As we head into the holidays, this is a good time to reflect a little on 2025 and this ongoing journey that is the Pearl Institute.  This year saw the Pearl climb its way out of the menacing blackness of the FDA’s cowardly decision in August to not approve MDMA for use in the treatment of PTSD as well as the devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene only 7 weeks later.  Those were some dark times.  This year brought its own challenges but it has also been a year of growth and renewed hope that...

Unlike Psychedelic Science 2023, which was also hosted at the cavernous Colorado Convention Center, the 2025 iteration was distinctly less intense, which was actually quite nice.  Gone was the hype and the frenetic expectation that permeated in 2023 that we were on the verge of seeing the first psychedelic-assisted therapy (MDMA-AT) get approved by the FDA.  The FDA’s political decision to not approve MDMA-assisted therapy in August 2024 (despite 30 years of research) effectively let most, if...

On the morning of September 27th, the remnants of Hurricane Helene tore through Asheville and western North Carolina producing flooding...