Welcome to Back from the Abyss. I'm Dr. Craig Hecock.

The podcast cover story just released a series called Power Trip, which is a deeply researched

expose of the dark side of the psychedelic treatment world.

The series highlights the stories of a few women, including the co-host, who were sexually

assaulted in psychedelic treatment spaces, mostly in the underground, but also

one woman who was abused by her therapist, both during and after her participation in the MAP's PTSD study.

I listened to the whole series and found myself initially very grateful for the producer's hard work

and courageous journalism.

And I was horrified, but not surprised, by the past and ongoing sexual boundary violations

that we see in the psychedelic space.

But then, later in the series, cover story shifted to a double barrel assault on maps as an organization in its Phase 3 PTSD study.

Cover Story questioned the integrity and competence of the people working in the study.

And basically, they tried to paint the study as some kind of amoral juggernaut,

which in its desperate need to bring MDMA to full medicalization, is and was willing

and able to squash any vulnerable participants or opposition in its way. I couldn't disagree more,

and I feel the imperative to share a different view. I was a study physician and therapist in the Phase 3

MDMA trial. In my experience with participants, with my colleagues, both at my study site

and other sites, and with many MAP staff at all levels of the organization, was totally

unrecognizable in cover stories' sensationalized account. First of all, let me clarify. I'm no longer working in the Maps study.

I've been a member of Maps for over 25 years, and I continue to support the work.

But I speak for myself here, not for Maps.

Listening to Cover Story, one gets the impression that the study monitoring and safety protocols

...