Psychedelic Psychotherapy Forum 2016 Event
About The Event
Held in beautiful Victoria, on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada, Oct 14 – 15, 2016, the 3rd annual Psychedelic Psychotherapy Forum, provided opportunities to learn, converse and connect about the healing potentials of psychedelic medicines. The venue for this year’s forum was the Westin Bear Mountain Golf Resort and Spa in the foothills just west of Victoria, BC.
Related events included Synergy Salon: Interactive Evening of Food, Art and Music by separate admission on the evening of Oct 14, as well as post-forum workshops on Oct 16. Please note that the Oct 16 workshops were held at the Victoria Conference Centre (different venue from the main forum).
Rick Doblin, Founder & Executive Director, Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), gave the keynote address at this year’s forum. Highlight topics at the forum included the current state of MDMA research for alleviating PTSD; Ayahuasca therapy to treat eating disorders; Psilocybin studies and implications for cancer patients/end of life issues; training possibilities for psychedelic psychotherapists; as well as how to support clients to successfully integrate the psychedelic experience.
2016 Presentations, Panels, and Roundtable Topics
Julia Allen, MCP, RCC; Panel: “A New Medical Model: Holistic Medicine and Psychedelic Psychotherapy”
Meaghan Buisson, 47-time Canadian national champion and current world record holder in the sport of inline speed skating; one of six Canadian participants in the Phase II clinical trial for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for treatment-resistant PTSD. Presentation: “MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy: A Personal Journey”
Devon Christie, MD; Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner, with the US-based Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM). Presentation: “An Invitation to Wholeness: Psychedelic & the Future of Medicine;” Panels: “A New Medical Model: Holistic Medicine and Psychedelic Psychotherapy;” “Tying Your Shoes in Hyperspace: Integrating the Psychedelic Experience.”
Sasha Cuff, RTC(c) Panels: “A New Medical Model: Holistic Medicine and Psychedelic Psychotherapy;” “Tying Your Shoes in Hyperspace: Integrating the Psychedelic Experience.”
Rick Doblin, Ph.D., founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). Keynote address: “Mainstreaming Psychedelics: Six Decades of Cultural Evolution from 1966 to 2026” Panel: “MDMA: The Promise and Challenge for New Paradigm of Healing”
Donna Dryer, MD, FRCPC, is a transpersonal psychiatrist in private practice on the coast islands of British Columbia; assisted with MAPS sponsored research study of MDMA for people with treatment- resistant Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Vancouver. Panels: “MDMA: The Promise and Challenge for New Paradigm of Healing;” “Harvard or Hogwarts? – Training the Psychedelic Psychotherapists”
Frank Echenhofer, PhD; Panels: “The Mystical Experience in Psychedelic Work;” “Tying Your Shoes in Hyperspace: Integrating the Psychedelic Experience.”
Yalila Espinoza, PhD, integrative health advisor; Panel: “Tying Your Shoes in Hyperspace: Integrating the Psychedelic Experience.”
Carolyn Green, PhD, certified Grof facilitator; Panel: “Holotropic (TM) Breathwork”
Mark Haden, MSW; Chair, MAPS Canada; Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia School of Population and Public Health; Presentation: “A Post-Prohibition Model for the Regulation of Psychedelics”
James Jesso, author of Decomposing The Shadow and The True Light Of Darkness; Presentation: “Potential Mechanisms Behind the Treatment of Chronic Depression with Psilocybin“
Adèle Lafrance, PhD, C. Psych; Psychologist and Associate Professor at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario; Presentation: “Feeding the Soul with Ayahuasca-assisted Therapy: A Promising Treatment of the Healing of Eating Disorders;” “The Mystical Experience in Psychedelic Work“
Philippe Lucas, Vice President of Patient Advocacy at Tilray, a federally authorized medical cannabis production, research and distribution company based in Nanaimo, BC; Presentation: “Medical Cannabis & Mental Health Research Under the MMPR”
Sarah Mattson; Presentation: “A Post-Prohibition Model for the Regulation of Psychedelics”
Trevor Millar, owner of Liberty Root Therapy; Presentation: “Psychedelic Entrepreneurship”
Marcela Ot’alora, MA, LPC, co-therapist in the first government approved MDMA-assisted psychotherapy study in Madrid Spain; Principal Investigator of the Phase II MDMA-assisted psychotherapy study in Boulder, Colorado. Presentation: “Relieving Symptoms of PTSD with MDMA;” Panel: “MDMA: The Promise and Challenge for New Paradigm of Healing”
Ingrid Pacey, MD, psychiatrist; lead investigator of MDMA/PTSD study to Vancouver completed in 2017. Panels: “MDMA: The Promise and Challenge for New Paradigm of Healing;” “Holotropic (TM) Breathwork”
Dawn Rabey, PhD, CCC, RCC; transpersonal psychotherapist in Victoria, BC. Panel: “Tying Your Shoes in Hyperspace: Integrating the Psychedelic Experience.”
William A. (Bill) Richards, PhD; psychologist in the Psychiatry Department of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he and his colleagues have pursued psychedelic research during the past 16 years. Presentation: “Psilocybin Studies and Implications for Cancer Patients and End of Life Issues;” Panel: “The Mystical Experience in Psychedelic Work”
Hayden Rubensohn, MD; Panel: “MDMA: The Promise and Challenge for New Paradigm of Healing”
Bruce Tobin, PhD, RCC; Panel: “The Road Forward to Legal Psychedelic Psychotherapy: the Moving Forward Project;” “Holotropic (TM) Breathwork”
Zach Walsh, PhD; Presentation: “Psychedelic Therapy and Third-wave Behaviorism: New Directions for the Prevention of Interpersonal Violence”
Richard Yensen, PhD; co-principal investigator for the MAPS sponsored PTSD & MDMA phase 2 psychotherapy study completed in 2017 in Vancouver. Panels: “MDMA: The Promise and Challenge for New Paradigm of Healing;” “Harvard or Hogwarts? – Training the Psychedelic Psychotherapists“
