Fantastic Fungi - Brisbane

Don’t miss out - Get your tickets early! Previous sessions have sold out weeks in advance!

Mind Medicine Australia is thrilled to invite you to our screening of Fantastic Fungi on Tuesday 8th June 2021 at 6:30pm.

Don't miss this film! Book your tickets today.

View the trailer here:

Mycelium is a life preserver, not only for our species, but for so many of the species that inhabit our Earth.

We're asking you to start this revolution in the ecology of consciousness. Please help us. We can save this planet with your help and the help of Mycelium.

There are currently no medications that have proven effective in dealing with the massive increase in addiction, depression, trauma and suicide. 

Psychedelic medicines are showing extraordinary results in clinical trials, and are on the fast track to becoming one of the most transformative tools of our time.

In a world where people feel so deeply disconnected, the use of medications to further detach them may work to dampen the emotions that are experienced, but often provide little relief and no profound insights into the internal experience of life. What science has shown is that psilocybin works to calm the region of the brain called the Default Mode Network and stimulates connections between new or under-utilised regions of the brain.

This stunning film by award-winning director Louie Schwartzberg touches on the ground-breaking work being done at Johns Hopkins, UCLA, New York University and other places. It will open a door to a meaningful and important conversation and exploration into the potential mushrooms offer.

The film also covers topics including innovation, health, wellness and medicine, the environment and biodiversity, foraging, food and cooking, consciousness and spirituality, culture, history and the arts.

How can you help? Watch the film! Bring along friends to watch the film together. Discuss the subject matter with others in your communities, and ask them to do the same. 

"Schwartzberg’s film quickly proves to be one of the year’s most mind-blowing, soul-cleansing and yes, immensely entertaining triumphs.” 

-Matt Fagerholm, RogerEbert.com

Director: Louis Schwartzberg
Producers: Elease Lui & Lyn Lear 
Writer: Mark Monroe

Date: 8th of June 2021
Time: 6:00pm for 6:30pm start – 9pm (incl Q&A Panel) 
Location: Dendy Cinemas Portside, Portside Wharf, Remora Rd, Hamilton QLD 4007

Post Viewing Discussion Panel

Following the screening there will be a Q&A panel with Brisbane Psychologist John Hannan, Addiction Medicine Specialist Physician Dr. Nikola Ognyenovits, Social Worker Cassie Causton and Science Scholar Victor Chiruta. This will be an opportunity to engage in a discussion about psychedelic-assisted psychotherapies for mental illness broadly, and what Mind Medicine Australia and other local organisations are doing here in Australia.

More about Mind Medicine Australia medicinal psychedelic-assisted therapy

Mind Medicine Australia is Australia’s leading not-for-profit organisation working on the use of medicinal psilocybin and MDMA-assisted therapies to treat a range of mental illnesses. Mind Medicine Australia exists to help alleviate the suffering caused by our accelerating mental illness epidemic in Australia, through expanding the treatment options available to medical practitioners and their patients.

Unlike current treatments such as anti-depressants, which only manage the illness and can have nasty side effects, psilocybin and MDMA assisted therapies have been scientifically proven to be a safe and effective cure for anxiety, depression, end-of-life stress, addictions and PTSD after just a short treatment program. These medicines are also currently being researched for dementia, eating disorders, OCD and a number of other conditions. Both medicines have been granted Breakthrough Therapy Status by the FDA in the USA to fast-track their approval. This designation is only given to medicines which may prove to be vastly superior to existing treatments.

At Mind Medicine Australia we are dedicated to helping the now global movement to spread this awareness and ensure these medicines are available via the medical system. Please watch and share our 2 minute animation to find out why psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy needs to be available to those who are suffering.

Can't attend? You can still support MMA and ensure these treatments are available and accessible to those who are suffering!

By donating to Mind Medicine Australia, you will be helping accelerate the availability and best practice of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy in Australia. Mind Medicine Australia is a small organisation doing big things – we need your support.

Please click here to make a tax-deductible donation.

