Want to Try Psychedelics in a Clinical Setting? 116 Trials Now Recruiting Volunteers (UPDATED)

Want to participate in psychedelic clinical trials to help researchers better understand the therapeutic benefits of medicines like psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, ibogaine, mescaline, and 5-MeO-DMT? It may be easier than you think. 

Psychedelic clinical trials are the gateway to getting new therapies on the market. They help researchers obtain valuable information about the safety, efficacy, and therapeutic dose of experimental medical drugs. Drug regulators, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Health Canada, use clinical trial data when determining whether to approve a treatment for a specific indication.  

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For decades, psychedelics were banned from clinical study because they were deemed too risky. But thanks to the efforts of advocates such as the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, the death grip drug regulators have held on psychedelics is loosening. Dozens of psychedelic medicines are in different phases of development. And many are currently recruiting for volunteers to help them study the effects of psychedelics.

All human clinical trials involving drug products conducted within the United States, and many in other countries, are registered at clinicaltrials.gov. You can look up current, former, and future trials by searching a specific medical condition, disease, or drug name. The site provides details such as locations where research will be conducted and much of your time will be required. 

If you meet all the criteria and apply, you will have to go through additional psychological and physiological screenings. After doing so, there are no guarantees you’ll be accepted into the study. And if you are, there is no guarantee you’ll get the psychedelic treatment being studied as some studies compare the active drug with a placebo. 

Still interested in volunteering to help researchers advance therapies through psychedelic clinical trials? Here’s a list of clinical trials currently recruiting participants:

Psilocybin

Recruiting

• Psilocybin for Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder: a Feasibility Study, Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, Denmark
• Psilocybin Therapy for Depression and Anxiety in Parkinson’s Disease, San Francisco, California
• Psilocybin Therapy for Depression in Bipolar II Disorder, San Francisco, California
• Psilocybin-Enhanced Psychotherapy for Methamphetamine Use Disorder, New Haven, Connecticut
• Frontline Clinician Psilocybin Study, Seattle, Washington
• The Safety and Efficacy of Psilocybin in Patients With Treatment-resistant Depression and Chronic Suicidal Ideation, Baltimore, Maryland
• Psilocybin-assisted Therapy for Phantom Limb Pain, San Diego, California
• Repeat Dosing of Psilocybin in Migraine Headache, West Haven, Connecticut
• Pilot Study of Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy for Demoralization in Patients Receiving Hospice Care, Danvers Massachusetts
• Psilocybin in Depression Resistant to Standard Treatments, London, UK
• Palliadelic Treatment to Reduce Psychological Distress in Persons With Inoperable Pancreatobiliary Cancer
• Effects of SERT Inhibition on the Subjective Response to LSD in Healthy Subjects, Basel, Switzerland
• Efficacy and Safety of Psilocybin in Treatment-Resistant Major Depression, Berlin, Germany; Mannheim, Germany
• Efficacy of Psilocybin in OCD: a Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study,  New Haven, Connecticut
• Psilocybin for Depression in People with Mild Cognitive Impairment or Early Alzheimer’s Disease, Baltimore, Maryland
• Clinical and Mechanistic Effects of Psilocybin in Alcohol Addicted Patients, Zürich, Switzerland
• Psilocybin Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder With Co-occurring Alcohol Use Disorder, Baltimore, Maryland
• Effects of Psilocybin in Concussion Headache, West Haven, Connecticut
• Psilocybin-facilitated Treatment for Cocaine Use, Birmingham, Alabama
• Adjunctive Effects of Psilocybin and Buprenorphine, Madison, Wisconsin
• Visual Surround Suppression and Perceptual Expectation Under Psilocybin, Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Efficacy and Safety of Psilocybin in Treatment-Resistant Major Depression, Berlin, Germany; Mannheim, Germany
• The Neurobiological Effect of 5-HT2AR Modulation, Copenhagen, Denmark
• Study of the Safety and Feasibility of Psilocybin in Adults With Methamphetamine Use Disorder
• Psilocybin for the Treatment of Veterans With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Effects of Psilocybin in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
• An Investigation of Psilocybin on Behavioural and Cognitive Symptoms of Adults With Fragile X Syndrome
• Efficacy and Safety of COMP360 Psilocybin Therapy in Anorexia Nervosa: a Proof-of-concept Study
• The Effects of Psilocybin on Self-Focus and Self-Related Processing in Treatment Resistant MDD
• Frontline Clinician Psilocybin Study
• Psilocybin for Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder: a Feasibility Study

