The Nordic Network for Psychedelic Science
The Nordic Network for Psychedelic Science (NNPS) is a network of Nordic researchers in the field of psychedelic assisted psychotherapy (PAP).
NNPS was formed in 2021 by researchers from The University of Copenhagen (KU) and Neurobiology Research Unit (NRU) at the Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark; The Centre for Psychiatry Research at Karolinska Institutet (KI) and Region Stockholm in Sweden; and The Department of Psychology at the University of Oslo (UiO) in Norway. The aim of the network is to connect researchers from the Nordic countries, and with international researchers in the field.
Joint Workshop Series
In 2021, researchers from the network (Dea Siggaard Stenbæk, NRU/KU; Henrik Børsting Jacobsen, UiO; and Maria Beckman, KI) received a two-year grant to strengthen the Nordic research on the therapeutic component of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy. The grant enabled an in-person three days research workshop in Copenhagen in 2022, and in Stockholm in 2023.
The Nordic workshop series aims to address the critical gap in scientific knowledge on which psychological models of psilocybin administration should be considered best practice. The first workshop in Copenhagen included an overview of the pharmacology of psilocybin, and its use in antidepressant treatments. It also presented a guided imagery and music (GIM) model, and a psychedelic somatic trauma-informed approach to psychedelic drug administration. The upcoming Stockholm workshop will provide an overview of the current state of research on clinical applications of psilocybin, including safety, ethical, and regulatory perspectives – with the specific aim to explore possible research designs, including regulatory perspectives, to test psychological models in the clinical application of psilocybin.
Participating organizers and speakers:
Alexander Belser, PhD, Yale School of Medicine.
David Erritzoe, PhD, Imperial College London.
Dea Siggaard Stenbæk, associate professor, KU.
Florence Marie Butlen-Ducuing, PhD, European Medicines Agency.
Henrik Børsting Jacobsen, PhD, UiO.
Johan W.S. Vlaeyen, professor, University of Leuven and Maastricht University. Lisa Summer, professor, Anna Maria College Massachusetts.
Maria Beckman, PhD, KI.
Maria Grzywacz, NRU.
Patrick Fisher, PhD, NRU.
Saj Razvi, clinical director, Somatic Psychedelic Institute.
Frontiers Research Topic
In 2022, researchers from KU, KI and Johns Hopkins University edited a Frontiers Research Topic on the psychotherapeutic framing of psychedelic drug administration. The topic included an editorial together with 11 articles – original research and reviews exploring the psychotherapeutic models and thinking that guide the administration of psychedelic drugs today.