Alex Belser, PhD, Psychedelic Researcher, Psychologist & Author

Who I Am

Research in service of healing

My work explores integrative and psychedelic therapies to alleviate human suffering. My background combines traditional clinical training with over two decades of involvement in psychedelic research. I am committed to helping people find meaningful breakthroughs in their lives.

I'm a psychologist and clinical scientist. My main areas of focus have been psychedelic medicine and LGBTQ+ mental health. Since co-founding the Psychedelic Research Group at NYU in 2006, I have studied how psilocybin, MDMA, DMT, and ketamine could be used with different forms of therapy to help us all live life with more meaning.

My clinical trial research has focused on the treatment of depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, substance use, and end-of-life distress.

My bio

20Years in psychedelic research

2Books, Oxford & Synergetic

15+Peer-reviewed publications

17Training programs taught in

50+Lectures & Grand Rounds

Teaching & Training

Faculty & guest lecturer in a number of psychedelic therapy courses

Harvard Medical School Chacruna Institute Yale University Embody Lab Karolinska Institute ATMA Institute UCLA Grand Rounds SUNY Baruch Harvard Divinity School Kiyumi New York University University of Ottawa Integrative Psychiatry Institute OpeNurses New York Academy of Medicine Synthesis Institute Mt. Sinai Grand Rounds

Featured Lecture

UCLA Psychiatry Grand Rounds · 2022

Psychedelic Medicine: Reckoning with the Next Wave of Research and Practice

An honest look at where psychedelic science stands, its promise, its open questions, and what the field still owes its patients.

All talks, reels & interviews →

The Books

Two books on psychedelic medicine

Oxford University PressEMBARK Psychedelic Therapy for DepressionBrennan & Belser

Oxford University Press · 2024

EMBARK Psychedelic Therapy for Depression

A New Approach for the Whole Person, co-authored with Bill Brennan, PhD

A clinical guide for psychedelic therapy: an open-source, transdiagnostic model built around six domains of human experience, now used in clinical trials and training programs in the U.S. and Europe.

The EMBARK approach Oxford Amazon

Synergetic PressQueering PsychedelicsBelser · Cavnar · Labate

Synergetic Press · 2022

Queering Psychedelics

From Oppression to Liberation in Psychedelic Medicine, edited with Clancy Cavnar & Beatriz Labate

The first anthology dedicated to LGBTQIA+ perspectives in psychedelic science, a reckoning with the field's past and a blueprint for a more welcoming future.

LGBTQ+ advocacy Amazon About both books

All of the patients described powerful feelings of connection… a shift from feelings of separateness to interconnectedness, exalted feelings of joy, bliss, and love.

Findings from the NYU research, as told in Michael Pollan's How to Change Your Mind

Explore

The work, in three directions

A growing movement

EMBARK Psychedelic Therapy

Individual & group

Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy

Research & advocacy

LGBTQ+ People in Psychedelics

Colleagues' Words

What collaborators say

"Alex is exceptional, both as a psychotherapist and as a human being. I've met few people as caring, wise, compassionate, or brilliant. Helping others is truly a calling for him."

Bill Brennan, PhD

"I wholeheartedly recommend Alex. What truly sets him apart is his ability to teach and mentor others with integrity and kindness."

Elizabeth Nielson, PhD

"Alex is that rare breed of clinician who pairs a towering intellect with a massive heart, all wrapped up with a down-to-earth humility and an eager curiosity."

Miles Bukiet, LMSW

More testimonials

Work with Dr. Belser

Now accepting new patients in his private practice in Gramercy Park, New York City, including ketamine-assisted psychotherapy.

Book via Zocdoc Center for Breakthroughs Constellation Alliance