Not Yet Recruiting

• Psilocybin-assisted CBT for Depression
• Psilocybin for Psychological and Existential Distress in Palliative Care,
• Psilocybin-facilitated Treatment for Chronic Pain
• Exploratory Study of Low Dose Psilocybin
• Evaluating the Feasibility, Safety and Efficacy of Psychotherapy Assisted Psilocybin for Treatment of Severe OCD
• Northwest Therapies Trauma Psilocybin Study Compassionate Use Study, Bozeman, Montana
• Open-label Study to Assess the Safety and Efficacy of TRP-8802 With Psychotherapy in Adult Participants With Fibromyalgia, Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Bioavailability Study of Psilocybin in Normal Adults
• Psilocybin in Co-occuring Major Depressive Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder
• Psilocybin for Major Depressive Disorder
• Standardized Natural Psilocybin-assisted Psychotherapy for Tapering of Opioid Medication
• Psilocybin-assisted Therapy for Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder
• Effects of Repeated Psilocybin Dosing in OCD
• Psilocybin in Functional Neurological Disorder
• Effect of SSRIs on Response to Psilocybin Therapy
• Does Psilocybin Require Psychedelic Effects to Treat Depression?
• Investigating the Mechanisms of the Effects of Psilocybin on Visual Perception and Visual Representations in the Brain
• Psilocybin-Assisted vs Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy for Alcohol Use Disorder
• Psilocybin-facilitated Treatment for Chronic Pain
• Exploratory Study of Low Dose Psilocybin

LSD

Recruiting

• Effects of LSD on Neuroplasticity in Healthy Subjects, Fribourg, Switzerland
• Effects of SERT Inhibition on the Subjective Response to LSD in Healthy Subjects, Basel Switzerland
• LSD Base and LSD Tartrate Bioequivalence and Bioavailability in Healthy Subjects
• Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) as Treatment for Cluster Headache, Basel, Switzerland
• The Effect of LSD on Neural Synchrony, Prosocial Behavior, and Relationship Quality
• LSD to Improve Cluster Headache Impact Trial

Not yet recruiting

• LSD Treatment for Persons With Alcohol Use Disorder
• LSD to Improve Cluster Headache Impact Trial

• •  

MDMA

Recruiting 

• Stanford Reward Circuits of the Brain Study – MDMA, Palo Alto, California
• Sustaining Remission From PTSD Using Tuned Vibroacoustic Stimulation (TVS) Following MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
• MDMA-assisted Therapy for Adjustment Disorder (AD) in Dyads of Patients With Cancer and a Concerned Significant Other – Rockville, Maryland, United States
• Effects of Stimulants on Behavioral and Neural Markers of Social Motivation, Ability, and Neural Markers of Social Function
• Stanford Regulating Circuits of the Brain Study – MDMA – Palo Alto, California, United States
• Acute Effects of R- and S-MDMA in Healthy Subjects (R-S-MDMA) -Basel, Switzerland
• MDMA in Subjects With Moderate Hepatic Impairment and Subjects With Normal Hepatic Function, Knoxville, Tennessee
• The Effects of MDMA on Prefrontal and Amygdala Activation in PTSD., New Haven, Connecticut
• MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy in Veterans With Combat-Related, Refractory PTSD, Loma Linda, California
• Study Comparing Two Versus Three Active MDMA-assisted Sessions in U.S. Military Veterans With Chronic PTSD, Bronx, New York
• Open Label Multi-Site Study of Safety and Effects of MDMA-assisted Psychotherapy for Treatment of PTSD With Optional fMRI Sub-Study, Kraj Czechia; Hamburg, Germany; Berlin, Germany; Limburg, Netherlands; Noord Holland, Netherlands; Moss, Norway; Lisbon, Portugal; Cardiff, U.K.; London, U.K.
• Effects of MDMA-like Substances in Healthy Subjects (MDMA-like) –  Basel, Switzerland

