DC Position
DC8 – Set and Setting in Psychedelic Therapy: An Anthropological and Clinical Perspective
Cyprien Basso was born in Paris, France, and grew up between Paris and Brussels. At eighteen, he spent a year in Central China studying internal martial arts in Daoist mountain communities, then pursued higher education in Switzerland and the United Kingdom. He studied Anthropology and Asian Studies at the Universities of Neuchâtel and Geneva, before working as a social worker with individuals experiencing homelessness and alcohol dependence. He later completed an MPhil in Medical Anthropology at the University of Oxford, where he combined his interest in Buddhist contemplative practices, mental health, and care ethics. He is currently pursuing a PhD examining how set and setting shape both therapeutic outcomes and safety in psychedelic-assisted therapy, by comparing ayahuasca rituals in the Peruvian Amazon with contemporary clinical trials in Europe. In his free time, he enjoys reading philosophy, practicing meditation, and laughing with friends.
David Dupuis,
Principal Investigator
David Dupuis is a Research Fellow at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM). Trained in both social anthropology and clinical psychology, his research lies at the intersection of anthropology, cultural psychiatry, and psychedelic studies. Since 2008, he has conducted long-term ethnographic fieldwork in the Peruvian Amazon on the ritual uses of ayahuasca and the social shaping of psychedelic experiences. More recently, his research has expanded to psychedelic-assisted therapy trials in France and Europe, examining the cultural, political, clinical, ethical, and epistemological implications of the contemporary expansion of psychedelic practices. Within INTEGRATE, he contributes expertise in anthropological and qualitative approaches to psychedelic experiences, interdisciplinary research, and cultural psychiatry. His work emphasizes methodological rigor and interdisciplinary collaboration, aiming to better understand how cultural, social, and institutional contexts shape psychedelic experiences and their therapeutic potential.
