The Gathering of the Pearl: Psychedelics in the South

On a warm September evening in Asheville, North Carolina, the crowd at Highland Brewing Company shimmered with contrasts — tailored suits, flowing cocktail dresses, pressed kilts, and tie-dye jumpsuits all under one roof. The eclectic dress code fit the occasion: the fourth annual Gathering of the Pearl, a fundraiser for The Pearl Institute.

Based in Waynesville, North Carolina, The Pearl Institute is a nonprofit founded four years ago by Raymond and Kim Turpin with a mission to bring trauma-informed, psychedelic-assisted therapies into mainstream treatment. The Turpins, who each have decades of experience in the psychedelic field, built The Pearl around three pillars: clinical care, education, and research. They offer ketamine-assisted therapy in a guided, trauma-informed model; provide training for therapists who want to learn safe and ethical psychedelic integration practices; and conduct ongoing research into how these therapies can help people heal.

Notably, The Pearl was one of two sites in the nation chosen in 2020 for the Food and Drug Administration’s expanded access program for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Those trials, coordinated by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), treated 50 patients in total in 2022 — 46 at Sunstone Therapies in Rockville, Maryland and four at The Pearl. 

The Pearl Institute may be small, but it is punching above its weight, as evidenced by the line-up of speakers for this annual fundraiser. A veritable “who’s who” of the psychedelic world, the list featured pioneers who have devoted their lives to exploring the therapeutic potential of these medicines, among them Rick Doblin, founder of MAPS; Michael Mithoefer, the psychiatrist who led MAPS’ earliest clinical trials of MDMA-assisted therapy; and W. Bryan Hubbard, CEO of Americans for Ibogaine. 

Offering A Vision for Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies

In her opening comments, Jackie Dobrinska, The Pearl’s director of education and integration, reminded attendees why they had gathered. 

“The world feels fast and overwhelming sometimes, and yet, here we are together, supporting something that creates clarity and care and transformation to people’s lives and hopefully the world,” she said. 

The tenacity of the Turpins as advocates for psychedelic therapy was a theme addressed by most of the evening’s speakers.

“I recognize in [Raymond and Kim] some people that just don’t give up,” said Doblin. “That persistence has led to building The Pearl and building this community.” 

Doblin went on to share his confidence that both MDMA and ibogaine, a psychedelic from West Africa that has shown promise for treating opioid addiction, will eventually be approved by the FDA. Doblin also shared his concerns about pharmaceutical companies endeavoring to separate the psychedelic medicines from the accompanying psychotherapy — a combined model that he believes is crucial for the success of these treatments, but sometimes excluded in treatment protocols in the for-profit pharmaceutical world. 

“The goal for healers is to use the drug as few times as possible and help people integrate and learn how to do it without the drug,” said Doblin. “The goal for the pharma companies is to sell you as much of the drug as possible.”

Doblin went on to say that “the people that were healed at The Pearl [and institutes like it], and the stories that they tell about how they benefitted from the human touch and how they benefitted from the therapy surrounding the substance” will be what ultimately ensures these medicines are provided alongside the integrative therapy. 

While Doblin’s concerns about commercialization underscored the tensions within the development of psychedelic therapies, Mithoefer emphasized the antidote: cultivating trust, community, and integration as the true heart of psychedelic healing. Mithoefer and his wife, Annie, pioneered the treatment protocols for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD that are now being considered by the FDA.

“In this gravely challenging time, this is what we need the most: community,” he said. “The Pearl is just bringing people together in an amazing way … there’s so many people in this community that understand what these medicines are about: about connection and community and healing.”

Mithoefer echoed Doblin’s sentiments that the current providers and advocates of psychedelic medicine have a responsibility to set the standard of care. “It’s not about … just taking a medicine,” he said. “It’s about support, a commitment to healing together as human beings … integration.” 

Political Mobilization for Psychedelic Research

If Mithoefer and Doblin represent the seasoned pioneers of psychedelic advocacy, then Hubbard shines as an emergent political strategist in the psychedelic movement. The former executive director of Kentucky’s Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission, Hubbard has made headlines for championing ibogaine as a potential tool against addiction.

Hubbard framed his remarks not just in scientific or political terms, but in deeply personal and historical ones. He spoke about the modern fractures in American life — from the opioid crisis to mass incarceration — and the way those fractures mirror the old divisions of class and race in Appalachia. Psychedelics, he argued, have the power to bridge these divisions. 

“The redemptive beauty of a sacred plant from West Africa helping to heal the descendants of the sharecropper, the descendants of the coal miner, and the descendants of the Trail of Tears together, illuminates the racial and cultural unity we must have if we are to prevail against the pathos of our age,” Hubbard said. 

The room erupted in cheers when Hubbard mentioned the bipartisan bill that will invest $50 million into ibogaine research, signed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott in June. 

“This is the first time an individual U.S. state has devoted funds to drug development to address multiple concurrent public health crises playing out within its borders,” Hubbard said. “It also represents what I hope will be a short-held record as the single largest public investment in psychedelic research and medical development in history.” 

Other speakers for the evening included Ali McGee and Justin Moore of the Appalachian Psychedelic Society; a patient of The Pearl who healed lifelong PTSD with the clinic’s ketamine-assisted therapy; Gina Giorgio, director of strategy and development at Students for Sensible Drug Policy; and Lara Camilo and Daniel De La Cruz, cofounders of Cohoba, a North Carolina nonprofit committed to providing legal access to psychedelic therapies. 

In their speech, Camilo and De La Cruz directly addressed the idea that psychedelic therapies have the power to create collective healing during this specific time of division.

“In North Carolina, mental health resources are limited, wait lists are long, culturally competent care is scarce,” said De La Cruz. “In the psychedelic field, those who have access to treatment are often white and affluent, while systemically marginalized communities — the very communities most harmed by the war on drugs — remain shut out by cost, stigma, criminalization and lack of representation in research.”

“We are living in a sociopolitical moment defined by fear and repression,” said Camilo. “These communities continually experience dehumanization, persecution and trauma that will echo for generations.”

De Le Cruz went on to encourage the audience to “sit with the question of exactly how a more psychedelic world could truly come to mean a more just world.” 

“If we position ourselves as leaders in societal change, but seek mainstream acceptance, how do we avoid perpetuating the same toxic power structures within this subculture?” asked Camilo. 

Their challenge reframed the evening’s theme: it isn’t enough to celebrate the promise of psychedelics; the movement must also reckon with how to build equity, justice, and inclusivity into its foundation.

Along with the celebrations, The Pearl met their financial goals, surpassing their $55,000 fundraising goal for the event. Both the speakers and participants seemed to agree that at a time of political division, economic uncertainty, and cultural fracture, psychedelics may offer a pathway to healing — both for individuals and the collective.

Main image: Attendees interact with The Compassion Flower, a Space Cadets Lighting installation at the Fourth Annual Gathering of the Pearl in Asheville, NC. Photo by Fiasco Media. 

Correction: This story has been corrected to show that the Sunstone Therapies clinic is located in Rockville, Maryland, not Rockland, Massachusetts.