About

What’s my whole deal?

Well, at the moment my (professional) deal is psychedelics. Psychotherapy assisted by psilocybin seems poised to significantly alter the shape of mental health treatment in the future. I think that’s great, for a number of reasons. It really does look incredibly promising, and I think the excitement is largely justified.

You know what else was exciting in mental health treatment, and was so promising it won the Nobel Prize? The frontal lobotomy. In the fullness of time, consensus has generally agreed that this was a bad call. Look, I’m not saying psychedelics are the next frontal lobotomy. I’m saying – let’s not get carried away with our enthusiasm about how promising this all seems. Let’s make sure we have thought – carefully, critically, and deeply – about the ethical significance of giving people trips in a medical context (I outline why here).

Measure twice, cut once. Or something.

From October 2025 I’ve been working with Dr David Yaden at the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness research at Johns Hopkins. I’m splitting my time between ethical and empirical questions.