Trans-affirming care in the psychedelic space. A Guide for Therapists, Clinicians, Facilitators, and Healers

Friday, June 17, 2022, the Oregon Health Authority approved the SoundMind Institute Psychedelic Facilitator Training program as a state-sanctioned training facility for Oregon Psilocybin Services. We are beyond excited to be one of the first three programs in the world to become approved to offer legal psilocybin training for facilitators.

SoundMind is excited to share this important piece by Dr. Darron T. Smith at The University of Memphis, which features SoundMind Center as an important leader in the space of equitable access to psychedelic medicine.

Watch Hannah McLane, MD, MA, MPH and Elias Dakwar, MD talk about psychedelics for The Shift Network. Integration As Medicine: Ketamine and Beyond.

This is a 12-month training program for clinicians and other professionals that provides a foundational understanding of the literature and practice of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, including the use of ketamine, MDMA, and psilocybin in therapeutic settings. This program is designed for clinicians—especially psychotherapists, physicians, and others, but being a clinician is not a requirement for acceptance.

A focus on bridging ceremonial and medical uses of psilocybin

The “journey,” in this instance, is brought on by ketamine, administered intravenously, as a treatment for mental health disorders, albeit one that has not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Tripping's not just for deadheads anymore: Philly parents — and lots of other people — are learning that the secret to health, happiness, and healing might just come from some formerly far-out drugs.

Like most working parents, Marissa has a lot to juggle — kids, her job as a nutritionist, her home outside of Philadelphia. And then there are the in-laws.

The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote about SoundMind and interviewed our founder Dr. Hannah McLane. You can read some highlights in this post.

Research into psychedelic-assisted therapy has grown in the past ten years as non-profits, academic institutions, pharmaceutical companies, and even venture capitalists race to develop protocols for using MDMA, psilocybin, ketamine, and other psychedelic substances to treat mental illness. Already, dozens of ketamine clinics across the country administer the medication off-label for depression, and MDMA- and psilocybin-assisted therapy are expected to be approved by the FDA in the coming years.

You’re lying on a bed in a dimly–lit room. Music surrounds you, and the air is soft on your skin. You slip a lozenge under your tongue. As it dissolves, you close your eyes, settling in for the experience ahead. Sitting beside you, a therapist offers a reassuring presence. If anxiety sets in, you’re prepared: deep breath in, then out. Slowly you ease into an altered state of consciousness as visions, memories, and visceral sensations wash over you in waves. Your journey begins.

Read other highlights from the article in this blog post.

This September, SoundMind joined state leaders, community advocates, and other key stakeholders in Lancaster for the PA Latino Convention, an annual gathering focused on championing the needs of the state’s rapidly expanding Latinx community. Pennsylvania’s Latinx population has more than doubled in the last 20 years—to nearly one million residents—and is home to the second largest migration of Puerto Ricans following Hurricane Maria.

The Temple News published an article about SoundMind and Hannah McLane, Temple University alumna. Read some highlights in this post.

Philadelphia Magazine featured SoundMind and our founder Dr. Hannah McLane in a Q&A on psychedelic medicine in Philly! Some highlights from the interview are in the post.

On August 1, SoundMind opened its doors at 4623 Spruce Street, announcing its launch as the first psychedelic-assisted therapy clinic in Philadelphia, and the first on the east coast to center the needs of marginalized patients. To celebrate our opening, we hosted a launch party and fundraising event with guests from the local community and across the country!

On July 22, 2021, Pennsylvania Office of Advocacy and Reform hosted the webcast joined by Bessel van der Kolk, MD, Rick Doblin, Ph.D., Hannah McLane, MD, Joseph McCowan, PsyD. One of the goals set by the PA Office of Advocacy and Reform for the upcoming year was to explore innovative and evidence-based approaches that could help vulnerable populations heal from trauma. As part of this effort, we have set up an educational presentation with some of the leading doctors, therapists, and thought leaders in the field of psychedelic-assisted treatment.

We’ve been hard at work renovating our clinic site at 4623 Spruce Street in Philadelphia, PA. As we prepare for our clinic launch on August 1, we are so excited to share a tour of our space, including our clinical rooms, event space, overnight lodging, and back garden. We’ve come so far in transforming this building into a multi-use site for psychedelic healing, clinician training, and community gathering! In the coming months, we will continue renovations on our basement floor, building wheelchair accessible clinical spaces and a mycology lab.

What a start to 2021! January has hardly begun, and we are reminded again that now, more than ever, we need the healing benefits an psychedelic approach to wellness and trauma therapy.

We are so excited to give you a quick first tour of our building that we have been working so hard on preparing for these purposes.

Take a look, and expect more to come soon!

As we brace for a new year which promises a slow but steady reduction of COVID-19 infection rates, we begin to assess the traumatic mental health effects that the pandemic left in its wake. This is an enormous task— one that will likely take years to address. Frontline healthcare workers who have been fighting COVID-19 for the majority of the past year and patients intubated in ICUs due to COVID-19 have a PTSD rate of up to 35%.

Happy Holidays from SoundMind! Here’s what we did in 2020, and what we are looking forward to in 2021.

2020 has been a challenging year for so many of us, but also a time of reflection and renewal, a time to mobilize our resources toward an exciting future. At SoundMind, we have continued our work to make psychedelic healing accessible to all, and we remain forever optimistic.