🫠 Psychonaut POV

Welcome to Tricycle Day. We’re the Frank’s Red Hot of psychedelic newsletters. Our emails are spicy enough to make you sweat, but so satisfying you savor every drop. (Moist towelettes not included.) 🥵

Stephanie Karzon Abrams is the epitome of “get you a girl who can do both”… hard science and the arts, of course. As the founder of a music label and a psychedelic-centric research consultancy, she just wants to help people find deeper connection to themselves and others.

We talked to Steph about how psychedelics can foster intimacy in relationships, what kind of music is working best in psychedelic therapy, and why all plant medicine brands should run studies on their products.

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What first drew you to studying psychedelics? How has your perspective evolved since you started in this field?

Years ago, I spent time in the ICU doing research on traumatic brain injuries (TBI), trying to understand optimal treatment protocols. Then and still today, it was a lot of symptom management—agitation, aggression, insomnia, headache, anxiety, and depression—mostly with psychiatric drugs. In the acute phase, there isn’t much of a choice, but what happens when patients are on these drugs for years and still aren’t getting better?

At the time, psychedelics weren't even on the radar, but we all recognized that TBI wasn't just about the brain, but about the mind and mental health. After that, I spent six years at Johnson & Johnson in medical devices, which taught me how healthcare worked in the corporate world and how to develop strategies to educate people about therapies.

When I wanted to go back to pharmacology and neurology, I thought, could psychedelics be a solution for those brain injury patients now? It was becoming a hot topic, and like many people, I had had my own eye-opening experiences. I got curious, started poking around, and found the Microdosing Collective. I partnered with Dr. Evan Lewis on research into how psychedelics could help neurology patients. I also got my own certifications in psychedelic science and therapy and became a prescriber for the Canadian Special Access Program.

My trajectory in psychedelics since then has been unexpected. It started with advising companies on pharmacology, formulation, and research, which led to establishing a consultancy called Beyond The Bench. I then began helping clinicians develop practices in integrative medicine and psychedelic-assisted therapy, such as the one I recently launched in Los Angeles, Modern Medicine Services.

It's now become a mix of science, operations, and strategy, all focused on above-ground work. But I've realized we need to bridge the gap to the underground too. Now, through advocacy and lobbying, I'm working to include this valuable underground work in our scope, so that no one gets left behind.

What have you learned about how psychedelics influence relationships and our experience of intimacy?

It all goes back to altered states in general. People have noticed that altered states put us in a position to look at connection differently and be in a better place with ourselves. It starts with self-love and self-acceptance, because that's going to be reflected in all your relationships with others.

You can alter your state in many different ways, whether you’re taking psychedelics or practicing meditation, dance, or music. What's fascinating is that all these activities result in deeper and healthier connections. On a neurochemical level, the same hormones are expressed in the brain as in a psychedelic experience—serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin.

When our personal relationships lack intimacy, it’s often because we aren’t communicating openly and honestly. We can’t fully express ourselves due to a fear of rejection. Medicines like MDMA and kanna don’t just open the mind; they open the heart, leading to more acceptance and less judgment. That safe space is what builds deeper connections.

It can be beautiful to co-create a practice around a new plant or molecule with your partner, focusing on how you feel in your body and being present for and with each other. Go slow, take the necessary precautions, and enjoy the process. That in itself builds intimacy. What other practices you stack on top of that—touch, eye gazing, something more involved—that's up to you to decide.

How do you see music fitting into psychedelic therapy? Did this connection play any part in your decision to start Public Secret?

If anything, it was the other way around. Music has always been a huge part of my life. I started the violin at age four, and even as I grew up and pursued a career in science, music remained a passion of mine. So a childhood friend and I co-founded Public Secret, a music label and events company in LA and Mexico. We throw events designed to build community and create safe, heart-centered spaces where people can connect and commune through music.

Those events have reinforced my belief that music absolutely goes hand in hand with psychedelics. Music itself is psychedelic. For me, it's one of the closest things to source.

In clinical practice, we see how important set and setting is, and music selection is an important part of that equation. Clients who've gone through ketamine-assisted therapy often report how the music during their sessions surfaced specific memories or helped them go deeper. It also seems to improve outcomes.

For traditional medicines like ayahuasca, the lineage itself is interwoven with music. But with newer therapies like ketamine, we’re still figuring out what works best. Therapists are gravitating towards soundscapes, as opposed to pop music, where instrumentation can evoke emotion, sensation, and imagery. There's also a focus on high-fidelity sound files because our brains may be able to pick up on the nuance with more sensitivity than usual.

Your work includes designing research programs for psychedelic and plant medicine brands. Why is this research important, and how might it benefit consumers down the line?

People in the West are paying more attention to plant medicine and realizing that Earth has provided beautiful gifts we've either overlooked or forgotten about. It's great to see people becoming more educated and looking for natural ways to support their health and wellness. At the same time, the market is becoming saturated with competing products, and not all brands are created equal.

Research is important for these brands because it helps them demonstrate how their product works, educate consumers, and contribute to the field. Many entrepreneurs don’t realize they can run a robust and HIPPA-compliant study without spending hundreds of thousands of dollars. It comes down to the methodology and questions you ask when planning a study.

For consumers, this research is crucial because the natural health product industry isn't well regulated. You can print ingredients on a bottle, but nobody's verifying that. When consumers are inundated by all these options, seeing a paper demonstrating why a product is good and safe, and how it works, can put them at ease and make them more inclined to purchase. It also helps people understand how to use the product and integrate it into their daily life.

Over the long term, my hope is that more research leads to more integrous products in the market. Educated consumers will expect a certain standard.

You've focused on psychedelic applications for understudied populations. What current or potential future developments in this area are you most excited about?

I'm really excited about two specific areas: neurology and women's health. In neurology, I'm looking at headaches and spinal cord injuries. What people tend to overlook is that if you have a chronic illness that affects your quality of life, you'll be struggling on a mental health level too. I'm interested in psychedelic-assisted therapy in these conditions because of its orientation toward treating the whole person.

For example, we know MDMA-assisted therapy is promising for PTSD. We wondered, could it be a tool to support patients with spinal cord injuries in moving through their trauma? However, our research showed that MDMA, being serotonergic, led to severe adverse events in some of these patients due to how a severed spinal cord processes serotonin differently. It was a good reminder that not all psychedelics are for everyone, but perhaps different or modified compounds could help certain populations with unique risk factors.

In women's health, we're noticing a relationship between psychedelics, serotonin, and estrogen. We're finally seeing research for postpartum depression, menopause, endometriosis, and severe PMS. Typically, clinical trials have been male-dominated and excluded complex syndromes. I'm excited to see more research focused on women's health because there's clearly a relationship there.

The common thread is that what we've been doing isn't working. We have an opportunity to better the practice. How do we take care of people in better ways?

Overall, my hope is that we continue to bridge science and spirit. In the medical field, the tendency is to treat symptoms with drugs, but we're dealing with whole persons who need support on many levels. That's why I believe integrative medicine, which addresses body, mind, and spirit, is the future.

Want more from Steph?

Read her analyses of the latest psychedelic research, or get in touch to design a study for your brand.

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DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. The use, possession, and distribution of psychedelic drugs are illegal in most countries and may result in criminal prosecution.