The revival of scientific research into psychedelics over the past decade — often referred to as the “Psychedelic Renaissance” — shows promising therapeutic potential for difficult-to-treat conditions such as PTSD and substance use disorders. This program will track the rocky history of the use of psychedelics in Western society from early promising clinical research, through the 1960’s cultural explosion and the “war on drugs,” to their present use in FDA-approved clinical trials, and, lastly, in recent legislation such as Oregon’s Measure 109, the Psilocybin Services Act. While substances such as psilocybin and MDMA are currently not legal to administer in a therapeutic context outside of clinical trials, both have been granted ‘Breakthrough Therapy’ status by the FDA and are in the pipeline for approval over the coming years. We will describe major elements of the research protocol for treating chronic, treatment-resistant PTSD using MDMA, including safety guidelines, preparation, set and setting, and therapeutic integration. Findings from recent studies will be presented using case vignettes and video clips to highlight aspects of treatment. Through a psychoanalytic lens, we will discuss the unique, non-ordinary states of consciousness associated with psychedelics and explore the potential benefits and risks involved with psychedelic-assisted therapy. Attention will be given to the integration of split-off traumatic ego states, reparation of challenging transference-countertransference dynamics, somatic shifts, and a heightened capacity for symbolization through affectively-connected language. Finally, we will begin to explore aspects of the technical interface of psychedelic-assisted therapy and psychoanalytically-oriented treatment, such as reconceptualization of the therapeutic alliance and frame, implicit bias, referral dilemmas, and contraindications.
Presenters:
Karen Peoples, PhD is Personal and Supervising Analyst and Faculty at the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California in San Francisco, and is in private practice in San Rafael, CA. She was a Sub-Investigator and Study Therapist at the University of California San Francisco on the Phase 3 Clinical Trial of MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for PTSD sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), and is currently an Associate Supervisor in the MAPS Phase 3 Clinical Trial in Europe. She is a course contributor for Psychedelic Support and Polaris Insight Center, and was formerly Associate Professor of Doctoral Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies. She has published and presented on numerous psychoanalytic topics including uncanny forms of unconscious communication, incest trauma, social trauma, transcendent forms of emptiness, and unconscious bodily communication. Her most recent paper, "The Mystery of the Unconscious: Integrating Non-Ordinary States in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy” will be published in Psychedelic Psychotherapy: Advancing Critical Perspectives by Routledge in 2022.
Harvey Schwartz, PhD is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and Co- founder of Polaris Insight Center. He earned his doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Emory University in 1982, and in his 40 years of private practice has specialized in treating complex PTSD, dissociative disorders, patients whose trauma occurred in cults/organized abuse contexts, spiritual trauma, as well as those with characterological issues, anomalous experiences. He has undergone multiple trainings in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, including advanced training through the Ketamine Training Center, and is currently a Sub- Investigator and Co-therapist on the MAPS MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy Clinical Trials (Phase 2 and 3) for treatment resistant PTSD. He is also a MAPS Phase 2 European trials and is currentlytraining to be a trainer for future MAPS programs to bring new clinicians into the field. In his clinical work and consultation, he synthesizes relational psychoanalytic, archetypal, and existential perspectives, as well as the integration of non-ordinary states of consciousness and mystical experiences. Harvey is the author of several articles and two major books on the relational treatment of severe dissociative disorders: Dialogues With Forgotten Voices: Relational perspectives on the treatment of childhood trauma and severe dissociative disorders (Basic Books: 2001) and The Alchemy of Wolves and Sheep: A relational approach to internalized perpetration in complex trauma survivors (Routledge: 2013). Harvey is committed to the training of the next generation of clinicians in the fields of trauma and psychedelic- assisted psychotherapy.
Chris Stauffer, MD is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), Physician-Scientist with the VA Portland Health Care System, and dual board-certified in Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine. Dr. Stauffer is an OHSU medical school alum, completed Adult Psychiatry Residency at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and was an Advanced Neuroscience Research Fellow at the San Francisco VA prior to receiving a Veterans Affairs Clinical Science Career Development Award. Dr. Stauffer’s early research work focused on intranasal oxytocin as an intervention for substance use disorders, including a clinical trial of oxytocin-enhanced motivational interviewing group therapy for methamphetamine-using men who have sex with men (NCT02881177). This work led to participation as a Sub-Investigator, Study Physician, and Study Therapist at the UCSF site for Phase 2 (NCT03282123) and Phase 3 (NCT03537014) trials of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD and as Co-Investigator and Study Therapist for a trial of psilocybin-assisted group therapy for demoralization in long-term AIDS survivors (NCT02950467). Dr. Stauffer serves as Supervisor for MAPS’ MDMA Therapy Training Program, mentor for the Center for Psychedelic Therapies and Research certificate program at the California Institute of Integral Studies, core faculty for the Integrative Psychiatry Institute’s Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Training, course contributor for Psychedelic.Support's "Foundations in MDMA and Psilocybin Safety, Therapeutic Applications & Research", member of the Oregon Psilocybin Advisory Board’s research subcommittee, and is part of the training team with Polaris Insight Center.
