Women and Psychedelics: Cycles, Care, and Conditions

Eline Haijen, PhD
Julia Mandoki
Grace Blest-Hopley, PhD
Mikaela de la Myco
moderated by: Jennifer Chesak

Thursday 23 October, 2025 8PM CEST (7PM BST, 2PM ET, 11AM PT)

Online via Zoom

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For too long, the story of psychedelics has been told through a narrow lens, often overlooking the realities, wisdom, and needs of women and gender-diverse people. Yet our bodies, cycles, and life stages profoundly shape how we experience these medicines — and how they might support healing.

This conversation invites us to reflect on what happens when women’s perspectives are centered in psychedelic culture, research, and practice. It is about asking how power dynamics might shift, how care might expand to include families and parents, and how Indigenous knowledge and lived experience might transform the ways we understand psychedelics.

Together, we will explore the intersections of menstruation, menopause, mental health, and caregiving with psychedelic use — not to pathologize difference, but to recognize the richness and complexity of bodies that have long been marginalized in this field. By weaving cycles, care, and conditions into the broader psychedelic dialogue, this panel opens space for more inclusive, compassionate, and transformative approaches to healing.

Why join this conversation?

If you have ever wondered how gender, care, and lived experience shape our relationships with psychedelics, this space is for you. Those navigating menstruation, fertility, menopause, parenting, or caregiving may recognize their own stories reflected here. Researchers, clinicians, and facilitators will find new ways to approach their work with depth and inclusivity. And for allies and community members, this is a chance to imagine how psychedelic culture can grow more compassionate, equitable, and transformative when diverse voices are centered.

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ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Eline Haijen, PhD is a postdoctoral researcher in the Psychopharmacology in Maastricht research group, within the Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology at Maastricht University. Her PhD research focused on alternative treatments for adults with ADHD, including the potential of psychedelic microdosing. In her current postdoctoral role, she continues this line of investigation, exploring innovative treatment approaches for adult ADHD. Her broader research interests include the impact of accessible lifestyle interventions—such as diet, physical activity, and exposure to nature—on mental health.

Julia Mandoki is a researcher, women’s right advocate and sexual and reproductive health educator. With an academic foundation in religious studies and medical anthropology, she is currently based in Amsterdam working with international NGOs, such as ReproUncensored, RougeDoulas and Women on Waves, addressing global health disparities, and promoting reproductive rights and accessible healthcare for women. Currently, she is researching the intersections of women, feminism and psychedelics, asking radically new questions about the origins of consciousness, bioethics and gender-blindness in the psychedelic sciences. Presenting her work at academic conferences and in workshops, as well as working with clients directly, her main vision is to deconstruct the limiting science and health ontologies in the context of gender and bodily autonomy.

Dr. Grace Blest-Hopley, PhD is a Neuroscientist with 12 years experience researching cannabis, cannabinoids, and psychedelics. Grace completed her PhD in Neuroscience at King’s College London and currently serves as the Chief Scientific Officer at NWPharma Tech. She is the Research Director at Heroic Hearts Project, a charity that supports combat veterans with mental health challenges resulting from trauma and is also the founder of Hystelica, a community focused on understanding women’s biology for safe and effective psychedelic use. In addition to her research and professional roles, she has served as an officer in the British Army Reserve. Dr. Blest-Hopley advocates for the therapeutic potential of these substances and strives to advance the field of psychedelic research. Her work contributes to promoting a better understanding of women’s biology in relation to psychedelics.

Mikaela de la Myco is a mother, mushWOMB educator, folk herbalist, community organizer, ceremony facilitator and citizen researcher with over a decade of experience in sacred earth medicine, full-spectrum womb care, psychedelic family life and advocacy for survivors of harm in the wellness community. Her work has been featured in Microdosing for Health, Healing and Enhanced Performance (Fadiman & Gruber), The Psilocybin Handbook for Women (Chesak) and many major publications, podcasts and news outlets. She remains a collaborator with organizations, families and practitioners across the psychedelic field and is committed to being an instrument in the movement to rematriate entheogens.

Jennifer Chesak is the author of the award-winning The Psilocybin Handbook for Women. She is a freelance science and medical journalist, editor, and fact-checker, and her work has appeared in several national and international publications, including the Washington Post and BBC. Chesak earned her master of science in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill. She currently teaches in the journalism and publishing programs at Belmont University. Find her work at jenniferchesak.com and follow her on socials @jenchesak.

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