PSYCHEDELICS STEPPING INTO THE UNKNOWN (2024)
Director:
Chris Phillips
Production Company:
Blackfella Films
Psychedelics: Stepping into the Unknown – Thursday 29 February on SBS and SBS On Demand from 8:40pm
https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/watch/2304383043901
Anxiety is the most common group of mental disorders experienced by Australians aged 16 to 85, according to the latest ABS figures.i Could psychedelic assisted therapy hold the answer to our mental illness epidemic? This is the question explored in Psychedelics: Stepping into the Unknown – the thrilling final instalment in the third season of Australia Uncovered.
As the head of Australia’s first clinical psychedelic laboratory, Dr Paul Liknaitzky is fast emerging as a leader in this ground-breaking area of research. In a world first, Dr Liknaitzky and his team at Monash University trial the use of psilocybin (the active ingredient found in ‘magic mushrooms’) in psychedelic assisted therapy to treat Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD). For two years, Psychedelics: Stepping into the Unknown is granted exclusive access to what unfolds.
We meet the participants before their treatment begins and witness their daily struggles living with anxiety. We follow them through treatment, including extraordinary psychedelic dosing sessions, and intense and intimate therapy. Their experiences are raw, courageous, and life changing.
After two eventful years, the trial concludes, and the brave participants reflect on the impact it has had on their lives. For Dr Liknaitzky, the Monash team and the many Australians seeking relief from their mental health struggles, the future of psychedelic therapy is only just beginning.
Winner of the 2024 Traditional / Mainstream Journalism Award from the Mental Health Service Awards of Australia and New Zealand, currently shortlisted for the New York Festivals TV & Film Awards
PRESS
FEB 28 2024, ABC RADIO NATIONAL WITH PATRICIA KARVELAS
“Once considered to be the next big thing in psychiatry, psychedelic treatments have been frowned upon since the war on drugs came to dominate in 1960s and 1970s.
The new SBS documentary 'Psychedelics: Stepping into the Unknown' follows the true stories of people suffering with anxiety as they take part in a new psychedelic treatment trial within Australia.”
Guests: Dr Paul Liknaitzky, head of the Clinical Psychedelic Lab at Monash University.
Chris Phillips, director Psychedelics: Stepping into the Unknown
FEB 27 2024, CHANNEL 10 THE PROJECT
Link to Paul Liknaitzky on the Project
Australian researchers are revolutionising mental health treatment, with the country becoming the first to legalise the use of psychedelics as treatment. Dr Paul Liknaitzky is the head of Australia's first clinical psychedelic lab, and he joins us. Psychedelics: Stepping into the Unknown, the final instalment in the new season of SBS’s Australia Uncovered documentary collection, premieres on Thursday (29 February) on SBS and SBS On Demand from 8:40pm.
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