MALVERN, PA — Psych Congress 2026 will devote five days of programming Sept. 15-19 in New Orleans to psychedelic therapies as federal policy, clinical research and patient demand push psychiatrists to prepare for treatment models that remain unsettled.
The programming comes as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration prepares to hold a Sept. 14 public hearing on the potential future therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs. The hearing, scheduled for 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. ET, is separate from Psych Congress.
More than 3,000 mental health professionals are expected at the 39th annual meeting at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. The broader conference will include more than 100 sessions and more than 50 faculty members.
Five days will feature sessions addressing psychedelic therapy, including federal policy, patient demand, clinical evidence, safety, treatment models and potential applications in major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.
The Sept. 15 keynote will feature Navy SEAL veteran Marcus Capone and his wife, Amber, who sought psychedelic treatment outside the U.S. after conventional treatments failed to relieve the PTSD and depression he experienced following military service.
The couple later established Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions, or VETS, which has supported more than 1,300 veterans, according to Psych Congress.
Matthew Zorn, deputy general counsel at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is scheduled to provide a federal policy briefing the day after the FDA hearing. His discussion is expected to address provider training, patient safety, access, data standards and the current federal landscape.
A clinical panel featuring Charles Raison, Andrew Penn, Rakesh Jain and Saundra Jain will examine what psychedelic-assisted treatment could require in practice, including patient selection, treatment settings, monitoring, staffing, supportive therapy, insurance coverage and access.
The conference is addressing a field in which clinician interest has increased faster than reported knowledge and training.
Psych Congress cited survey research comparing psychiatrists’ views in 2016 with responses from 2022 and 2023 in which 80.9% said psychedelics showed promise for psychiatric disorders, up from 42.4%. About half said they would incorporate psychedelic-assisted therapies if federally approved.
A separate 2024 Scientific Reports survey of 879 U.S. health care professionals found respondents correctly answered 20.6% of objective knowledge questions despite substantial belief in the therapeutic potential of psilocybin and MDMA, according to information provided by Psych Congress. Nearly 60% expressed serious concern about a lack of trained providers.
The conference organizer also cited an estimate that 30.9% of U.S. adults receiving medication for major depressive disorder have treatment-resistant depression.
Evidence for psychedelic compounds varies by drug, indication and patient population, and no psychedelic compound is currently approved by the FDA for a psychiatric indication, according to the information provided by Psych Congress.
Patients nevertheless have access to some treatments outside traditional psychedelic drug development. Licensed psilocybin services operate in several states, ketamine clinics are widespread, and some patients seek treatment outside the U.S., according to the conference organizer.
“There is legitimate reason for interest here and legitimate reason for caution, and practicing clinicians need both,” Raison, a Psych Congress faculty member, said. “What the data establishes matters. So does what it does not establish, and that half of the conversation is much harder to find.”
Marcus Capone said patient experiences can help identify issues requiring further research.
“We want clinicians to bring the same rigor, curiosity and compassion to psychedelic medicine that they bring to every promising area of care,” Capone said. “Patient stories can point us toward questions the science must answer.”
At least 10 companies investigating psychedelic medicines are expected to attend Psych Congress, adding drug developers to a conference that will also include clinicians, researchers, advocates, patients and families.
HMP Global also plans to expand its psychedelic-medicine programming beyond the September conference. At Psych Congress, the company will announce a new meeting focused on psychedelics for 2027 and a new peer-reviewed journal from Psych Congress.
Names, dates and other details for those initiatives are expected to be released during the meeting.
Psych Congress 2026 will run Sept. 15-19 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.
Registration: https://www.hmpglobalevents.com/psych-congress
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