OPEN Foundation

What happens when a healer seems to know without being told? 🔮⁠ ⁠ Across psychedelic healing contexts worldwide, practitioners describe working with energy, reading the room, or sensing participants' needs with uncanny precision. It's a widely reported phenomenon, yet rarely studied, and harder to explain than it might seem.⁠ ⁠ In this webinar, researcher and ethnographer Nida Paracha, draws on 4+ years of fieldwork to ask what is actually happening in these moments, and why psychedelic research has been so slow to develop the tools to find out.⁠ ⁠ Part of the OPEN Foundation Plus Community — access via a one-time donation or community membership. 👥⁠ ⁠ Register: https://lnkd.in/eaGxxjtU

We are so excited to welcome Klea McKenna to ICPR 2026 in Haarlem this June. 🔬🍄⁠ ⁠ Klea is a visual artist, writer, and the daughter of psychedelic philosopher Terence McKenna. In early 2024, she became the manager of Lux Natura, a family partnership founded in 1976 by her parents, Kathleen Harrison and Terence McKenna, which stewards her father's legacy and is building an archive of his life and work.⁠ ⁠ She will be presenting Archival Revival: Terence McKenna's Life and Work, Seen Through the Lux Natura Archive.⁠ ⁠ In her own words: ⁠ ⁠ Over a quarter century after the death of psychedelic philosopher Terence McKenna, his iconic voice and prescient ideas continue to influence and inspire audiences through his lectures on psychedelics, consciousness, shamanism, and the living intelligence of nature. Terence's daughter, artist Klea McKenna, now manages Lux Natura and is building an archive of her father's intellectual work and life story. In this visual presentation, she will share potent gems from the collection's thousands of letters, manuscripts, journals, photos, audio recordings and butterfly specimens. Klea candidly re-examines her father's legacy and the aesthetics of the psychedelic subculture she was raised in. By tracing archival evidence of intellectual cross-pollination, she highlights the urgency of preserving the storied history of 20th century counterculture and the individual psychonauts that brought us this far.⁠ ⁠ Learn more about the conference and how to attend: https://lnkd.in/eebEi7gK

Ketamine is entering clinical practice faster than the frameworks for using it responsibly. Clinicians are working with clients in altered states, navigating complex relational dynamics, and making real-time judgments, often without formal preparation for any of it.⁠ ⁠ This October, OPEN Foundation and Senz are offering a 2-day clinical training in Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy, covering the full arc from screening and preparation through dosing support, integration, and the ethics of working with non-ordinary states.⁠ ⁠ For mental health professionals with ≥3 years clinical experience. Limited to 30 participants.⁠ ⁠ 📍 Doorn, The Netherlands :date: 8–9 October, 2026 ⁠ Early bird: €599 | Regular: €699⁠ ⁠ Register: https://lnkd.in/e97GwpAW

What is actually happening when a facilitator seems to sense a participant's needs without a word being spoken? It's one of the most commonly reported - and least studied - phenomena in psychedelic healing contexts. We're excited to welcome Nida Paracha, PhD Candidate in Anthropology at the University of Chicago, for our next online event: 🧠 Psychedelics as Energy Medicine: Addressing Conceptual Gaps in Contemporary Psychedelic Research 📅 Wednesday 29 April, 2026 | 8PM CEST (7PM BST | 2PM EDT) 📍 Online via Zoom Drawing on over four years of ethnographic fieldwork across Indigenous, retreat, and clinical psychedelic healing spaces, Nida will explore the full range of explanations for these hard-to-name moments - embodied expertise, interpersonal attunement, the power of ritual and shared cultural frameworks - and ask why psychedelic research has been so slow to develop rigorous methods for studying them. This event is for: → Researchers & scientists curious about the blind spots in psychedelic research → Therapists & clinicians who encounter relational dynamics that are hard to measure → Facilitators & retreat practitioners who work with energy-based or intuitive approaches → Anyone who has had an experience that blurred the line between self and other ✅ Free for OPEN Plus Members 💛 Available via one-time donation Register via the link in the comments. #Psychedelics #PsychedelicResearch #EnergyMedicine #PsychedelicTherapy #OPENFoundation

