Josh Lipson, PhD
Josh Lipson, PhD, is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Emory Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality. He completed his doctoral training in clinical psychology at the Spirituality and Psychology Lab at Teachers College, Columbia University, in 2025, where he focused on the non-monotonic relationship between mystical and psychedelic experiences and mental health outcomes, culminating in a dissertation titled “Modeling the diverse trajectories of psychedelic-occasioned mystical experiences.” He is interested in the heterogeneity of psychedelic experiences and post-psychedelic trajectories, and the role of baseline trait factors, intentions and expectations, and belonging as predictors. He is also interested in people’s use of spiritual and religious frameworks for sense-making around the psychedelic experience.
His postdoctoral fellowship centers around the Post-Psychedelic Challenges Study and the Mediation-Related Challenges Study, which seek to understand persisting adverse effects after psychedelics and meditation, their predictors, and evidence for potentially effective treatment strategies. In addition, he is involved in work on the Jewish Journeys study, a collaboration between ECPS and Shefa and flagship project of the MOSAIC Initiative.
Dr. Lipson has extensive clinical experience in crisis intervention and the treatment of severe and persistent mental illness, having trained in private and state institutions across the Borough of Manhattan. He is continuing his clinical training toward licensure as part of his fellowship at Emory.
Dr. Lipson is an avid science communicator and interdisciplinary writer, and has appeared on numerous podcasts and general interest publications, in addition to his presentations and publications in academic venues.
Education
- Clinical Internship, Manhattan Psychiatric Center, 2025
- Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, Columbia University, 2025
- M.S., Psychological Sciences, William & Mary, 2020
- A.B., Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard College, 2014