Will Evans guides people with cancer through difficult conversations about death

Dr Will Evans is helping people with cancer explore their feelings about death in a New Zealand clinical trial involving MDMA-assisted therapy. In an interview with the Weekend Herald, the Auckland doctor described the work of supporting participants through sessions that can last as long as eight hours. The trial is being conducted at a clinic in Parnell, where Evans works from a space surrounded by a garden. The article says 15 participants have received the therapy there, while two others have taken part at another Auckland location and a site in the South Island. Everyone in the study is facing a cancer diagnosis. Evans told the publication that the early results have exceeded what he expected. Researchers are now looking for more people with cancer to join the study and for donations to help complete it by April next year. The 46-year-old trained in neurology and pharmacology before moving towards palliative care. His experience in an oncology ward in Sydney left him questioning whether medical care was addressing the emotional anguish that can accompany serious illness, as well as its physical effects. He said he had often felt that treatment was not getting to the source of a patient’s suffering. Evans and his wife, Naima, also developed Body, Breath and Mind, an approach combining elements of yoga, meditation and somatic awareness with exploration of psychedelic therapy. The article describes Evans as carrying a strong sense of responsibility for the trial, given the sensitive conversations it involves and the vulnerability of the people taking part.