assisted psychotherapy’. What is it? Can it help tackle our mental health crisis? And what are the risks?

Her first guest is clinical psychologist Ashleigh Murphy-Beiner from the Psychedelic Research Group at Imperial College, which is working on medical trials with psilocybin and MDMA for the treatment of depression and complex trauma. What is complex trauma and how might psychedelic drugs help to make sense of it? What can we learn from indigenous healers when trialling these drugs within a western clinical framework? And how could psychedelic-assisted therapy play out within the NHS if these drugs become legalised for medical use? 

Producer: Becky Ripley

BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

One to One

Psychedelics and Mental Health: Rose Cartwright meets Ashleigh Murphy-Beiner

Genres

Brand

BBC Radio 4 LW

About BBC Radio 4