T-shaped expertise: rethinking interdisciplinarity in psychedelic research

The research, understanding, and implementation of psychedelic therapies is characterised by a layered complexity that arises from the dynamic interactions between pharmacological and extra-pharmacological factors, and the embeddedness of psychedelics within broader societal, legal, and regulatory systems ill-equipped to accommodate them. This complexity is compounded by an epistemic fragmentation: dominant biomedical paradigms are frequently incommensurable with bodies of knowledge produced within the social sciences, humanities, or Indigenous knowledge traditions. There is growing recognition that psychedelic research requires genuinely interdisciplinary engagement, although existing calls for collaboration rarely specify the structural or pedagogical conditions necessary to operationalize it. Addressing these multi-layered systemic complexities requires moving beyond superficial, service-model collaboration. Rather than treating these tensions as problems to be resolved, we argue that genuine interdisciplinary progress requires researchers capable of productive friction across epistemic cultures. We propose the cultivation of T-shaped competencies and intersectoral training as a structural response to the systemic challenges facing psychedelic research and implementation.