A fresh, engaging, and easy-to-read psychedelic therapy guide with simple analogies that explain complex concepts. Learn about psychedelics and a promising new mental health therapy program.

For mental health conditions like PTSD, grief, depression, anxiety, addictions, or personality issues, despite the best efforts of clinicians, medications or other treatments often don’t help at all. In The Promise of Psychedelics, you’ll learn:

• how psychedelics compare to psychiatric disorders
• how the mind and brain differ 
• what’s normal versus abnormal
• how psychiatric diagnoses are made and why it’s a problem
• what recent advances tell us about psychedelics: what they are, how they work, what the risks are
• why it takes so long for some psychedelics to be approved for therapeutic use, and
• the science behind micro-dosing psychedelics. 

Dr. Peter Silverstone rates and ranks psychedelics such as psilocybin, ketamine, MDMA, and more as contenders, wannabes, along with the bronze-, silver-, and gold-medal winners to share why some psychedelics, along with therapy, will become standard for many mental health conditions. You’ll also learn about Almond Therapy, the new psychedelic-assisted therapy program Dr. Silverstone and his team have developed that offers a big dose of hope. 

There are certain indisputable facts about this topic. The first is that psychedelics are controversial. The second is that psychedelics will not solve the problems faced by every person with a mental health issue. The third is that we desperately need new and effective therapies to work with psychedelics. And the final fact is that new scientific evidence shows that psychedelics offer genuine hope for better mental health. And that’s what The Promise of Psychedelics is all about. 

Overwhelmed and Underfunded

At any point in time, approximately 20 percent of adults experience significant mental health issues. That’s two out of ten adults with mental health issues that impact their level of functioning. Things like getting or holding a job, maintaining healthy relationships, or practicing adequate self-care. At times of widespread stress, like a global pandemic, this percentage can surge much higher.Despite this tsunami of need, mental health funding is far less than required. Practitioners are overwhelmed by the number of patients, and because of the lack of resources, medication is usually the first line of treatment—sadly, sometimes the only line of treatment.

Often, medication alone doesn’t work, especially for conditions like PTSD, grief, or personality issues. Despite the best efforts of clinicians, medications or other psychological treatments are usually only partially effective. Sometimes treatments don’t help at all. This might be due to the fact that, as science is now showing us, there can be underlying brain changes that prevent a full recovery. I have seen this first hand over and over.

My first day as a psychiatrist was demoralizing. I was told to go into a clinic and see patients. There were five already booked to see me. Every one of them was depressed and suicidal, and they’d all had some treatments which clearly hadn’t worked. At the end of my first day, I wondered what I could offer that they hadn’t already tried. It was a shock.

I wish I could say that things have improved. Nearly forty years later there is still no certainty that anything I can prescribe for similar treatment-resistant patients will help. Treatment options are limited in their effectiveness—and treatments that guarantee a successful outcome are nonexistent. Unfortunately, fewer than 50 percent of patients looking for a way out of their depression, anxiety, PTSD, and even addictions achieve remission and better mental health. 
If you or someone you know has not received successful treatment you are not alone. This vast, unmet need is why the psychedelic era holds such promise. Indeed, I believe it offers the greatest potential for any treatment developed during my career.