Dr. Tracy Townsend on physician-led psilocybin therapy, the discipline of safety, and what changes when a doctor is in the room.
Dr. Tracy Townsend joins Paul Austin on the Third Wave Podcast for a conversation on what it means to bring physician-led care to psilocybin therapy.
Tracy talks about the transition from operating rooms to journey rooms, why she calls this work 'mind surgery,' and the discipline of safety she carried over from her surgical training.
They get into the details of what physician oversight actually changes: the medication review, the contraindication screening, the in-the-moment medical judgment when something unexpected happens during a journey, and the deep collaboration between physician and facilitator.
If you're trying to understand why Meadow's model is structured the way it is — and why we believe a doctor in the room raises the floor of the entire experience — this episode is a good starting point.