Hope, Hype, and Humility: Dr. Charles Raison Reflects on Psychedelics’, and Psychiatry’s, Wild Ride
Dr. Charles Raison has long held an interest in melding ancient practices with today’s mental health system, looking at how things like meditation and psychedelics might interface with modern psychiatry.
Raison, who often goes by Chuck, holds various positions across academia and industry, such as Professor of Psychiatry and Human Ecology at UW Madison, Director of the Vail Behavioral Health Innovation Center in Colorado, and Director of Clinical and Translational Research at Usona Institute, and Director of Research on Spiritual Health at Emory University.
In an interview with Psychedelic Alpha, Raison reflects on his passion for practices like saunas, darkness retreats, and mind-body therapies. Far from being a trend follower, he emphasizes that these ancient methods often bring about immediate emotional uplift—an effect modern antidepressants typically take weeks to achieve. His research explores how such techniques, deeply rooted in human history and even religious traditions, might be adapted for modern mental health treatment.
A key focus of the conversation is how psychedelic therapies are exposing critical flaws in traditional psychiatric research. Raison and interviewer Josh Hardman discuss issues like “functional unblinding” in clinical trials—where patients can often tell if they received the active treatment—highlighting the challenges of evaluating psychedelics using conventional pharmaceutical trial models. In doing so, psychedelics not only open doors for new therapies but also reveal deeper systemic shortcomings in psychiatric research as a whole.
From the pitfalls of clinical research to the promise of ancient practices for modern wellness, Dr. Raison offers a candid, insightful look at the evolving relationship between spirituality, psychedelics, and psychiatry.
