The Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma

The Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma Research (the Center) was launched at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in September 2020 to examine the therapeutic potential of psychedelic compounds. The work to be conducted will occur at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (Mount Sinai) as well as its affiliate, the James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (the Bronx VA). The Center has already launched its first FDA-approved randomized clinical trial using MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for combat veterans with PTSD, representing the first such trial in the VA.

The Center will also apply state-of-the-art scientific methods to understand their mechanism of action. Through its training arm, the Center also seeks to provide education to therapists, medical residents, and trainees to position them to work with these therapies.

Dr. Rachel Yehuda, the Center’s Director, is a recognized leader in the field of traumatic stress studies.  She is both an endowed Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobiology of Trauma at the Icahn School of Medicine and Director of Mental Health at the James J. Peters VA in the Bronx.  Dr. Yehuda’s team stands at the forefront of innovative psychedelic-assisted therapy for trauma and PTSD. With evidence demonstrating a high success rate of 65% of participants being cured of PTSD in just three treatments, the FDA approved the protocol in 2016 and designated psychedelic-assisted therapy as a breakthrough therapy for fast-tracking. In 2020, Dr. Yehuda founded the Center, where she and her team focus on this work, and the Center’s first clinical trial began in the Fall of 2021.