#21: Pedro Teixeira, Ph.D. - Psychedelics and Health Behavior Change

Welcome back to The Trip Report Podcast, a production of Beckley Waves, a Psychedelic Venture Studio.Today, I am speaking with Dr. Pedro Texeira, Ph.D a scientist studying health behavior change and health psychology at the University of Lisbon and founder of the psychedelic educational non-profit Safe Journey.About 18 months ago, I came across a paper authored by Pedro, Robin Carhart-Harris, and others titled Psychedelics and Health Behaviour Change about the potential role of psychedelics in promoting lifestyle changes that are conducive to overall health, and I knew that this would be an increasingly relevant area of research and practice.Part of my intrigue with psychedelics as therapeutic tools is the wide array of conditions and issues for which they may be helpful.At a time when the dominant prescriptive mode in healthcare is “a different pill for every ill,” it is intriguing to see an emerging treatment that has been used for centuries and for which people have organically found helpful for many different conditions from PTSD, to Depression, to Cluster Headaches.Furthermore, the idea that society’s most pressing healthcare challenges—chronic diseases—are downstream of environment and lifestyle is an inconvenient truth. The reality is that we can’t ignore the impact of nutrition, exercise, sleep, our social environment, and other non-medical lifestyle factors that can be difficult to change.So, can psychedelic-based approaches help people make positive changes? Develop greater agency? Feel less compulsion?These are the questions that Pedro and his team are researching.In this conversation, we discuss:* Pedro’s research in nutritional science and health activity* The rise of environmental and lifestyle-based chronic diseases* The early years of the field of behavioral psychology* Self Determination Theory and the relationship between one’s perceived competence and motivation for change* The underlying psychological mechanisms of action in self-perception and health behavior change* The potential power of combining established behavioral interventions with psychedelics* What we can learn about behavior change following psychedelic experiences in naturalistic settings* And the importance of psychedelic public education And now I bring you my conversation with Dr. Pedro Teixeira.Listen to the episode on Substack, Spotify, Google or Apple.Credits:* Hosted by Zach Haigney * Produced by Zach Haigney, Erin Greenhouse, and Katelin Jabbari* Find us at thetripreport.com* Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTubeTheme music by MANCHO Sounds, Mixed and Mastered by Rollin Weary This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thetripreport.com