LEONIE SCHNEIDER, BSC & IAN ROULLIER, MA | We need compassionate access to psychedelic treatment
Leonie Schneider, BSc, and Ian Roullier, MA, are the co-founders and co-directors of the Psychedelic Participant Advocacy Network (PsyPAN) in the UK. Both have personal experience as participants in clinical psychedelic trials and advocate for the inclusion of patient voices in shaping safe, ethical, and compassionate access to psychedelic treatments. Through PsyPAN, they work to ensure that future psychedelic services are informed by those with lived experience. We discussed with Schneider and Roullier how psychedelics transformed their own lives, why they founded an organization to represent patients, and the urgent need for compassionate and ethical access to treatment. Our conversation also explored the balance between expanding legal access and maintaining rigorous standards, as well as the challenges national health systems may face in supporting patients who undergo psychedelic therapy.
Also available in podcast format:
Listen to “LEONIE SCHNEIDER, BSC & IAN ROULLIER, MA | We need compassionate access to psychedelic treatment” on Spreaker.The questions:
00:00 Intro 00:05 Can you tell your personal stories? How psychedelics changed your lives? 07:29 Now I understand that psychedelics were transformative in your lives, but why did you feel the need to create an organization for patients? 10:10 Do you feel included as patients in this conference? 12:56 There are many patients who are desperately waiting for having legal access to psychedelic treatments. But there are also people who say that we move too fast, and we need to ensure ethical standards and the evidence base. How can we find a balance between these two? 16:17 You mentioned the importance of integrating psychedelic experiences. Do you think that the National Health Service or other national health services in other countries are prepared to deal with patients who undergo psychedelic therapy? 19:49 Do you include patients in your network who participated in treatment programs at unlicensed centers or ayahuasca sessions in the Peruvian jungle?
Reporter: Péter Sárosi
Video: István Gábor Takács
Filmed at the Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research (ICPR) 2024 in Haarlem, The Netherlands.
