Trump’s VA Head Visits Psychedelics Research Center, Reiterating ‘Promise’ To Explore Benefits For Military Veterans

The head of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) visited a facility
conducting research on psychedelics this week, reiterating that it’s his
“promise” to advance research into the therapeutic potential of the
substances—even if that might take certain policy changes within the
department and with congressional support.

In a video shared on X on Tuesday, VA Secretary Doug Collins talked about
his commitment to pursuing clinical trials into substances such as
MDMA—standing alongside Rachel Yehuda, the director of mental health at
VA’s James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center who has overseen and
advocated for psychedelics research.

“I told you all along that we are looking at psychedelics. We’re looking at
anything to help our veterans,” Collins said, while stressing that he
acknowledges “there’s no silver bullet for the things we have for trauma
and our stress and the incidences of childhood.”

“These are all things that come out in our veterans as they come back from
war zones, but also just in everyday life. But you know, sitting here with
Rachel and the doctors here, I have found that there’s some things that are
working,” the secretary said. “I promised you that we’re going to look into
this, and we’re making changes to make it even better so we can make it
more available.”

Visited the VA Bronx Health Care System today to have a look at some of the
groundbreaking research they are doing regarding potential psychedelic
treatments for Veterans. Excellent work! pic.twitter.com/VlbJHH44rA

— VA Secretary Doug Collins (@SecVetAffairs) June 17, 2025

“It’s going to take some change in the VA. It’s going to take some changes
in Congress. But it’s a thing that I have said we want to do because we
want to take care of veterans,” Collins said, noting that the room they
filmed the video in is one of the facilities where MDMA clinical trials are
currently underway.

“These are things we’re going to continue. I promise you, we’re going to do
it,” he said, telling Yehuda to “keep doing what you’re doing because it is
meaningful to our veterans, and I want to thank you.”

Yehuda shared the secretary’s post and said she was pleased to meet Collins
and “show what we’ve built at [VA] for our veterans.”

“We’re excited about the expansion of our [Parsons Research Center for
Psychedelic Healing] at the VA and the two new studies that have just begun
here with MDMA and psilocybin,” she said.

Thank you @SecVetAffairs for stopping by. Pleasure to meet you and show
what we’ve built at @DeptVetAffairs for our veterans. We’re excited about
the expansion of our Center @MSPsychedelics at the VA and the two new
studies that have just begun here with MDMA and psilocybin.
https://t.co/5qgrawYajL

— Rachel Yehuda (@RachelYehuda) June 17, 2025

Collins’s visit to the psychedelics research center comes about a month
after the VA secretary met with a military veteran who’s become an advocate
for psilocybin access to discuss the therapeutic potential of psychedelic
medicine for the veteran community.

Collins also briefly raised the issue in a Cabinet meeting with President
Donald Trump in April.

The secretary also disclosed in April that he had an “eye-opening” talk
with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F.
Kennedy Jr. about the therapeutic potential of psychedelic medicine. And
Collins said he’s open to the idea of having the government provide
vouchers to cover the costs of psychedelic therapy for veterans who receive
services outside of VA as Congress considers pathways for access.

During a recent Senate committee hearing, he separately reiterated his
commitment to exploring the efficacy of psychedelic therapy to address
serious mental health conditions that commonly afflict military veterans.

Meanwhile last month, bipartisan congressional lawmakers asked the VA head
to meet with them to discuss ways to provide access to psychedelic medicine
for military veterans.

In a letter sent to Collins, Reps. Lou Correa (D-CA) and Jack Bergman
(R-MI)—co-chairs of the Congressional Psychedelic Advancing Therapies
(PATH) Caucus—said they were “encouraged by your recent remarks about the
importance of pursuing research into psychedelic treatments and other
alternative treatments to improve Veterans’ care.”

Correa and Bergman separately introduced a bill in April to provide $30
million in funding annually to establish psychedelics-focused “centers for
excellence” at VA facilities, where veterans could receive novel treatment
involving substances like psilocybin, MDMA and ibogaine.

Bergman has also expressed optimism about the prospects of advancing
psychedelics reform under Trump, arguing that the administration’s efforts
to cut spending and the federal workforce will give agencies “spines” to
tackle such complex issues.


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In December, VA separately announced that it’s providing $1.5 million in
funding to study the efficacy of MDMA-assisted therapy for veterans with
PTSD and alcohol use disorder (AUD).

Last year, VA’s Yehuda also touted an initial study the agency funded that
produced “stunning and robust results” from its first-ever clinical trial
into MDMA therapy.

In January, former VA Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal said that
it was “very encouraging” that Trump’s pick to have Kennedy lead HHS has
supported psychedelics reform. And he hoped to work with him on the issue
if he stayed on for the next administration, but that didn’t pan out.

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*Photo elements courtesy of carlosemmaskype and Apollo.*

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