September 19, 2025

Royal College of Psychiatrists – report on psychedelics for treating mental illness and guidance for clinical research

After a decades long hiatus in research, we have seen a resurgence in recent years of trials of psychedelics as potential treatments for a range of mental health conditions. This has restarted the conversation about what role they may play in clinical practice.

Given this, the Royal College of Psychiatrists have reviewed the available neuroimaging, psychopharmacological and clinical trial evidence and is now publishing two documents: 1) a position statement on the safety and efficacy of psychedelics for treating mental illness and 2) good practice guidelines for clinical research into the use of psychedelic assisted psychotherapy.

While the term psychedelics originally applied to the hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD and psilocybin, over time the term has come to encompass a broader range of compounds which produce other acute psychopharmacological effects even in the absence of hallucinogenic effects. This work refers to psychedelics and related substances (PARS) and also covers drugs such as ketamine and MDMA.

Journalists came to the SMC to hear from authors of the report who presented their summary of the evidence and recommendations for best practice.

Speakers included:

Professor Oliver Howes, Professor of Molecular Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London, Chair of the RCPsych Psychopharmacology Committee and co-author of the report

Dr Jo O’Reilly, Consultant Psychiatrist in Medical Psychotherapy, Chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Medical Psychotherapy Faculty and co-author of the report and guidance

Dr Jonny Martell, Consultant Psychiatrist with a focus on psychedelics research and co-author of the report and guidance

This Briefing was accompanied by an SMC Roundup of comments.