Dear friends & partners in access,

We’re excited to share this latest update from the Psychedelic Mental Health Access Alliance (PMHA). With each edition, we bring you closer to the heart of our work—expanding access to breakthrough mental health therapies for the people who need them most.

At the center of our strategy is Medicaid. State Medicaid decision-makers will ultimately determine whether these therapies reach the 70 million Americans who rely on public care. 

Without strategic action now, access could take fifteen years or more. But when even two or three states prove this model works—when we show that it’s effective, safe, needed, and cost-saving—the momentum will shift. Instead of the psychedelic field trying to push PAT into the mental health system, the mental health and public health fields will begin to pull this care in as a viable, effective tool.

This is not abstract policy—it’s about real lives. Women and mothers holding families together. Did you know that Medicaid finances over 41% of all births in the U.S., and nearly half of births in rural areas? It’s about the veterans carrying invisible wounds. It’s about the first responders pushed to the brink. It’s about the women survivors of sexual violence seeking safety in their bodies again. And it’s about so many Americans who turn to substance misuse not because they want to, but because they feel they have no other options—trying to numb the pain, quiet the trauma, or simply make it through another day. America is in a mental health crisis. The time is now to get as many people access to interventions that work—to throw at this enormous challenge as many solutions as we can muster. We know PAT is one of them. Expanding access to care that works means healthier parents, stronger families, and stronger futures.

New Mexico lit the spark. Together with state leaders, researchers, and community partners, we are co-designing the nation’s first community-informed group PAT care model for PTSD—one that includes veterans and first responders, women survivors of sexual trauma, and Indigenous communities. The work is underway in the design and community engagement phase, ensuring the model is built from the ground up with those most impacted. Treatment is slated to begin in 2026, setting the stage for what’s feasible when innovation is co-created with communities. Check out “The Enchanted State: How New Mexico Became the New Frontline in Psychedelic Policy” to learn more about how our work is helping shape what’s happening in New Mexico.

New Jersey brings the scale. Building on what we learn in New Mexico—understanding what is feasible and safe—we have the opportunity to move into implementation science in New Jersey. With claims data, infrastructure, and national partnerships, New Jersey is positioned to demonstrate—at the population level—that PAT can work in real-world settings with people on publicly funded health care. This will be the launchpad for broader national adoption. 

Join our next Alliance Call with PMHA Leadership and guest speaker Victoria Cvitanovic (LinkedIn) on Wednesday, October 22nd, 10–11am PT as we dive into our strategy for Medicaid uptake of PAT, its impact on commercial payer systems, and what the work in New Mexico means for expansion — Register here.

Highlights of what’s inside:

• Spotlight Q&A with Michael Cotton — On why Medicaid is the proving ground for PAT coverage, the ripple effects for commercial insurers, and the importance of preparing the workforce—followed by a briefing on PMHA’s work in today’s political and Medicaid landscape.

• PMHA Leadership in the News — Co-Director Dara Menashi is featured in Ecstatic Integration (“The Enchanted State: How New Mexico Could Change Mental Health Care”) and Co-Director Hanifa Nayo Washington is featured in Tricycle Day in a Q&A that explores why healing justice and psychedelic-assisted care & therapy must be deeply intertwined.

• Snapshots from Our Progress on the Ground in New Mexico — We have three months remaining in the nine-month community co-design process for the 2026 group psilocybin assisted therapy for PTSD pilot with UNM. This snapshot shares where we’ve been, what’s next, and highlights from our presentation at Psychedelic Science 2025 and the Enchanted State gathering in Santa Fe.

• Readying the Next Wave of PAT Workforce — Highlights from PMHA’s work with UPEP, Access to Doorways, and New York Medical College—plus a new study published in the Journal of Psychedelic Studies that PMHA participated as a cognitive interviewee and advisor, exploring barriers and opportunities for therapists from marginalized communities in psychedelic-assisted therapy.

• Welcoming Johanna Chao Kreilick, a strategic field builder helping PMHA Alliance expand our reach into the mental health field. She is also the author of PMHA’s latest paper, Building the Future We Want: Why PMHA is Essential to Achieving Equitable Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy (PAT) at Scale, which shows why equity is not only a moral imperative but the most pragmatic route to trust, sustainability, and scale.

• What’s Ahead — The launch of our corporate sponsorship program, and opportunities to follow Dara and Hanifa as they bridge psychedelics into the health equity and mental health fields. delphi, Alliance Call

Thank you for standing with us. Together, we are ensuring these therapies don’t remain a private luxury but become part of public health care. We are building the proof, the partnerships, and the momentum to shrink fifteen years of waiting for care that works—care that could have massive positive ripple effects across families and communities.

With gratitude and urgency,
Dara Menashi and Hanifa Nayo Washington
Co-Directors,Psychedelic Mental Health Access Alliance