The STARR Coalition
The STARR Coalition
Scott Fisher, MD, Lead Facilitator, Segal Trials' Center for Psychedelic and Cannabis Research
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In honor of National Depression Education and Awareness Month, Mallory speaks with Dr. Scott Fisher, lead psychiatrist and facilitator at the Center for Psychedelic and Cannabis Research for October’s Spotlight Podcast.

Kicking off with a brief overview of the complexities of depression and available treatments, Dr. Fisher then goes into detail on his area of expertise: research into psilocybin-facilitated and MDMA-facilitated psychotherapy as novel tools for treating depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other disorders.

With the exponential increase in interest in psychedelics, Dr. Fisher explains the importance of the patient’s mindset and the actual setting (‘set and setting’) on the efficacy of the therapeutic as well as on the patient’s positive experience when leading the psychedelic dosing sessions. Finally, he talks about what is involved in conducting psychedelic studies — from establishing appropriate dosing room settings, to the added regulatory considerations, to the psychedelic therapeutic expertise of the primary and support staff at the site.