Women in Psychedelics: Visionaries You Need to Know

Psychedelics have long been framed through the lens of male pioneers—Hofmann, Leary, McKenna, Shulgin. But this narrative leaves out a crucial truth: from the very beginning, women have shaped, safeguarded, and advanced the field. Their work spans spiritual traditions, rigorous science, ethical advocacy, and therapeutic innovation. And in today’s psychedelic renaissance, women continue to lead.

Let’s meet seven women whose contributions helped birth—and now evolve—the psychedelic movement.

Long before psilocybin studies and microdosing protocols, Maria Sabina was guiding sacred mushroom ceremonies in Oaxaca, Mexico. As a Mazatec curandera, she worked with Psilocybe mushrooms for healing and divination, rooted in centuries of tradition.

In 1955, her openness changed psychedelic history when she guided R. Gordon Wasson—the first outsider to witness the Mazatec mushroom ritual. His reporting introduced psilocybin to Western science, leading to its isolation by Albert Hofmann. But this visibility came at great cost: tourism flooded her village, disrupting cultural traditions and bringing exploitation.

Maria Sabina later expressed deep regret, feeling that the sacredness of the mushrooms had been stripped for profit. Still, her legacy remains central to any ethical conversation about indigenous wisdom and the modern psychedelic industry.

While Gordon Wasson’s name dominates psychedelic lore, his wife, Valentina Pavlovna Wasson, was the original catalyst. A pediatrician, mycologist, and lifelong mushroom enthusiast, Valentina introduced Gordon to the cultural and spiritual uses of fungi.

Her medical expertise and personal fascination drove their expeditions to Mexico, culminating in the famed Life magazine article "Seeking the Magic Mushroom" in 1957. Without Valentina’s intellectual curiosity and detailed observations, the Western introduction to psilocybin may have been delayed by decades.

If modern psychedelic research has a global policy engine, it’s Amanda Feilding. As founder of the Beckley Foundation, Feilding has quietly shaped the world’s drug policies and research agendas for decades.

Her collaborations with institutions like Johns Hopkins and Imperial College London have produced some of the most cited studies on psychedelics' therapeutic potential. A long-time LSD user herself, Feilding’s personal exploration fueled her commitment to evidence-based reform. Her work helped legitimize psychedelics within scientific and political spheres once ruled by prohibition.

Often overshadowed by her former husband Terence McKenna, Kathleen Harrison built her own legacy as one of the most respected ethnobotanists in psychedelic studies. She has spent decades learning from indigenous communities and documenting their sacred plant traditions.

Through Botanical Dimensions, a nonprofit she co-founded, Kathleen works to preserve indigenous plant knowledge while advocating for ethical, respectful research. In a field often dominated by extractive science, her work remains a blueprint for cultural reciprocity and humility.

Ann Shulgin didn’t just support her husband Sasha’s legendary chemistry work—she helped integrate his creations into therapeutic practice. While Sasha synthesized hundreds of compounds, Ann explored their emotional and psychological applications.

Grounded in Jungian psychology, Ann introduced the concept of “shadow work” into psychedelic therapy—inviting patients to face unconscious fears and desires rather than bypassing them. She was among the first to advocate for MDMA and 2C-B in therapeutic settings, before these compounds were scheduled.

Her co-authorship of PiHKAL and TiHKAL cemented her as a core architect of modern psychedelic-assisted therapy—a legacy that lives on through the Shulgin Research Institute.

While these historical figures laid the groundwork, the psychedelic movement continues to evolve, with women leading in areas of research, therapy, and advocacy. Two such modern pioneers are Dr. Rosalind Watts and Bia Labate.

As a lead clinical psychologist in Imperial College London’s psilocybin trials, Dr. Rosalind Watts helped validate psilocybin’s promise for treatment-resistant depression. But her contribution didn’t stop at clinical data.

Seeing the need for long-term support, Watts developed the ACER Integration Model—a human-centered approach to post-session care that emphasizes connection, community, and sustainable healing. Her work reminds us that psychedelics aren’t magic pills; they’re catalysts that require thoughtful integration to yield lasting growth.

Dr. Bia Labate stands at the intersection of academia, activism, and ethics. As founder of the Chacruna Institute, she amplifies indigenous voices often excluded from the Western psychedelic boom.

A Brazilian anthropologist, Labate advocates for cultural reciprocity, calling out the extraction of indigenous plant knowledge without proper acknowledgment or benefit-sharing. Her work forces the movement to ask hard questions: Who benefits from psychedelic healing? And who is left behind?

The history of psychedelics is richer—and more complicated—than the popular narrative suggests. Women like Maria Sabina, Ann Shulgin, Kathleen Harrison, and today’s pioneers have shaped this field not just with science, but with wisdom, ethics, and lived experience.

As we enter this new chapter of psychedelic healing, we must carry forward not only the molecules, but the stories. Because true integration means honoring where these medicines—and these women—came from.