MMA FREE Webinar: The Future of Mental Health for Australia's Defence Force Veterans & First Responders

Don’t miss out - Get your tickets early!

Join this FREE, 75-minute online webinar presented by our expert panel including Admiral Chris Barrie AC, Dr Stuart Saker, Dr Traill Dowie, Michael Raymond & Peter Hunt.

Incidences of PTSD and other mental illnesses in defence force veterans and first responders are significantly higher than in the general population. In this webinar our expert panelists will be discussing how psychedelic-assisted therapy promises to help Australia's veterans and first responders to achieve significantly improved mental health outcomes. They will also discuss the current state of regulations surrounding psychedelic-assisted therapy and how each and every one of us can have our say to help bring these therapies to those who could benefit from them.

You will learn:

- The scope of the mental health challenges facing Australia's Veteran and first responders communities

- The way that psychedelic-assisted therapy has the potential to help address these challenges

- The regulatory blocks that are preventing these treatments from reaching veterans, first responders and others suffering from mental illness

- The path forward that Mind Medicine has proposed to allow those suffering most to begin receiving access to these therapies in a safe way.

Topic: The Future of Mental Health for Australia's Defence Force Veterans & First Responders

Date: Thursday 5 May 2022

Time: 5:55pm for 6:00pm start – 7:15pm (incl Q&A) (AEST)

The presentation WILL BEGIN AT 6:00pm.

Location: Online. A link will be emailed to you with the viewing details

Don’t miss out - Get your tickets early!

More about our panel:

Admiral Chris Barrie AC 

Admiral Chris Barrie commanded all arms of the Defence Force as its Chief (CDF) from 1998 till 2002. After this, Chris worked on strategic leadership as a consultant, teacher and mentor, initially through Oxford University’s Strategic Leadership and Stimulus Forum Programs (2002-2011); and as Distinguished Visiting Professor he also taught an elective on Strategic Leadership to senior U.S. military officers at the National Defense University in Washington DC from 2004 till 2010.

He is busy now as the founder and Chair of Fearless- PTSD (Australia New Zealand), whose subsidiary ‘FearLess Outreach’ is intended to assist an estimated 6 million people in the Australian and New Zealand communities, who live with post-traumatic stress. He is an outspoken commentator on Climate Change and Security using community advocacy to raise awareness of the potential costs of inaction. Chris is also an Australian member of the Global Military Advisory Council on Climate Change (GMACCC), and an adjunct member of the Planetary Security Initiative based in the Hague.

Dr Stuart Saker

Stuart Saker is a general adult psychiatrist working in the Lake Macquarie area near Newcastle, New South Wales. He did medicine at Sydney University and did Psychiatry training in Australia and the United Kingdom. He has been an Army Medical Officer and deployed 5 times. He has many veteran and first responders patients. He did MAPS training in MDMA assisted psychotherapy in Israel in 2008 and is one of the first graduates of Mind Medicine Australia’s Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies.

Dr Traill Dowie

Dr Tra-ill Dowie is the Head of the Faculty of Psychotherapy at Ikon Institute Australia. Dr Dowie is the Chair of the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) Panel for Trauma Standards & Practice. Dr Dowie is a practising psychotherapist, supervisor and public speaker. Dr Dowie’s academic life and public lectures cover a broad range of interdisciplinary topics that relate to the human condition: psychiatry, psychotherapy, trauma, continental philosophy, philosophy of mind, anthropology, health and wellbeing, and human optimisation. He holds dual PhDs, receiving a PhD in Psychiatry from Monash University and a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Melbourne.

Michael Raymond

Michael Raymond served over 16 years in the Airforce as an Electrical Engineer and Avionics Technician, working on the F/A18F Super Hornet and F-111 Fighter Aircraft. He is now a Motorcycle Coach and Transformational Coach trained in the modalities of Matrix Re-imprinting Therapy, Time-Line Therapy, Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Coaching. Michael received significant healing from psychedelic medicines such as Psilocybin, Ayahuasca (DMT), San Pedro and MDMA for his PTSD, anxiety and depression. He recently contributed to Mind Medicines Healing stories, sharing his journey to South America and the profound healing experiences within a traditional shamanic framework. 

Michael now advocates for the therapeutic use of plant medicines to the Veteran and wider community. He hopes to help reduce the stigma around these modalities and promote safe access.

Peter Hunt AM

Peter is Chairman and one of the original Founders of Greenhill Australia, a leading Australian corporate advisory firm that is now part of the global Greenhill advisory group. He has been advising local and multi-national companies and governments in Australia for over 25 years.

In the NFP sector, Peter is Chairman, Grameen Australia; Chairman, So They Can, and Director and Founder, Women’s Community Shelters. Peter is also a member of the Advisory Councils of Mission Australia and the Centre for Social Impact. Previous roles in the sector have included Chairman, AMP Foundation; Chairman, Australian String Quartet; Trustee, St Vincent’s Clinic Foundation; a Director, Odyssey House and a Director, St James Ethics Centre.

Peter was made a member of the General Division of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2010 for services to the philanthropic sector.

More about medicinal psychedelic treatments:

Psychedelic-assisted treatments offer enormous potential in providing a meaningful alternative to current treatments for mental illness. PTSD is a debilitating condition that affects tens of millions of people worldwide, with many more trauma victims diagnosed with comorbid conditions such as depression, anxiety and eating disorders. In recent clinical trials, MDMA has been shown to produce reliable clinical improvements, restoring patient safety and self-agency even for individuals who have suffered with PTSD for many years, and for whom many treatments have failed.

The wave of clinical psychedelic research and regulatory support is rapidly building, with experts forecasting the availability of psychedelic-assisted treatments in the US and EU within the next 2 to 5 years, subject to positive clinical outcomes in large trials that are currently underway.  

Support psychedelic research and therapy development

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

Please click here to make a tax-deductible donation.  

Disclaimer

Mind Medicine Australia does not encourage or facilitate illegal use of psychedelics or plant medicines. MMA focus is focused on clinical and legal use only supported by the emerging science and legislative processes. Mind Medicine Australia reserves the right to record and publish webinars on various social media platforms. You agree that you will not discuss any names, locations or specific details of illegal use of psychedelics both verbally or via any written forms of communication via Mind Medicine Australia social media platforms (for example facebook, instagram and zoom private and public chat forms during the webinar). Breaches of these guidelines may result in not being able to participate in the event. We thank you for support and cooperation on these matters.

Mind Medicine Australia is focused specifically on the clinical application of medicinal psilocybin and medicinal MDMA for certain mental illnesses.