Preeti Simran Sethi is a 2023-2024 Ferriss-UC Berkeley Psychedelic Journalism Fellow and Rosalynn Carter Mental Health Journalism Fellow developing a series on what it means to decolonize psychedelics and researching a book on South Asian mental health and altered states. 

She came to psychedelics through her own experiences with psilocybin and MDMA for severe depression and anxiety, and in 2022, founded the Asian Psychedelic Collective: the first and only nonprofit dedicated to creating a space of belonging, education, and advocacy for Asians working with psychedelics. She is committed to expanding the dominant narratives around psychedelics: honoring the indigenous lineages that have stewarded earth medicines and inspired synthetic analogues, uplifting explorations into altered states (including meditation and breathwork) and entheogens that are part of Asian culture, and destigmatizing mental health and drug use within Asian communities. 

These medicines—and the healing, joy, and connection they can engender—are our birthright. 

Preeti was part of the only equity cohort at Fireside Project, providing free and confidential peer support to those actively working with a psychedelic or integrating a past psychedelic experience. As a member of the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion team at the American Psychedelic Practitioners Association, she reviewed and supported the first Professional Practice Guidelines for Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy. 

Named one of DoubleBlind’s mosr “Influential, Innovative, and Disruptive Women in Psychedelics,” one of the “50 Most Influential Global Indians” by Vogue India, and the “environmental messenger” by Vanity Fair, she has written for outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Geographic, Smithsonian, Guernica, and The Guardian. She was designated one of the top eight women saving the planet by Marie Claire, and is the author of Bread, Wine, Chocolate: The Slow Loss of Foods We Love—named one of the best food books of 2016 by Smithsonian—about the loss of biodiversity in food and agriculture told through bread, wine, chocolate, coffee, and beer; the host and creator of The Slow Melt podcast, named Best Food Podcast by Saveur magazine; coauthor of Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy, winner of the 2008 Axiom Award for Best Business Ethics Book; and contributor to multiple anthologies. 

She is a former contributor to NPR and was one of the first inductees into Heritage Radio Network’s Hall of Fame. She holds an M.B.A. in sustainable management from the Presidio Graduate School and graduated cum laude with a B.A. in sociology and women’s studies from Smith College, an institution that, in 2009, awarded her the Smith College Medal. 

Preeti has completed microdosing training through the Microdosing Institute and is completing Psychedelic Facilitator Training through SoundMind Institute and Advanced Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Certification through ATMA. She is also finishing a Master of Science in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology from the University of East London, where she is developing a model of culturally-attuned psychedelic integration for South Asians. Her goal is to build on her trainings plus background in journalism and academia, service as a birth doula and yoga teacher, and recent education as an end-of-life doula to offer support to elders, immigrants/refugees, and people of Asian descent working with psychedelics. 

Review Preeti’s resume here.