Researchers have genetically engineered tobacco plants to simultaneously produce five psychedelic tryptamines: DMT, psilocybin, psilocin, bufotenin, and 5-MeO-DMT. 🌿⁠ ⁠ The team, led by Paula Berman and Asaph Aharoni, assembled biosynthetic pathways from across three kingdoms of life. Genes from Psychotria viridis and Acacia acuminata, both known DMT-producing plants, were combined with pathways from Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms and the cane toad Rhinella marina, containing NMT. Supporting enzymes from rice and cress completed the system, which was then introduced into Nicotiana benthamiana, a species of tobacco commonly used in plant biology research.⁠ ⁠ Critically, the plants produced all five compounds using only their own endogenous tryptophan pool, with no external substrate required. The system also yielded novel halogenated analogues not found in nature.⁠ ⁠ Beyond the biochemical achievement, the research attempts to address a pressing ecological concern. The Sonoran Desert toad, facing an ever-growing pressure from overcollection for 5-MeO-DMT extraction, and Psychotria viridis is increasingly strained by demand from ayahuasca tourism. Scalable plant-based production could offer a more sustainable pathway for clinical research and therapeutic development.⁠ ⁠ At the same time, the biosynthetic pathways decoded here were developed across millennia by Indigenous cultures, with this research opening up important questions about benefit-sharing, consent, and biocultural sovereignty.⁠ ⁠ What are your thoughts? 💭⁠ ⁠ Read the full paper: https://lnkd.in/gsW7h2pZ

Happy Bicycle Day! 🚲⁠ ⁠ On April 19, 1943, Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann intentionally ingested 250 micrograms of LSD and cycled home through the streets of Basel, accompanied by his laboratory assistant.⁠ ⁠ Hofmann had first synthesised LSD-25 five years earlier, in 1938, while investigating derivatives of ergot, a fungus that grows on rye. His research was rooted in historical accounts of midwives using ergot alkaloids to manage difficult labours and postpartum haemorrhage, and his broader aim was to develop a new circulatory and respiratory stimulant. ⁠ ⁠ LSD-25 was initially set aside after showing no notable analeptic effects, only to be rediscovered, quite accidentally, when Hofmann unknowingly absorbed a trace amount through his skin on April 16th, 1943. Three days later, he returned with deliberate intent. The rest is history.⁠ ⁠ How are you marking the day? 🌀

Over 75 speakers will take the stage at ICPR 2026 to share their work. From leading researchers and clinicians to emerging voices shaping the field, the oral presentation line-up brings together a wide range of perspectives, questions, and discoveries across psychedelic research, therapy, and beyond. Expect rigorous science and fresh thinking. ICPR 2026 offers a space to learn, connect, and stay up to date on what’s driving psychedelic science forward. New speakers will continue to be announced over the coming weeks. 📍 Haarlem, The Netherlands 📅 4–6 June, 2026 🎫 www.icpr-conference.com Pro tip: Use code BICYCLEDAY to get a 15% discount on your Student, Regular, or Professional ICPR 2026 ticket! The code is valid until Monday, 20 April, 09.00 AM CEST. 😉 See you at ICPR 2026!

Bicycle Day marks the moment psychedelic history changed course. 🚲 On 19 April 1943, Albert Hofmann intentionally took LSD and cycled home through Basel as its effects began to unfold, a now-iconic moment that helped open the door to decades of inquiry into consciousness, perception, and healing. To celebrate Bicycle Day, we’re offering 15% off selected ICPR 2026 tickets, workshops, and symposia with the code BICYCLEDAY. And here’s where it gets better: the first 10 people to use the code will also get a free ticket to the ICPR 2026 afterparty! Trust us, this is not the one to sleep on. Join us on 4–6 June in the Netherlands for Europe’s premier conference on psychedelic research, where the field’s past, present, and future meet. Use BICYCLEDAY at checkout and ride with us into ICPR 2026. Head to www.icpr-conference.com today! * The code is valid until Monday, 20 April, 09.00 AM ** The discount does not apply to Philanthropy tickets

Can you truly consent to touch in psychedelic-assisted therapy? 🫂⁠ ⁠ Therapeutic touch is one of the most debated elements of psychedelic therapy protocols, and for good reason. It is a place where ethical breaches can occur, where harm can be done without care and discernment, and where professional boundaries are genuinely difficult to navigate.⁠ ⁠ And yet, a warm hand hold or a steady presence during a difficult moment can carry profound healing. For some people, it is exactly what allows years of deep-seated pain to begin to move.⁠ ⁠ Moreover, how do we navigate consent around touch in non-ordinary states of consciousness? What if a participant who explicitly said no to therapeutic touch finds themselves desperately wanting their hand held mid-session?⁠ ⁠ These are not hypothetical questions. They are ones that therapists, researchers, and ethicists are actively grappling with, requiring robust, ongoing, and relational approaches to consent rather than a signature on a form.⁠ ⁠ We'll be exploring exactly this at our upcoming free online event on April 23rd, with Helena Aicher, Pat Song, Ph.D., and Daan Keiman.⁠ ⁠ 🗓 Thursday, April 23 | 8–9:30 PM CEST⁠ ⁠ Register here: https://lnkd.in/eP-ZfZJ3