Wednesday, July 10th, 2024 from 12:00-1:30pm PDT

Explore the future of mental health treatment in our upcoming forum dedicated to MDMA-assisted therapy. We’ll dive into critical topics such as evaluating efficacy in experiential treatments, assessing the combined value of psychotherapy and medicine, and comparing risks between daily versus intermittent dosing regimens. Gain insights into FDA considerations for unmet medical needs and the resistance encountered in adopting innovative healthcare paradigms. Our panel features Jamie Beachy PhD, MDiv, a professional chaplain and ethics consultant involved in MAPS Phase 3 clinical trials, Ingmar Gorman, PhD, CEO of Fluence, a leader in psychedelic education, and Scott Shannon, who works at Wholeness Center, a comprehensive integrative mental health clinic in Fort Collins, Colorado as a psychiatrist, acupuncturist and researcher. The discussion will be moderated by Stephanie Stewart, who is a holistic psychiatrist who brings a spiritual, environmental, and social justice perspective to her work. She is also a member of Chacruna’s Board of Directors and serves also on the Racial Equity and Access Committee.

Jamie Beachy PhD, MDiv, is a professional chaplain, spiritual care educator, and ethics consultant with experience in palliative care, hospice, and trauma care. Jamie was a sub-investigator for MAPS Phase 3 clinical trials researching the safety and efficacy of MDMA-Assisted Therapy for the treatment of PTSD and currently serves as an MDMA-AT Training Consultant Jamie developed degree program offerings and curricula related to psychedelic therapies as Director of Education and Co-founder of Naropa University’s Center for Psychedelic Studies. She is currently Field Scholar with Emory’ University’s Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality. Jamie sits on the Board of Directors of the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines. She lives in the mountains above Boulder with her husband Wael Garas, an integrative physician.

Ingmar Gorman, PhD, is chief executive officer and cofounder of Fluence, a psychedelic education company training mental health providers in psychedelic treatments. As a psychologist, he shares his expertise in empirically supported psychedelic treatments with his clients and trainees alike. Dr. Gorman served as site co-principal investigator on an FDA-approved Phase 3 clinical trial of MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and is currently a study therapist on the same study, as well as another FDA-approved clinical trial of psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression. Dr. Gorman received his clinical training in New York City at the New School for Social Research, Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital, Columbia University, and Bellevue Hospital. He completed his NIH postdoctoral fellowship at New York University. He has published on the topics of classic psychedelics, ketamine, MDMA, and Psychedelic Harm Reduction and Integration.

Scott Shannon has been a student of consciousness since his honor’s thesis on that topic at the University of Arizona in the 1970s. Following medical school, MDMA assisted psychotherapy became part of his practice before this medicine was scheduled in 1985. Scott has published four books on holistic and integrative mental health. Scott is a past President of two national medical organizations and currently teaches ketamine-assisted psychotherapy for PRATI, a non-profit. He served as a site Principal Investigator for the Phase III trial of MDMA assisted psychotherapy for PTSD, the Phase IIb study of LSD in generalized anxiety and multiple ketamine studies. Scott was the founding CEO for the Board of Psychedelic Medicine and Therapies. He works at Wholeness Center, a comprehensive integrative mental health clinic in Fort Collins, Colorado as a psychiatrist, acupuncturist and researcher.

Dr. Stephanie Michael Stewart is a holistic psychiatrist who brings a spiritual, environmental, and social justice perspective to her work. After serving as Chief Resident of Psychiatry at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Dr. Stewart led LA County’s West Central Wellness Center where she developed innovative programs for communities of color that integrated evidence-based psychiatric treatments with complementary therapies. She then founded Worldwide Wellness, where she expanded her approach to incorporate travel, immersion in nature, Indigenous wisdom and, more recently, ketamine-assisted therapy. Dr. Stewart is currently developing a psychedelic-assisted therapy training program for psychiatric residents at historically black colleges and universities. Dr. Stewart holds a BS in Biology from Spelman College and an MD from Morehouse School of Medicine. She is member of Chacruna’s Board of Directors and serves also on the Racial Equity and Access Committee. She is of Black, White, and Native American descent.

MDMA-Assisted Therapy: Timelines and Controversies