June Newsletter – Breaking Convention 2017

It’s time for Breaking Convention 2017 
The 4th International Conference on Psychedelic Consciousness

 

 

“This summer, on the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love, the largest psychedelic research conference in Europe returns to the University of Greenwich.” 
The Beckley Foundation is the proud platinum sponsor of Breaking Convention 2017, where this weekend the world’s top psychedelic researchers will assemble in London and seek to enlighten us all with the latest news from their ongoing and completed studies.

The conference features more than a dozen interactive workshops, a visionary art exhibition, installation gallery, psychedelic film festival, theatre and performance programme, evening banquet, and celebrations every night.

Scientists from the Beckley/Imperial Research Programme will share the latest findings from our investigations into the properties and potential benefits of LSD, psilocybin and DMT.

Here’s what we have to look forward to from the Beckley/Imperial research team:

Robin Carhart-Harris, PhD: Psychedelic Mechanisms: The Central Importance Of Psychological And Neurobiological Connectedness

Rosalind Watts, PhD: Patient Reports Of Increased ‘Connection’ After Psilocybin For Treatment-Resistant Depression.

Leor Roseman: Increased Amygdala Reactivity And Symptom Improvement After Psilocybin Treatment For Depression

Mendel Kaelen: The Functions Of Music In Psychedelic Therapy

Chris Timmerman: Dynamic Transitions Of Consciousness: An EEG Study Using DMT

What else is in store

With over 150 interdisciplinary presentations, Breaking Convention aims to cover the resurgent field of psychedelic research from every angle imaginable.

 

 

Some key talks to look out for include:

Celia Morgan, PhD: Ketamine As A Treatment For Alcohol Use Disorder

David Nichols, PhD: DMT And The Pineal Gland: Facts vs Fantasy

Dennis McKenna, PhD: Is DMT A Neurotransmitter For The Gaian Brain?

Rick Doblin, PhD: Latest Developments In Psychedelic Science From MAPS.

Wendy Kline, PhD: Making The Invisible Visible: The Unexpected Entanglements Of Psychiatry, Midwifery And Psychedelics.
The Beckley Foundation team will be on site to share the best moments and latest news from the conference, so be sure to follow our Twitter and Facebook feeds.

Breaking Convention Film Festival

 

 

On Friday afternoon there will be a special screening of Cosmo Mellen-Feilding’s film The Sunshine Makers.

Dubbed “a real life Breaking Bad for the psychedelic set”, The Sunshine Makers is on at 14:30 in the Sand Pit – the film festival room named in honour and loving memory of Nick Sand, one of the two psychedelic masterminds behind Orange Sunshine LSD.

 

 

 

Our Breaking Convention Blog

 

Do You Really Encounter Supernatural Entities When You Take DMT?

Throughout human history, shamans have used psychoactive compounds in order to enter spiritual domains and commune with supernatural entities, ancestral beings and deities. Yet the rise of what we Westerners call rational thought has closed the doors to these transcendental realms, explaining away all such encounters as chemically frazzled sensory processing.

For all its technological triumphs, though, this disenchanted worldview fails to explain many of the mysteries that permeate consciousness and psychedelic experiences. Among these is the remarkably consistent occurrence of “entities”…continue reading.

 

 

Stay tuned for news about our upcoming studies 

 

We’ll be announcing more details about our ongoing and upcoming research projects in due course, so stay tuned for updates.

Our work relies entirely on the generosity of our donors. Your help will support pioneering research into the therapeutic uses of psychedelics, MDMA and cannabis, and enable us to build a scientific evidence base with which to end the drug war.

To make a donation, please visit beckleyfoundation.org/donate

With very best wishes,
Amanda Feilding and the Beckley Foundation team