Q&A: Understanding UCLA’s Ecological Medicine and Psychedelic Studies Initiative and how nature-focused care is integrated

UCLA’s Ecological Medicine & Psychedelic Studies Initiative links mental health research with ecological medicine, aiming to connect improvements in human well-being with care for the natural world. Interviewees Dr. Helena Hansen and Landon Pollack describe the initiative’s origins in the idea that Indigenous and traditional psychedelic practices emphasize connectedness to nature, plants, and animals. They focus on “set and setting,” including how natural environments and green spaces may affect treatment outcomes. Beyond psychedelics, the initiative also builds independent nature-based practices such as forest bathing (shinrin-yoku), community gardening, equine therapy, biophilic urban design, and in-clinic animal therapy. Working groups are planned for an ecological medicine society, research, clinical best practices, and education, alongside an eight-week “Introduction to Ecological Medicine” course and efforts to identify landmark studies for the field.