Ian Roullier

Ian Roullier is the co-founder of the Psychedelic Participant Advocacy Network (PsyPAN). Ian has suffered from depression and anxiety for most of his adult life and was a participant in both the Imperial College London psilocybin for depression pilot study (2015) and the COMPASS Pathways psilocybin trial (2019). Psilocybin has proven to be the most effective treatment for his mental health to date. Ian's journey has featured on Oprah, the BBC and in Michael Pollan's bestseller 'How To Change Your Mind'. He has given several public talks alongside Dr. Rosalind Watts (Imperial College/ACER Psychedelic Integration), appeared on various discussion panels as an 'Expert by Experience', and taken part in a roundtable of mental health leaders led by the Chair of the NHS. Ian is part of the King's College PsiDeR trial steering committee and recently participated in the year-long Synthesis Institute Connectedness Program.His efforts to help destigmatise and normalise psilocybin therapy led naturally to Ian founding PsyPAN with Leonie Schneider in 2021. PsyPAN aims to pool participants’ lived experiences and, through consultancy and accreditation, help organisations create more effective treatment models, maximise positive outcomes and create a sector-wide model of best practice with participant wellbeing at its heart.

Participant voices, ethics, and best practice in psychedelic therapy

Ian Roullier, the co-founder of the Psychedelic Participant Advocacy Network (PsyPAN) has participated in two clinical trials examining the effect of psilocybin on depression, this presentation will:

- Outline and contrast these experiences.

- Explain how they led to the creation of PsyPAN with fellow ex-trial participant, Leonie Schneider, and the formation of a participant community.

- Give an overview of the various ways PsyPAN is ensuring participant voices are amplified by feeding into research, forming participant working groups, improving psychedelic safeguarding and creating a positive 'feedback loop' that helps shape a sector-wide model of best practice that leads to better patient outcomes.

- Outline key ethical considerations to safeguard participants who are receiving psychedelic-assisted therapy.

- Examine the vital role of community, connection and integration post-treatment, along with an exclusive update on PsyPAN’s peer support groups for former clinical trial participants, enriched with quotes from members of the groups.

- Assess hopes and concerns regarding the current direction of the sector and how we can best work together to shape the future of these treatments.