Psychedelic-Assisted Healing for System-Impacted People: A New Research and Policy Initiative

Sia Henry, JD, discussed the Psychedelics for System-Impacted People Project, a multiphase initiative developed by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) to examine the mental health needs of individuals affected by the criminal legal system and explore the potential role of psychedelic-assisted healing in addressing those needs.¹

Henry situated the project within a gap in current psychedelic research and policy, which has largely centered on veterans and first responders. She argued that individuals impacted by the criminal legal system—particularly low-income communities of color—have been largely absent from both the clinical and policy conversations in the psychedelic field, despite bearing a disproportionate burden of untreated mental health conditions.

The project comprises 3 sequential phases. The first, a literature review recently published by MAPS, examines the mental health needs of system-impacted individuals across the life course: adverse childhood experiences that predict later criminal legal system involvement, preexisting mental health conditions prior to incarceration, trauma and neglect sustained during incarceration, and unmet mental health needs during reentry into society.² Henry framed this review as establishing the "why" of the project—making the case for why this population warrants focused attention from the psychedelic field.

The second phase involves paid qualitative focus groups with formerly incarcerated people of color, conducted in collaboration with the Center for Collective Healing, a decentralized research organization affiliated with Yale and Howard University. The focus groups will explore stigma, sociocultural and legal barriers to accessing psychedelic-assisted healing, and the conditions under which participants might feel safe engaging with such treatment. Henry anticipated that the resulting report would be the first of its kind in the field.

The third phase will convene a working group comprising formerly incarcerated individuals, researchers, and therapists to develop a culturally grounded healing modality in direct partnership with system-impacted people, with the long-term goal of piloting it within this population.

Henry also addressed policy implications, advocating for a shift from criminalization toward a public health framework for individuals involved in drug use and sale, and cautioned clinicians against applying one-size-fits-all diagnostic and treatment frameworks—including the adverse childhood experiences scale and the DSM—to populations whose psychological distress is rooted in structural harms that those frameworks may inadequately capture.

Ms Henry is associate director of policy and advocacy at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).

References

1. MAPS published first-of-its-kind literature review on psychedelic healing for people impacted by the criminal legal system. Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. June 2, 2026. Accessed June 18, 2026. https://maps.org/2026/06/02/maps-publishes-psip-lit-review/

2. PSIP literature review: exploring the mental health needs of system-impacted people. Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. 2026. Accessed June 18, 2026. https://maps.org/2026/04/27/relocating-the-root/