140. Which therapy works best for psychedelics? with Prof Sara Tai

About this episode

Prof Sara Tai discusses her research on the role of therapy in psychedelic treatments.

Join us in this episode as we talk to Prof Sara Tai, a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Manchester and an NHS consultant clinical psychologist. Sara’s research is grounded in biopsychosocial frameworks, with a focus on understanding the mechanisms of change that underpin effective psychological therapies. She has extensive experience delivering therapy, and training other clinicians to deliver interventions with individuals, families, and young people across diverse settings, including acute in-patient units, community mental health services, and schools. For many years, Sara has been at the forefront of research into psychedelic-assisted therapies, working collaboratively with academic and industry partners to explore how psychedelics bring about therapeutic change. She has been instrumental in manualising psychological support models that integrate the core effective components shared across evidence-based psychotherapies, helping to define best practice in this rapidly advancing area. An experienced researcher, clinician, and trainer, Sara has led and collaborated on large-scale randomised controlled trials and has played a central role in training…

People in this episode

Guest: Prof Sara Tai

Topics covered

• psychedelic therapy
• clinical psychology
• mental health
• psychological therapies
• research
• therapeutic change

Keywords

• psychedelics
• therapy
• clinical psychology
• mental health care
• biopsychosocial frameworks
• psychotherapy
• randomised controlled trials

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Manchester, NHS

More episodes of The Drug Science Podcast

• 152. Cocaine and Alcohol with David Hillier · June 10, 2026 · 38 min
• 151. Francis Crick: From DNA to the Brain with Prof Matthew Cobb · May 27, 2026 · 58 min
• 150. Synthetic Alcohol with David Orren · May 13, 2026 · 57 min
• 149. Psilocybin for Cancer with Dr Lauren Macdonald · April 29, 2026 · 55 min
• 148. Sleep, Dreams and Sigmund Freud with Prof Mark Solms · April 15, 2026 · 54 min
• 147. Rewarding the Human Mind with Dr Harriet De Wit · April 1, 2026 · 42 min