BrainFutures' Outlines Five Priorities To Ensure We're Ready
BrainFutures applauds the recent Executive Order, Accelerating Medical Treatments for Serious Mental Illness, which directs federal support for psychedelic research, removes barriers to research and compassionate use, and calls on the FDA to use expedited approval pipelines for psychedelics when clinical trials demonstrate safety and efficacy.
The government's investment in psychedelic medicine marks a pivotal moment for treating mental health and substance use.
"This Executive Order advances research and patient access to new treatment options. We know from experience this requires action and follow-through: from government, researchers, clinicians, and the entire mental health ecosystem. Psychedelics are coming: we must be ready."
- Sarah Norman, Executive Director
BrainFutures identified five priorities to advance research and patient access:
1. Invest in research. 2. Streamline regulatory barriers. 3. Accelerate workforce development. 4. Build reimbursement structures and coverage through health insurance. 5. Expand public-private partnerships.
BrainFutures is conducting a multiphase process to define interdisciplinary core competencies for psychedelic therapy care teams. As the potential approval timeline for the first psychedelics accelerates, this project represents a critical building block for ensuring behavioral health providers have the appropriate skills and knowledge to deliver psychedelic therapy safely and effectively.
Right now, we’re reviewing materials from across the field—including contributions from more than 20 organizations that train clinicians to deliver psychedelic therapy in a research setting. Using this review as a starting point for deliberation and discussion, we will convene an interdisciplinary, expert workgroup to make formal recommendations.
We’re continuing to collaborate with stakeholders from all corners of the mental health field on this project and others to build system readiness.
Want to get involved in our workforce development or field-building initiatives?
As a national mental health nonprofit, BrainFutures' work focuses on the full arc of brain health, from youth development to adult mental health care.
This week, we launched our conversation series Step Inside Your Child's Mind, tackling real parenting challenges and answering questions from Baltimore County Public School parents, whose children are part of our youth executive function program.
Executive Director, Sarah Norman, kicked off the series with a conversation with Heather Dupre, LCPC, of Still Water Counseling Services.
They talked about executive functions, the hidden brain skills that shape child behavior and learning. This episode is packed with actionable strategies and a dose of humor that anyone can immediately implement.
New episodes will be released every Wednesday through May! Upcoming episodes will discuss emotional regulation and healthy screen use.
A Visionary Leader To Provide Scientific and Clinical Leadership
We're growing our team with a Clinical Advisor position. This person will serve as the organization's senior clinical voice - guiding program development, ensuring clinical and scientific rigor, cultivating expert partnerships, and translating complex neuroscience into actionable policy and practice recommendations.
This is a unique opportunity for a clinician-leader who is passionate about advancing the field of brain health and reducing barriers to evidence-based care.
Veteran voices helped drive the urgency behind the Executive Order. And we continue to work with the VA and Congressional leaders to ensure Veterans can access these breakthroughs.
BrainFutures endorsed a bipartisan bill, the Veterans Health Administration Novel Therapeutics Preparedness Act (S. 4220), which would create an office within the VA to develop guidelines and competency-based frameworks for healthcare workers delivering innovative treatments to Veterans.
“Our nation’s Veterans deserve the best available treatments based on cutting-edge medical research, but clinical practice often fails to keep pace with scientific progress. BrainFutures is proud to support this effort to bring new treatments to Veterans at a scale and speed not previously possible.”
- Sarah Norman, Executive Director of BrainFutures
We are proud to support the legislation alongside leading Veterans groups. We will provide feedback as this bill moves through Congress to ensure it achieves its full potential for Veterans.
Bipartisan Support Got Us Here
Congressional Leaders Share How Far We've Come
Congressional leaders are instrumental in turning progress into practice.
At our recent convening at Sunstone Therapies, held in partnership with the Office of Systems Catalyst and the Psychedelic Education Partnership (U-PEP), bipartisan Congressional leaders echoed the urgency to prepare the workforce and the system.
Rep. Jack Bergman, Rep. Paul Tonko, and Rep. Sarah Elfreth reflected on the remarkable progress made in recent years, while recognizing the need to strengthen coordination across federal and state systems.
Join Us At NatCon
BrainFutures is speaking at the National Council for Mental Wellbeing Conference in Denver. Given the recent developments, these conversations will be critical. Join our team on Tuesday, April 28th.
Preparing Your Clinic – 2:15 PM – Executive Director, Sarah Norman, will join Carlene McMillian, MD, Chief Product Officer & Co-Founder of Radial, and Lucia Huang, MBA, Co-Founder and CEO of Osmind.
Forecasting the Future of Psychedelic Therapy - 4 PM - Senior Director, Jazz Glastra, MS will join Leith States, MD, MPH, MBA, FACPM, SVP of Strategic Military Initiatives and with Sunstone Therapies; and Josh Hardman, Founder & Editor of Psychedelic Alpha.
Help Move Mental Health Forward
“We’re reaching kids at such a young age, helping them with metacognition, thinking about their choices, and thinking about how they’re learning. That will set them up for success and help them become lifelong learners.”
- Anna Gaskill ACTIVATE™ Leader and MTSS Resource Teacher
