Guiding Clinicians Through Psychiatry’s Next Era at Psych Congress 2026
From the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into daily practice to the continued development of psychedelic agents, psychiatry is in a period of significant innovation. As the field rapidly evolves, the 39th annual Psych Congress, which convenes September 15 through September 19 in New Orleans, LA, promises to prepare clinicians for the changing landscape of patient care.
Exploring Emerging Treatment Paradigms
The Congress will kick-off with 2 pre-conference intensives, one on integrative psychiatry and another on emerging neurobiological targets in psychopharmacology, offering a deeper dive into clinical advances that are shifting treatment paradigms.
In the integrative intensive, expert faculty will review evidence-based, whole-person care approaches that account for the role of nutrition, metabolism, and sleep in optimizing mental health outcomes. Sessions will include a discussion on key nutritional influences in psychiatry, presented by Psychiatry Redefined founder James Greenblatt, MD, as well as a conversation on temperature-based approaches to mental health care, presented by Psych Congress Steering Committee member Charles Raison, MD.
The similarly structured advanced psychopharmacology intensive will comprise 4 sessions, which will review muscarinic receptor pharmacology, discuss the development of orexin-based treatments, and explore where glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) therapies may increasingly fit into psychiatric care.
Psychedelic Therapies Take Center Stage
With a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approval of a psychedelic therapy anticipated in 2027, this year’s keynote session, “Psychedelic Therapy After the Executive Order: Now What?” will feature a multidisciplinary panel exploring the current state of psychedelic psychiatry from clinical, policy, and lived experience perspectives.
Navy SEAL Veteran Marcus Capone and his wife, Amber Capone, will open the session by discussing their experience with psychedelic-assisted therapy and the journey that led them to establish Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS).
Psych Congress Steering Committee members Rakesh Jain, MD, MPH; Saundra Jain, MA, LPC, PsyD; Andrew Penn, PHMNP-BC; and Raison will then be joined by Matthew Zorn, JD, Deputy General Counsel, US Department of Health and Human Services, for a briefing on the FDA’s September 14th public hearing, “Considerations for Potential Future Therapeutic Use of Psychedelic Drugs.” The panel will explore issues of patient safety, provider training, and data review processes as psychedelic agents move closer to FDA review.
Several additional sessions will continue the psychedelic conversation throughout the Congress. In “Unlocking the Doors of Depression: Neuroplastic and Psychedelic Therapies in MDD,” Penn and Raison will examine emerging psychedelic approaches to major depressive disorder (MDD). Alongside Brittany Albright, MD, MPH, DABOM, Penn will also present “Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) Care Reimagined: Current Best Practices and the Emerging Role of Psychedelics,” on Saturday morning.
Broad Clinical Coverage
Beyond emerging treatments, this year’s agenda also spans a wide range of disease states and patient populations. Several sessions will explore the role of psychiatric care in neurodevelopmental disorders, including “Seeing the Whole Person: Autism and Co- Occurring Psychiatric Condition,” presented by Kristin Sohl, MD, FAAP, and Jo Hughes, DMSc, PA-C, CAQ-PSY, on Thursday morning. Others will offer a focused look into women’s mental health, including “Women, Hormones, and ADHD: What We Know, What We Don’t, and What Clinicians Need to Understand,” presented by Greg Mattingly, MD, and Moushumi Mukerji MSN, PMHNP-BC, CNM.
Sessions developed in partnership with mental health organizations specializing in geriatric psychiatry, reproductive psychiatry, and suicide prevention further promise to equip clinicians with current research and clinical insights. Alongside discussions of emerging science and evolving technologies, these programs aim to empower attendees to deliver high-quality, individualized care across diverse diagnoses, populations, and practice settings.
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