Dr. Stephen Ross describes how psilocybin research and early trials are expanding psychedelic therapy for cancer distress, depression, and addiction

Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy is presented as a growing treatment option for hard-to-treat psychiatric and medical conditions, centered on Dr. Stephen Ross's clinical and research trajectory. Ross recounts how a 2006 conversation rekindled attention to a largely forgotten body of 1950s to 1970s psychedelic research that had been sidelined after prohibition in 1970. He highlights a 2016 randomized controlled trial in advanced cancer showing rapid, substantial, and sustained reductions in anxiety, depression, and existential distress after psilocybin plus psychotherapy. Therapeutic frontiers are framed as expanding beyond cancer distress: a 2022 trial using psilocybin for alcohol use disorder is described as reducing heavy drinking days after two doses with psychotherapy, and Ross is also linked to phase 2 evidence for major depressive disorder (single-dose psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy). He is noted as leading NIH-funded work for cancer-related emotional and spiritual distress and exploring additional areas such as fear of recurrence and chronic pain.