Friday, Oct. 28
10:45 – 11:45 (1 hr)
Meeting Room: Sheraton Hall A (Lower Concourse)
Jessica Danilewitz*, MA, RP; Christian Schulz-Quach, MD, MSc, MA, MRCPSyc

CanMEDS Roles:

1. Professional
2. Scholar
3. Leader

At the end of this session, participants will be able to: 1) Learn about current literature on psychedelic research as it informs training programs; 2) Learn about the process of one psychedelic-assisted training program for preparing clinicians to support patients undergoing this unique therapy; and 3) Learn about the personal experiences of clinicians pursuing training in this area and how training in this therapeutic modality differs from tradition.

The use of psychedelics as a therapeutic treatment for depression and other psychiatric disorders has received renewed attention in clinical research over the past decade. Psychedelic-assisted therapy differs from traditional psychotherapy in a variety of ways. The growing research in this area has led to the emergence of programs that facilitate clinician training for psychedelic-assisted therapy. In this interactive workshop, we will provide an overview of psychedelic research that has informed current psychedelic-assisted therapy training programs. Participants will learn about one program in Canada for training in this area and how it was developed and evaluated. During the session we will adopt an interactive approach, using case-based learning. The workshop will also include a question and answer period.

References:

1. Rochester J, Vallely A, Grof P, et al. Entheogens and psychedelics in Canada: proposal for a new paradigm. Can Psychol 2021.
2. Ling S, Ceban F, Lui LM, et al. Molecular mechanisms of psilocybin and implications for the treatment of depression. CNS Drugs 2022;36(1):17–30.