Join our Brisbane chapter:

Many thanks to Mind Medicine Australia's Brisbane Chapter for facilitating this event. Click here for more details or to join the Chapter!

More about the panel:

John Hannan
Brisbane Psychologist 
BA (Hons) of Psychology and Master of Business Administration

John Hannan is a registered psychologist and also holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration. He is a lover of the outdoors and when not surfing or mountain bike riding, he is working on a PhD in evolutionary psychology, focussing on validation in communication. Prior to this he worked as a manager and clinician with the Royal Flying Doctor Service operating out of Cairns in Far North Queensland. John spent over a decade flying weekly to remote Indigenous communities where he provided clinical service to some of the world's most traumatised individuals. During this time, he managed a series of Wellbeing Centres as an adjunct to the Cape York Welfare Reform Trial and worked with communities in the development of Community Suicide Response Plans. He was the first mental health responder to a number of critical incidents such as cyclone Yasi, and the 2019 western Queensland flood disaster.

John has over twenty years' experience as a manager. In a prior work iteration he worked as a whitewater rafting guide and managed operations in Australia and Indonesia and also spent time working in Japan. His passion is communication training and working with clients with Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Compassion Focussed Therapy (CFT). He has a long-standing interest in capacity building and improving the health literacy of the community with regards to mental health and regularly conducts Mental Health First Aid Training for organisations. For the past eighteen months he has been the co-chair of Mind Medicine Australia's Brisbane Chapter and retains this interest as a member of the newly formed board.

Dr. Nikola Ognyenovits
M.D., FRACGP, FACRRM, FACHAM (RACP)

Dr Nikola Ognyenovits is a Hungarian born Australian Addiction Medicine Specialist Physician living in Brisbane, Australia. He works in public alcohol and drug services and in private practice. After graduating as M.D. in 1987, he trained and worked in psychiatry, rural general practice, emergency medicine and aero-medical retrievals.

He was introduced to non-ordinary states of consciousness through Holotropic Breathwork and had the privilege of learning from Stanislav Grof and Tav Sparks. Dr Nikola has co-facilitated numerous breathwork sessions, trained with the Foundation of Shamanic Studies and participated in shamanic healing traditions globally.

After training in Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy with The Ketamine Training Center, he has incorporated ketamine treatment into his private practice. He sees great potential in the application of ibogaine for addictions and has supported clients pre and post treatment. Dr Nikola is an advocate of the ethical and controlled use of psychedelic assisted psychotherapies in the treatment of addictions and associated mental health conditions.

Cassie Causton
Social Worker

Cassie Causton holds a Bachelor of Social Work, a Master of Mental Health Practice and has 13 years experience in the mental health and disability sectors; spanning across both government and non-government, not-for-profit and profit-for-purpose, and clinical and non-clinical service environments.   Cassie is passionate about reconceptualising how we understand and respond to mental distress, reforming our broken mental health system, and is deeply curious about the therapeutic potential of psychedelics for those that are currently failed by existing mental health treatments and service responses.
Cassie is a current student of Mind Medicine Australia’s first Certificate of Psychedelic Assisted Therapy.  

Victor Chiruta 
UHSc, MCMA, MPS Science Scholar

Victor Chiruta has over ten years experience working in the health industry. He is in his final year of a Bachelor of Health Science and organising a proposal for an Honours in Biomedical Research at the University of South Australia. He has further completed study and certification in youth work, biochemistry, naturopathy, homeopathy, medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, biology, and medicinal cannabis consulting. Victor is a Certified SMART Recovery Australian Facilitator, a Professional Interpener (cannabis sommelier), registered internationally as a naturopath and homeopath, a TGA sponsor administrator and a member of several professional bodies.

He is one of Mind Medicine Australia’s key researchers, scientific writers, and a board member of the Brisbane chapter. Outside of Mind Medicine Australia, Victor provides hospital equipment to public hospitals, is involved with the National Disability Insurance Scheme, and develops health and medical foods utilising his rich passion for pharmacology, medicinal and biochemistry. His particular interests lie in psychedelic medicines, phytocannabinoids, disability rehabilitation, and anabolic phytosteroids.