Webinar April 29th, 2024: Jules Evans – Psychological harms and ethical mishaps in psychedelic culture and industry

Based on discussions of psychedelics in scientific journals and the media, you might get an impression that they are pretty much safe and almost risk-free, at least in clinical settings and for carefully screened participants. There are, however, estimates that perhaps 10 % of people who’ve taken psychedelics have experienced difficulties that last longer than the acute effects, and such difficulties also occur in research settings. 

An ever-increasing abundance of scientific work is investigating the beneficial potential of psychedelics, but the new wave of psychedelic research in the 2000s hasn’t thus far paid too much attention towards understanding the darker and risky, even dangerous aspects of these substances. Several study participants have expressed a need for longer-term support structures, and many groups aiming to support in the integration of difficult processes have sprung up. Additional research is necessary both to get a clearer picture of the diverse range of effects that psychedelics induce, and to better help and support people who experience challenges related to psychedelics.

Jules Evans is one of the key figures in expanding both the research field and general public discussions towards these neglected sides of psychedelics. He is a philosopher, historian and director of the Challenging Psychedelic Experiences Project. On Monday April 29th, at 6:00PM (UTC+3), Jules will give a talk on the project in a free webinar organized by the Finnish Association for Psychedelic Research. His talk will cover extended difficulties after psychedelic experiences, focusing particularly on the most common types of such difficulties, such as increased anxiety, social disconnection, derealisation and existential confusion. We will also explore what the data suggests people find helpful in dealing with these difficulties. In the Q&A section, we can also discuss the project’s work related to ethical harms and abuses in the psychedelic space via its newsletter, Ecstatic Integration (which we most warmly recommend). 

The event contains a Q&A section and the total length is 2 hours. Because of how important and overlooked this topic is, we decided to make the event free of charge – you can register here. If you want to support us in organizing our work on high-quality scientific discussions on all things psychedelic, you can pay your membership fee for this year or, if you’re not already a member, become one. You’ll find our membership products on the main page of our web store.

About the speaker:

Jules Evans is the director of the Challenging Psychedelic Experiences Project, a non-profit which researches post-psychedelic difficulties and what helps people cope with them. He is also the editor of Ecstatic Integration, a popular substack exploring psychedelic and ecstatic integration. He is an honorary research fellow at the Centre for the History of the Emotions at Queen Mary, University of London. He’s the author / co-author of four books, including Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations (2012), The Art of Losing Control (2017) and Breaking Through: Finding a Way Through Spiritual Emergency (2020). He has written and presented for publications including The Times, Economist, Spectator, Financial Times, BBC Radio 4, Audible and Aeon, and he was a BBC New Generation Thinker.