Esenia Cassidy is a PhD Student at The Ohio State University’s College of Social Work whose research is focused on interactions between attachment, trauma, gender identity, mental health, end-of-life care, and use of psychedelics. Beyond CSW/OSU, Esenia is a co-founder of The Psychedelic Humanities Lab at The New School for Social Research (NSSR) and a project lead at the SexTech Lab (NSSR) and the Granqvist Attachment & Psychedelics Lab (Stockholm University).

Awards, Honors, and Grants

• Burroughs Wellcome Fund and Usona Scholarship Program Award (2025, 2026)
• National Endowment for Humanities (2024)
• Tau Sigma National Honor Society Scholarship (2020)
• NSSR Merit Scholarship (2020)
• Dean’s List (2018 - 2020)
• Dean’s Scholarship (2018 - 2020)

Selected Publications

• A Critical Literature Review of Research on Attachment and Psychedelics: Synergies and Research Implications
• Psychedelics, Attachment and Enculturation Dynamics: Prospect and Challenges
• Childhood Trauma, Challenging Experiences, and Posttraumatic Growth in Ayahuasca Use
• The Hopkins-Oxford Psychedelics Ethics (HOPE) Working Group Consensus Statement
• Psychedelic Harm Reduction and Integration: A Transtheoretical Model for Clinical Practice