PUBLIC HEARING: Considerations for Potential Therapeutic Use of Psychedelic Drugs
U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA)
September 14, 2026
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📨 Submit a written comment to FDA (by Oct 5)
🎤 List of scheduled speakers
Hello. I am Dr. Raquel Bennett, founder of KRIYA Institute and KRIYA Conference. I have no disclosures to report. I would like to provide you with some useful resources:
— Bennett, R., Yavorsky, C. & Bravo, G. (2022). Ketamine for bipolar depression: Biochemical, psychotherapeutic, and psychedelic approaches. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.867484
This paper outlines three essential paradigms for thinking about therapeutic treatment with a psychedelic medicine (such as ketamine).
— Bennett, R. (2020). Ethical guidelines for ketamine clinicians. Journal of Psychedelic Psychiatry, 2(4), 19-20.
This short article provides a framework for collaborative care, and emphasizes the importance of training and staying within one’s scope of practice. This is the only document of this kind in the published medical literature, and it has been cited in many board inquiries and legal proceedings.
— Bennett, R. (2024). Educational pathways for psychedelic practitioners. Journal of Psychedelic Psychiatry, 6(2), 1-6.
In this paper, I propose “Experiential Medicines” as a new conceptual category for medicines which (can) cause a rapid and profound alteration in awareness. I go on to describe various options for educating clinicians who want to work with the tools, and emphasize the importance of accreditation for the training programs.
— Bennett, R. (2026). Ketamine: Frameworks for the Future. Berkeley Alembic, 2 August 2026, lecture with PowerPoint slides.
I recently gave a live talk about the regulatory environment for psychedelic medicines. I described the many structural and systemic problems that I see, and proposed several pragmatic solutions for going forward in safer and sensible way. I also spoke at length about the importance of psychological support for psychedelic experiences, and concerns about mis-use and addiction. The video recording of this talk will be posted online in October. If you would like to be notified when this video is  available, please join our mailing list.
— Bennett, R. & Yavorsky, C. (2021). Op-Ed: Mind the Ketamine Education Gap – Better training can prevent adverse outcomes in psychiatric patients. MedPage Today.
This little paper documents some of the serious adverse events (SAE) associated with ketamine that were reported to KRIYA Institute. Subsequently, we received more reports of difficult experiences and SAE (into the thousands). Note that the vast majority (98%) of adverse events appear to be associated with inadequate psychological support, and only a tiny fraction of adverse events appear to be medical.
— Bennett, R. (2020). Recommendations for ketamine clinicians during Covid. KRIYA Institute, 03/20/20, posted online.
Here is some guidance on safe prescribing practices for at-home ketamine use during the pandemic.
Additional thoughts…
At this point in time, it is false distinction to try to separate “therapeutic” and “non-therapeutic” psychedelic use. The proliferation of bad actors in this semi-legal and unregulated space has blurred the lines between those things. It is important for regulatory agencies to think about safe provision for all psychedelics use.
It is clear to me that the regulatory agencies, as they are configured now, are not equipped to oversee Experiential Medicines. Going forward, there will need to be substantial collaboration between existing agencies, significant re-structuring of the existing agencies, and/or the creation of new agencies for this purpose.
More resources:
KRIYA Reading List – historic papers related to therapeutic ketamine
KRIYA Videos – featuring Dr. Raquel Bennett
PsyKe – free email group for ketamine clinicians
Thank You Life – non-profit organization devoted to making psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) more financially accessible
Everyone is welcome to browse this website, which contains a lot of useful and free information
Dr. Bennett shared her thoughts with the FDA Committee over Zoom
Dr. Bennett on the big screen in the FDA Conference Room