Between Hype and Hope: Patient Safety, Integration, and Post-Treatment Care in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies (ICPR TASTER)

Research into psychedelic-assisted therapies has been yielding promising results, published in high-ranking journals and is repeatedly hitting mainstream headlines, but, are they really the miracle cures portrayed out to be? 

In this exclusive webinar, psychedelic therapists Prof Matthew Johnson and Dr Bill Richards, two of the world’s most experienced clinicians in the field, as well as research participants Leonie Schneider and Pedram Dara, will share their perspectives and personal experiences. Join us on 14th July at 19:00 UK time (20:00 CET - 14:00 EST - 11:00 PST).

How is this hype changing research and therapy? How can we remain level-headed in this quickly transforming field and focus on developing safe and accessible treatments for those in need, without compromising safety and access?

Learn about the challenges and risks that both therapists and patients are facing and the potential pitfalls to watch out for as this new form of mental healthcare treatment makes its way into western society.

This webinar is a taster of what the Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research (ICPR) has to offer. ICPR continues to be the pioneering and leading conference on psychedelic research and therapies in Europe, with a focus on science, therapy and critical perspectives. It is organised by the OPEN Foundation, who have been advancing psychedelic research and therapies since 2007, and will take place on September 22nd-24th, 2022 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. You can learn more about ICPR here.

You can claim €100 off your conference tickets by using this code: PSYUK100

SPEAKERS

Matthew W. Johnson

Matthew W. Johnson, PhD, Professor at Johns Hopkins, is an expert on psychedelics, other drugs, and addiction. He has conducted research with psychedelics for over 15 years. Matt published psychedelic risk and safety guidelines in 2008, helping to resurrect human psychedelic research. He published the first research on psychedelic treatment of tobacco addiction in 2014, and the largest study of psilocybin in treating cancer distress in 2016. His recent review of psilocybin abuse liability recommended placement in Schedule-IV upon medical approval. He has personally guided over 100 psychedelic sessions. Matt also conducts behavioral economic research on drug use, addiction, and sexual risk. Matt published the first study in humans finding that administering cocaine increases sexual desire and sexual risk. He has published studies on nearly all psychoactive drugs classes, and is the 2019 President of the Psychopharmacology and Substance Abuse Division of the American Psychological Association. He is also President-Elect of the International Society for Research on Psychedelics, playing a lead role in founding this organization. Matt has been interviewed widely about drugs, addiction, and risk behavior, including by the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, BBC, 60 Minutes, CNN, Fox Business News, NPR, CBS News, and NBC News. Matt and his research were featured in an episode of Breakthrough on the National Geographic Channel, produced by Ron Howard, and in Michael Pollan’s best-selling book, How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence.

William A. Richards

William A. Richards (Bill) is a psychologist in the Psychiatry Department of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Bayview Medical Center, a consultant/trainer at sites of psychedelic research internationally, a teacher in the Program of Psychedelic Therapy and Research at the California Institute of Integral Studies, and also a clinician in private practice in Baltimore. His graduate degrees include M.Div. from Yale Divinity School, S.T.M. from Andover-Newton Theological School and Ph.D. from Catholic University, as well as studies with Abraham Maslow at Brandeis University and with Hanscarl Leuner at Georg-August University in Göttingen, Germany, where his involvement with psilocybin research originated in 1963. From 1967 to 1977, he pursued psychotherapy research with LSD, DPT, MDA and psilocybin at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, including protocols designed to investigate the promise of psychedelic substances in the treatment of alcoholism, depression, narcotic addiction and the psychological distress associated with terminal cancer, and also their use in the training of religious and mental-health professionals. From 1977-1981, he was a member of the psychology faculty of Antioch University in Maryland. In 1999 at Johns Hopkins, he and Roland Griffiths launched the rebirth of psilocybin research after a 22 year period of dormancy in the United States. His publications began in 1966 with “Implications of LSD and Experimental Mysticism,” coauthored with Walter Pahnke. His book, Sacred Knowledge: Psychedelics and Religious Experiences was released in English by Columbia University Press in 2015 and has since been translated into four additional languages.

Leonie Schneider

Leonie Schneider co-founded the Psychedelic Participant Advocacy Network (PsyPAN) after accessing psychedelic assisted psychotherapy in clinical trials. Participating in the Psilocybin for Depression clinical trial at Imperial College (2019) and Small Pharma’s DMT for Depression trial (2022) provided Leonie with a new path to improved mental health and enabled focused professional action. She had not found long-term relief with antidepressant medication or from conventional talking therapies prior to that.

Leonie has since spoken publicly to raise awareness of the possibilities and pitfalls of psychedelic medicine and the importance of integration, including for Women in Psychedelics (Drug Science), BBC Science Focus, Scientific American and the upcoming documentary The Psychedelic Renaissance. She actively represents patient interests on Drug Science’s industry-wide Medical Psychedelics Working Group, supports the delivery of world-class psychedelic retreats in the Netherlands with Alalaho and is a circle facilitator on the ACER Integration programme.

Leonie offers a holistic overview of the clinical trial experience from a participant perspective and across different psychedelics. She aims to expand access to these treatments by advocating for the safe, intentional and integrated use of psychedelics which led to her founding PsyPAN with Ian Roullier in 2021. PsyPAN aims to pool participants’ lived experiences and, through consultancy and accreditation, help organisations create more effective treatment models, maximise positive outcomes and create a sector-wide model of best practice with participant wellbeing at its heart.

Pedram Dara

Pedram Dara participated in a Phase 2 MAPS’ clinical trial of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD. A life-changing experience that became a catalyst for his healing journey. Since then, he has shared his story at various psychedelic conferences and trainings on panels with Rick Doblin, Michael Mithoefer, Anne Wagner, Ben Sessa, Tijmen Bostoen, and other psychedelic researchers. Having been invited to ICPR 2020: Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research led him to join the OPEN Foundation’s team where he currently runs its operations and is one of the conference organisers for ICPR 2022. Pedram is extremely passionate about the potential of psychedelics for mental healthcare, but he is also well aware of its pitfalls. He advocates for research participant safety and wellbeing so that safe, beneficial, and accessible applications of psychedelics can be ethically and responsibly integrated into science, healthcare, and society. At ICPR 2022, he’s organising the world’s first dedicated Participant Perspective Panel at a major psychedelic conference to amplify the voice of research participants and mental health patients

Erwin Krediet

Erwin Krediet will be moderating our discussion. Erwin is a psychologist and researcher at ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre and Leiden University Medical Center. As part of his PhD, he is currently working on several studies investigating MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of PTSD. Before starting his PhD research, he was a research associate at Eleusis Therapeutics, where he worked on several phase 1 and 2 clinical trials with LSD and psilocybin. Since 2007, he has contributed to the organization of several international scientific conferences on psychedelic research, through the Dutch OPEN Foundation, where he currently serves as the vice-chair. He also is a lead adherence rater for European MDMA-assisted psychotherapy trials at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), and an advisory board member of the International Society for Substance-assisted Psychotherapy.

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