Psychedelics: An Introduction for Mental Health Clinicians

Psychedelics are a broad range of substances that hold the potential for healing, discovery, and harm. As the interest and visibility of psilocybin, MDMA, Ayahusca and other psychedelics rise, mental health specialists will face more and more questions from those they serve about psychedelics: how do they work? What do I do? Are they safe?

In this online training, participants will:

- Obtain an introductory understanding of psychedelics - how they are believed to work, what users often experience, and the range of change that psychedelics can facilitate

- Discuss ideal conditions and harm reduction principles related to psychedelic use

- Learn how to support clients who have a psychedelic experience

- Understand the legality of psychedelics and integrating discussion of psychedelics into mental health care

*A zoom link will be emailed 24-hours before the training

Facilitator: Dr. Paul Uy (MD, FRCPC) is a psychiatrist who practices in Toronto. With a committed interest in Zen Buddhism, poetry, voice and physical fitness, Paul avidly considers how complexity and emergence are threaded through healing, creativity and awareness. He works at Remedy (Toronto) as a psychiatrist supporting psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy as the Qualified Investigator for a study looking at MDMA and couples therapy. He also helps facilitate applications to the Special Access Program for the use of psychedelics to treat treatment-resistant depression and PTSD. On Tuesday nights, he facilitates an integration group for psychedelic and non-ordinary experience.