Balancing idealism & practicality? AWAKN & making psychedelics available
"AWAKN is a UK and European Union focused company that is dedicated to integrating psychedelics into mental healthcare. We work across three business lines of clinical research, therapeutic clinics and practitioner training." The psychiatrist & psychedelic researcher, Dr Ben Sessa, is opening (the first) AWAKN clinic in Bristol. It's interesting to wonder how this will relate to more obviously commercial initiatives like COMPASS pathways and more obviously non-commercial efforts like the Imperial College psychedelic research centre. I find it somewhat reassuring that AWAKN has David Nutt & Matthew Johnson on board as advisors. There's a challenging balance to be travelled here between 'Let's make lots of money out of the current interest in psychedelics, focus on those who can pay, and maybe be rather effective at developing/expanding/making this work available' and 'Let's make sure we follow a really well-intentioned, fair approach to this work, but run the risk of stumbling along too slowly through lack of practicality & funding'. Ah, I guess it was ever thus!?