Episode 53: “The Next Chapter” | Psychedelic Therapy, Healing, and Hope with filmmaker Scott Paul Wright

June 5th, 2026  |  37 mins 37 secs

In this episode of the MAPS Canada Podcast, host Matt Hamel speaks with filmmaker Scott Paul Wright about his documentary The Next Chapter, an intimate and deeply human exploration of adults over the age of 55 who are turning to psychedelic-assisted therapy as a pathway to healing, meaning-making, and renewal.

The film follows individuals navigating depression, anxiety, grief, trauma, and existential questions later in life, often after conventional treatments have not provided sufficient relief. Through their stories, The Next Chapter highlights both the challenges and the possibilities of psychedelic-assisted therapy, while centering the importance of integration, human connection, and hope.

Scott also shares his own personal journey into this work, including his experience with psilocybin at age 68, and how that experience shaped his decision to create the film. What emerges is a reflection on vulnerability, transformation, and the shared human search for meaning.

The upcoming world premiere of The Next Chapter takes place on June 18, 2026 at The Royal Cinema in Toronto, followed by a live Q&A panel featuring the filmmaker alongside leading clinicians, researchers, and voices in Canada’s psychedelic medicine community, including Dr. Joshua Rosenblat and Dr. Blake Pearson. The event is designed as a community gathering and conversation, bridging lived experience with clinical and research perspectives at a time when psychedelic-assisted therapy is rapidly entering the public discourse in Canada. For more information about the documentary and how you can attend, visit https://thenextchapterfilm.com/

Episode 52: CAN-PACT: Reimagining Cancer Care Through Psychedelic Therapy with Dr. Ron Shore & Dr. Linda Carlson

May 30th, 2026  |  49 mins 30 secs

In this episode of the MAPS Canada Podcast, host Matt Hamel speaks with Dr. Linda Carlson and Dr. Ron Shore about CAN-PACT (the Canadian Network for Psychedelic-Assisted Cancer Therapy), a groundbreaking national initiative exploring the role of psilocybin-assisted therapy for people living with advanced cancer. Dr. Carlson and Dr. Shore discuss the emotional and existential challenges many cancer patients face, including anxiety, uncertainty, grief, demoralization, and fear surrounding death and dying. They explain how CAN-PACT is building a cross-Canada network of researchers, clinicians, patient partners, and educators to investigate how psychedelic-assisted therapy may help address these deeply human experiences.

Learn more about CAN-PACT:
https://canpact.ca

Episode 47: How LSD Research in Canada Helped Treat Alcohol Use Disorder with Dr. Erika Dyck

March 29th, 2026  |  39 mins 41 secs

In this episode of the MAPS Canada Podcast, host Matt Hamel speaks with Dr. Erika Dyck about the remarkable early wave of psychedelic research conducted in Saskatchewan during the 1950s and 1960s.

Researchers based in the Canadian prairies, including Humphry Osmond, developed an ambitious program investigating the potential of LSD as a treatment for alcoholism. During this period, Osmond also famously coined the term “psychedelic” in correspondence with Aldous Huxley, helping shape the language that still defines the field today.

Dr. Dyck explores the broader scientific and cultural context that allowed this pioneering research to flourish. The conversation also examines the social and political forces that abruptly halted this early wave of work, and how the insights from this era of Canadian research continues to influence today’s renewed interest in psychedelic science, including modern studies on psychedelics and alcohol use disorder.