Welcome to the second episode of the Benzinga Psychedelics Podcast. This time, we are joined by psychedelics advocate and entrepreneur Justin Townsend, partner and CEO of psilocybin retreat center MycoMeditations.
In this conversation, you'll find a thorough guide for the main divides within the psychedelic retreats world and vis-a-vis the clinical world, psilocybin's potential for PTSD treatment when administered in therapeutic retreat settings, the power -and economic viability- of group therapy, ongoing regulatory discussions for standardizing practices outside the U.S., and his personal view on the potential perils of the retreat-type psychedelic therapy offerings and near-term sector forecasts.
Listen to the full podcast here, or on any podcasting platform.
Understanding Retreat Offerings
A business leader and startup advisor in several industries including the healthcare space, Justin's 20 years of experience exploring psychedelic therapies for wellbeing -and current work as a facilitator- inform his quest for providing truly thoughtful experiences for people wishing to undergo psychedelic modalities of healing.
As with several other retreat centers, MycoMeditations is Jamaica-based. The center offers a one-week retreat space, providing multiple high-dose psilocybin experiences within a safe group environment and joined by an informed supportive staff.
What probably stands as the main differentiator with other retreats, says Justin, is the fact that one of the center's leading causes is bridging the existing divide between the results obtained by clinical studies with psychedelics and providing these assisted therapies to people in real-world settings -i.e. retreat spaces- in ways that maximize psychedelics' benefits.
Thus, protocols at MycoMeditations narrowly point to therapeutic goals and outcomes. In this direction, the team recently shared results from client surveys and observational data, which show that patients with PTSD may experience "significant and long-lasting benefits" (up to a year) with psilocybin retreats in group therapeutic settings plus individual therapy: A sound outcome, and reportedly comparable to those observed in MAPS PBC's advanced clinical trials on MDMA for treating PTSD (although the measuring scale used differs from one study to another).
Listen to the full episode on Spotify or find it on any podcasting platform, searching for "Benzinga Interviews."
Photo courtesy of MycoMeditations.
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