Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies for Mental Illness: Why innovation in treatment is needed now more than ever

Mind Medicine Australia is pleased to invite you to participate in an important educational webinar for PACFA members. 

Psychedelic-assisted therapies for mental illness: why innovation in treatment is needed now more than ever

• Dr Nigel Denning, Counselling Psychologist, AHPRA registered supervisor and Managing Director of Integrative Psychology a Psychology/Psychiatry practice in East Melbourne. 
• Tania de Jong AM, Co-Founder and Executive Director Mind Medicine Australia, Creativity Australia, Creative Universe and The Song Room

Pre-Covid 1 in 5 people in Australia were suffering from a mental illness. At least 1 in 8 adults, 1 in 4 older adults in 1 in 30 children are on anti-depressant medications currently, and often without disclosure of potential side effects. There has been no innovation in existing treatments for 5 decades. The lack of effective treatments has most certainly contributed to Australia’s devastating mental health statistics, which position Australia as second worst amongst all OECD nations, only ahead of Iceland. As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic many more Australians are experiencing anxiety, trauma, addiction, depression, loneliness and social isolation, and suicide rates could significantly increase in the absence of innovation in treatments.

In the quest for new treatment options for mental illness and psychiatric disorders, attention is being paid to the potential role of psychedelic medicines as adjuncts to psychotherapy for a wide array of conditions, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and some addictions. Trials are also underway for dementia, Parkinson’s, strokes, cluster headaches, OCD and eating disorders. A proactive approach to broadening the treatment options available for people who have a mental illness is desperately needed.

This keynote and Q & A Session is presented by Mind Medicine Australia. The session will provide an engaging and educational update incorporating new learnings, science and data about innovative, safe and effective treatments being used in a practical clinical setting. It will also provide information on how to access the TGA’s SAS-B pathway for psilocybin and MDMA assisted therapies for treatment-resistant patients on a case-by-case basis.

Learning objectives:

1. Understanding the causes and severity of our mental health epidemic
2. The urgent need for expanding treatment options for medical practitioners and their patients
3. Identify the psychedelic medicines and how and why they work in the brain
4. Acknowledgement of the role of psychotherapeutic input alongside the medicine itself
5. Illustrate the overview of evidence from over 160 recent trials
6. Ascertain the potential applications in depression, anxiety, trauma and addiction
7. Clarification of the profile of people most likely to benefit and assessment of those who might experience adverse effects
8. Understand key issues that remain to be elucidated about the potential use of psychedelics in the clinical environment
9. Learn about the current policy and regulatory environment and how you can help make a difference
10. Future directions and next steps to advance the field in Australia including the training for therapists

For more information, please visit www.mindmedicineaustralia.org

More About Medicinal MDMA

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.

Results from Phase 2 clinical trials over the past decade have been so compelling that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States recently designated MDMA-assisted psychotherapy as a ‘Breakthrough Therapy’. This designation highlights the FDA’s anticipation that these therapies may offer substantial advantage over current treatments. If forthcoming Phase 3 results confirm these treatments are effective, MDMA-assisted treatment of PTSD may become a prescription medicine as early as 2021 in some jurisdictions.

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.

More About the Presenters

Dr Nigel Denning
MA, MPsych

Nigel Denning is a Counselling Psychologist and AHPRA endorsed supervisor.  He is the Managing Director of Integrative Psychology and the National Clinical Director of Mind Medicine Training.  Nigel has held various management roles and sat on several different Boards of Governance over his career. Clinically, he has been fortunate enough to train with many of the leaders in psychological research and practice, including Dan Seigel, Alan Schore, John & Julie Gottman, Michael White, and Les Greenberg.  More recently he has worked with Daniel P. Brown from Harvard Medical School where he has studied attachment and metacognition which are practice interests.

 Nigel was introduced to Holotropic Breathwork by the late Alf Foote and his wife Muriel in 1986.  Since that time, he has gone on to study with Stanislav Grof and later ran a crisis centre based on Holotropic Breathwork principles with the owner of Grof Transpersonal Training, Tav Sparks.  Nigel has had a continuous practice in non-ordinary states since the 1980’s including shamanic training in Peru.  A lifelong meditator, Nigel has over the last decade, been working in the tradition of Dzog Chen from the Bon Order, under the guidance of Tibetan and Western teachers.

Nigel is passionate about the opportunity for a paradigm shift in psychological therapy with the development of states of consciousness techniques such as medicine work, meditation, yoga and Holotropic Breathwork.

Tania de Jong AM  
LL.B (Hons), GradDipMus  
Founder & Deputy Chair of Mind Medicine Australia

Tania de Jong AM is a trail-blazing Australian soprano, award-winning social entrepreneur, creative innovation catalyst, spiritual journey woman, storyteller and global speaker. Tania is one of Australia’s most successful female entrepreneurs and innovators developing 5 businesses and 3 charities over the past 3 decades. She is Founder and Executive Producer of future-shaping events series, Creative Innovation Global. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in June 2008 and named one of the 100 Women of Influence and the 100 Australian Most Influential Entrepreneurs in 2018.

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.