Webinar Thu Feb 27th 2025 Esenia Cassidy: Psychedelics and attachment – the fundamentals, implications, and new frontiers

Attachment theory investigates the role of early relationships in shaping an individual’s later emotional bonds and behaviour. What are its implications for the effects of psychedelics? In a webinar lecture organized by the Finnish Association for Psychedelic Research on Thursday Feb 27th, 6–8PM UTC+2, interdisciplinary researcher Esenia Cassidy will present a talk that delves into the exciting intersections between psychedelics and attachment theory, exploring both the foundational aspects and the novel implications of their convergence.

We will begin by unpacking the fundamental concepts of attachment theory and its key terminology, laying the grounds for a deeper dive into the talk’s topic. From there, we will pivot into attachment-and-psychedelic research up to date, its promise and implications. Next, we’ll focus on a few ongoing innovative theoretical and empirical research projects pertinent to the topic at hand. We will conclude with clinical and real-life applications, followed by an extensive discussion.

This session is designed for both seasoned researchers and newcomers to the field, providing a comprehensive overview of where psychedelic-and-attachment research stands today and where it might head in the future.

The total length of the event is 2 hours. The event is free of charge – you can register here. You can support us in organizing such free events by paying our membership fee for 2025. You’ll find our membership products on the main page of our web store. We also accept donations. 

About the speaker:

Esenia Cassidy is an interdisciplinary psychedelic researcher with focus on attachment, gender, trauma, and harm reduction. Esenia is a co-founder of The Psychedelic Humanities Lab at The New School for Social Research and a project lead at the SexTech Lab (NSSR) and the Granqvist Attachment & Psychedelics Lab (Stockholm University). Currently, Esenia is pursuing a doctoral degree in Social Work at the Ohio State University’s College of Social Work. Esenia is an active member of the Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education at CSW/OSU and works on the projects that involve gender identity and its relation to psychedelic use, passions for substance use, and challenging psychedelic experiences, among other topics.

Stemming from a background in social justice, education, and media, Esenia’s interdisciplinary approach is rooted in commitment to addressing complex societal issues through diverse innovative research and clinical practice. Esenia earned a Master’s degree in Psychology with a Concentration in Substance Abuse Counseling from The New School for Social Research.

Esenia’s scholarly contributions include Psychedelics, Attachment and Enculturation Dynamics: Premise and Promise (in review), Childhood Trauma, Challenging Experiences, and Posttraumatic Growth in Ayahuasca Use (Cassidy et al., 2023), Psychedelic Harm Reduction and Integration: A Transtheoretical Model for Clinical Practice (Gorman et al., 2021).