Doctor, Psychiatrist, Psychedelic Psychotherapist, Philosopher
Dr Nigel Strauss FRANZCP is a psychiatrist best known for his longstanding interest in Psychedelic Medicines and their safe introduction into Clinical Psychiatric Practice in Australia. He is currently a Consultant Psychiatrist at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne and an Adjunct Clinical Associate within the School of Health Sciences Swinburne University.
Dr Strauss graduated as a medical doctor at Melbourne University in 1973 and became a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists in 1978. He did post graduate studies at the Jung Institute in Zurich and has been a Consultant Psychiatrist in Private Practice since 1980.Between 1983 and 2023 he ran the Millswyn Clinic in Melbourne, a Private Outpatient Psychiatric Facility.
He trained as a MAPS certified psychedelic psychotherapist in the UK in 2014. He was a Psychedelic Psychotherapist in the first Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy Trial in modern era Australia using this treatment for the management of end-of-life anxiety and depression. He was a Psychedelic Psychotherapist in the first Australian trial using psilocybin assisted therapy for treatment resistant depression.
Dr Strauss, together with MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies), is currently sponsoring a trial at Monash University using MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for the treatment of PTSD in veterans and first responders.
Dr Strauss served on the Royal Australian College of Psychiatrists Steering Committee advising on Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy and its safe introduction into Clinical Practice in Australia. He has appeared in several educational podcasts about Psychedelics and has given a number of public presentations about Psychedelic Medicines.
Psychedelic Science and Therapy
Dr Strauss is known as one of one of the founders of contemporary psychedelic research in Australia and has been recognised by Psychedelics.com as one of the “Most Influential People in the world of Psychedelic Science”.
He was the co-author of the first contemporary peer reviewed article on psychedelics to be published in Australia in the Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry: “Australia should be initiating a psychedelic research program: What are the barriers?” (Vol 50 No.11 Sep 2016)
He was the co-author of the first Best Practice Clinical Guidelines for The Use of Psychedelic Medicines in Australia and New Zealand (Oct 2020) which was used by the College of Psychiatrists as a reference document.
He was a psychedelic psychotherapist in the first two trials in Australia using psilocybin assisted therapy.
He has been a constant advocate for the use of MDMA assisted therapy for the treatment of PTSD. Dr Strauss was the first Australian practitioner to graduate as a MAPS trained therapist. He trained in the UK in 2014.
As a pioneer in this field, he has also had his setbacks. In 2015, as an Adjunct Professor at Deakin university focusing on indigenous cultural trauma, Dr Strauss as a trained psychedelic therapist initiated a research project using MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of PTSD. However, because of bias and fear the University ethics committee disallowed the project to proceed. This setback prompted Dr Strauss to finance the current trial at Monash which is well advanced: 25 subjects with treatment-resistant PTSD who are either first responders or veterans are part of this MDMA-assisted therapy trial.
Then in 2024, Dr Strauss, an advocate of psychedelic assisted ecotherapy, proposed a non-therapeutic trial of psilocybin with subjects who had no psychiatric diagnosis. The trial was intended to determine whether taking psilocybin in a beautiful natural setting with adequate safeguards encouraged increased nature-relatedness, self-understanding and well-being. Again, this trial was not accepted by the Swinburne ethics committee. Dr Strauss remains determined to initiate such a trial again when the opportunity arises and when financial support can be obtained.
Currently, Dr Strauss is a co-therapist with Prof. Susan Rossell at Swinburne University investigating the use of psilocybin-assisted therapy for the treatment of a syndrome involving body dysmorphic disorder, OCD and eating disorders.
The Environment
Dr Strauss has a long association with environmental campaigns. He was the spokesman for a group called “Doctors for Forests” which was established by a group of medical practitioners to inform the public about the relationship between health and the environment. Particularly, the group wanted people to know that clear felling of native forests in water catchment areas is a danger to public health. After a successful campaign including the publication of a scientific paper supporting the group’s claims which was financed by the Myer Foundation, the group made a significant contribution to the establishment of the Great Otway National Park in Southwest Victoria which effectively halted clear felling in native forests in that area. The Park consists of over 100,000HA of public forests.
In his long association with the countryside, Dr Strauss has cared very deeply about environmental causes and the issues and challenges we face today. He has a long association with environmental groups and he stood for Parliament on two occasions on environmental platforms. He has personally planted thousands of trees as part of conservation and re-wilding projects and has written extensively on the environment.