The following is a recap of “Psychedelic Medicine at Work: Offering Breakthrough Therapies as an Employee Benefit,” a panel discussion at the Behavioral Health Conference last Thursday in Phoenix.
The expert panel included Dana Lerman, medical director at Skylight Psychedelics; Sherry Rais, founder of Enthea; Erica Scott, director of people and organizational culture at Grand Canyon Trust; and Kat Thompson, founder of Fractal Soul Service Center. The session was moderated by Brad Dunn, editor of reMind.
About two-thirds of U.S. employees say they aren’t getting the mental health care they need—not because they lack access to treatments, but because traditional approaches don’t work, according to a recent survey.
Psychedelic-assisted therapy brings hope, by allowing patients to confront the root cause of their distress, leading to profound and lasting relief. Employers are increasingly considering these breakthrough therapies as a potential employee benefit to address mental health issues, recognizing its potential to improve workplace well-being and productivity.
Moreover, Scott said organizations have a responsibility to address the growing mental health crisis, citing data that shows a clear link between workplace stress, management, and overall employee well-being.
“Employers absolutely play a role in this, and it’s going to require some unique ways of thinking about health care, how we support our employees, and how we take care of each other,” she said. “And we need to do it fast. We need a warp-speed approach. We just cannot wait any longer.”
Mental health issues are not only a personal struggle for employees but also represent a significant economic burden on employers, costing trillions annually in lost productivity and healthcare expenses.
“Untreated mental health costs U.S. employers $3.7 trillion a year. About 42% of missed workdays are due to mental health reasons,” Rais said, adding that American organizations can set an international example. “If we start addressing it properly, if employers here start leading by example, then the rest of the world might follow suit.”
Both ketamine- and psilocybin-assisted therapies have shown promising results in treating a variety of mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, addiction and PTSD. Ketamine is federally legal and FDA-approved, while psilocybin is legal only in Oregon and, starting in January, Colorado.
“The way that these medicines work is completely different than our traditional Western medicine approach,” said Lerman, adding that successful psychedelic therapy involves preparatory and integration processes to ensure a safe and transformative experience.
“We feel very strongly in the data that shows the best outcomes involve therapy in conjunction with psychedelic work. It needs to be integrative.”
Thompson said psilocybin-assisted therapy also goes beyond traditional mental health treatments, providing lasting relief for various psychological issues.
“A lot of our clients who come, don’t return. They don’t need to,” Thompson said. “We treated more than 400 people in our first year, and after they set clear intentions, most of our clients were able to address their core issues after only one session.”
State and federal policies around psychedelics may be rapidly evolving, but the costs remain high for patients. Companies like Enthea are pioneering the integration of psychedelic therapies into employee benefits packages, aiming to make these innovative treatments more accessible.
“We’re creating a marketplace or a platform for employers to offer innovative mental health treatments, like psychedelic therapy, like psilocybin, like ketamine therapy, to their employees to address all of the issues,” Rais said.
Enthea is focused on offering therapies the use generic ketamine, instead of the branded version, Spravato, because its costs are too great.
“Spravato typically cost $45,000 a year, while generic ketamine is nowhere near that expensive,” she said. “Enthea came into existence to help bridge this gap. We help employers cover this much more effective, much cheaper version of ketamine with protocols that in conjunction with the allow people to only do a few sessions.”
Oregon’s state-regulated psilocybin program is also aiming to reduce costs. In fact, some patients are able to get reimbursements through their Health Savings Acounts (HSAs) or Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs).
“Many of our clients, maybe 50% to 60%, have been able to actually pay for their psilocybin services — not the psilocybin product itself, but the services — through their HSA or FSA,” Thompson said. “If an FSA or an HSA program in general covers ‘alternative wellness’ or ‘health coaching’ or those types of services generally, they would potentially also cover psilocybin as well. This has been an exciting intermediary step.”