MDMA- Not yet recruiting 

• Social Anxiety MDMA-Assisted Therapy Investigation
• Acute Effects of 2C-B Compared With MDMA and Psilocybin in Healthy Subjects
• MDMA-assisted Prolonged Exposure Therapy for Comorbid Alcohol Use Disorder and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder – Victoria, Australia
• Preliminary Effectiveness of Individual and Group MDMA-assisted Therapy for Israeli Veterans With PTSD and Moral Injury.
• The Effects of MDMA on Prefrontal and Amygdala Activation in PTSD
• Acute Effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) With and Without a Booster Dose – Basel, Switzerland
• MDMA-assisted Therapy Versus Cognitive Processing Therapy for Veterans With Severe Posttraumatic Stress Disorder – Palo Alto, California, United States
• MDMA for Co-occurring PTSD and OUD After Childbirth
• MDMA-Assisted Therapy for Stress Disorders in Healthcare Workers
• Study of Feasibility and Safety of MDMA-Assisted Group Therapy for the Treatment of PTSD in Veterans
• Tolerability of MDMA in Schizophrenia
• MDMA-Assisted CBT for OCD (MDMA-CBT4OCD Study)
• MDMA in Subjects With Moderate Hepatic Impairment and Subjects With Normal Hepatic Function – Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
• MDMA-Assisted Therapy for Veterans With Moderate to Severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – Los Angeles, California, United States
• MDMA Plus Exposure Therapy for PTSD – Atlanta, Georgia, United States
• Postpartum MDMA Co-occurring PTSD and OUD
• Psychological Effects of Methylenedioxymethamphetamine(MDMA) When Administered to Healthy Volunteers (MT-2)
• Study of Feasibility and Safety of MDMA-Assisted Group Therapy for the Treatment of PTSD in Veterans
• A Multi-Site Study of MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for Eating Disorders
• The Effects of MDMA on Prefrontal and Amygdala Activation in PTSD., Los Angeles, California; San Francisco, California; Boulder, Colorado; Fort Collins, Colorado; New Orleans, Louisiana; Boston, Massachusetts; New York, New York; Mount Pleasant, South Carolina; Madison, Wisconsin; Vancouver, British Columbia; Be’er Ya’aqov, Israel; Tel HaShomer, Israel

Ibogaine

Recruiting

• Ibogaine in the Treatment of Alcoholism: a Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Escalating-dose, Phase 2 Trial, São Paulo, Brazil
• A Study of Oral Ibogaine in Opioid Withdrawal, Manchester, UK
• Preliminary Efficacy and Safety of Ibogaine in the Treatment of Methadone Detoxification, Tarragona, Spain
• The Norwegian Addiction, Pain and Trauma Study, Lørenskog, Norway; Oslo, Norway

Mescaline

• The Norwegian Addiction, Pain and Trauma Study

DMT

Recruiting

• Evaluation of the Dexmedetomidine Transdermal Systems for Postoperative Analgesia Following Abdominoplasty – Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
• Acute Dose-dependent Effects of DMT in Healthy Subjects – Basel, Switzerland
• Single and Repeat Doses of DMT in Healthy Subjects -Leiden, Netherlands
• Mindfulness and Psychedelics – Zurich, Switzerland
• SPL026 With or Without SSRIs in Participants With MDD – Liverpool, Prescot, United Kingdom
• Safety and Pharmacokinetics of GH002 in Healthy Volunteers – Groningen, Netherlands
• The ‘Wearing Off’ Effect of DMT – Basel, Switzerland
• A Trial of GH001 in Patients With Treatment-resistant Depression – Galway, Ireland
• Phase 2 Clinical Trial of GH001 in Bipolar II Disorder – Dresden, Germany & Groningen, Netherlands
• Phase 2 Clinical Trial of GH001 in Postpartum Depression – Groningen, Netherlands & London, United Kingdom
• A Trial of GH001 in Patients With Treatment-resistant Depression – Galway, Ireland
• Single Ascending Dose Study With BPL-003 in Healthy Subjects

Not yet Recruiting

• Acute Dose-dependent Effects of DMT-bolus Applications in Healthy Subjects (DMT BDR-Study) – Basel, Switzerland
• Dose-finding Study for the Combination of DMT and Harmine in Healthy Subjects – Zürich, ZH, Switzerland

5-MeO-DMT

• Pharmacokinetics, Safety, and Tolerability of Intramuscular 5-MeO-DMT in Healthy Volunteers – Overland Park, Kansas, United States
• Safety and Pharmacokinetics of GH002 in Healthy Volunteers – Groningen, Netherlands
• A Trial of GH001 in Patients With Treatment-resistant Depression – Galway, Ireland
• Phase 2 Clinical Trial of GH001 in Bipolar II Disorder – Groningen, Netherlands 
• Phase 2 Clinical Trial of GH001 in Postpartum Depression – Groningen, Netherlands & London, United Kingdom
• An Open-Label, Single Dose Study to Evaluate the Safety, Tolerability and Pharmacodynamics of BPL-003 in Patients With Treatment Resistant Depression -London, United Kingdom

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was updated on February 11, 2022 to reflect trials currently recruiting participants.