The current mental health crisis is detrimentally impacting the health of Canadians. With 11 deaths per day by suicide related to unmet mental health needs, mental illness is a leading case of disability in Canada.1 As a response to this need, psychedelic-assisted therapy (PaT) has been gaining traction as a safe and effective treatment for mental illness and distress.2 With recent federal exemptions increasing access to psychedelics for therapy, there remains a lack of evidence informing healthcare providers how they can best provide knowledgeable, ethically-informed person-centred care for this vulnerable population of Canadians receiving PaT. The aim of our study is to increase the evidence-base of Canadian PaT practices by developing interdisciplinary best practice guidelines that will inform person-centred, knowledgeable, skilled, ethically informed care. Using narrative inquiry, a relational qualitative approach that emphasizes co-created knowledge and centers participant voices, we conducted in-depth narrative interviews with individuals who have undergone and who have delivered PaT in Canada. Data was analyzed using a thematic and a structural analysis to capture each individual’s experience. Preliminary findings demonstrate the challenges for patients and providers in navigating PaT within a highly medicalized siloed health system and within the confines of legal structures, and raise questions around what research methodologies are needed to more accurately and fully capture the diversity of participant experiences and outcomes within research settings which, to date, have predominantly relied upon randomized controlled trials. As our study is grounded in centering participant’s lived experiences, the findings not only help to inform a person-centred approach to best practice guidelines for PaT but can also shed light on influencing factors that decentre individuals from their own health journey while engaging with this novel treatment. References: Centre for Addictions and Mental Health. (2024). https://www.camh.ca/en/driving-change/the-crisis-is-real Andersen, K., et al., (2021). https://doi.org/10.1111/acps.13249