Events

ALPS - Awareness Lectures on Psychedelic Science conference

For the last decade we have been witnessing a so-called“renaissance” in the research field of psychedelic substances(including LSD, psilocybin and MDMA, among others). Throughout History, many traditional societies around the world have known,appreciated and worked with these compounds. However, our scientific understanding of their effects has long been neglected due to international legislation that has prohibited their use, even for research purposes. The partial declassification of these compounds in some parts of the world has led to important preliminary results following research in the fields of neuroscience and psychotherapy carried out within academic and clinical communities with up-to-date methodology.

Switzerland holds an exceptional position in this international academic landscape. These substances are illegal, but the law does allow their use for research purposes. Today therefore, the universities of Basel, Zurich, Fribourg and Geneva have research groups dedicated to this domain. Moreover, psychiatrists can apply for “compassionate use”: authorization that these compounds be prescribed as medicine to alleviate treatment-resistant psychopathologies, via their psychopharmacology effects. In this regard, Switzerland is unique and has a number of very competent clinicians and worldwide experts in the psychotherapeutic use of psychedelics.

This conference aims to allow clinicians and researchers to acquire and deepen their knowledge about the present situation in this domain and its future developments. The importance of these substances in various fields will be highlighted by experts approaching the area from different angles, and who come from different linguistic regions